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Comparative mythology studies different mythologies to understand cultures and humanity. It involves comparing similar stories and finding common themes. Creation myths are a common concept studied, such as the Japanese and Norse myths. Comparative mythology helps understand how cultures use myths to explain the world.
Comparative mythology is the study of the mythologies of different cultures and societies and the comparison of these mythologies to better understand each culture and humanity in general. This can be done in different ways, although it usually involves studying different mythological systems in general or comparing similar stories within each mythology. Common themes or motifs can be found among the mythologies, often dealing with similar issues that different cultures have faced or ways in which one culture has impacted another. Comparative mythology is often studied by individuals interested in anthropology and storytelling as it has occurred and changed throughout recorded history.
One of the most important aspects of comparative mythology is understanding the different mythological systems and how different cultures have used myths to explain the world around them. The ancient Greeks, for example, created a complicated and robust mythological system filled with numerous deities, creatures, epic heroes, and other figures that were used to explain mysterious or complex aspects of the world around them. Most of the forms of mythology studied in comparative mythology arose as a means by which a seemingly unknowable world and universe was explained in ways that made random events or the natural world more orderly and understandable.
Someone studying comparative mythology might look at different gods and creatures in various mythological systems and compare and contrast them. In Norse mythology, for example, one of the primary gods is Odin, who is the father god figure in the Norse tradition and is the god of war and poetry. The god of sky, thunder and lightning in Norse mythology is Thor, who is not as powerful as Odin. In Greek mythology, however, the god of the sky, thunder, and lightning is Zeus, who is also the father god of that mythological system. Someone studying comparative mythology might consider how the importance placed on these gods reflects the attitudes of each society.
Comparative mythology can also be studied by focusing on particular concepts or myths that are generally common among mythological systems. Almost all mythologies include a creation myth, which is an explanation of how the universe and the world came to be. The Japanese creation myth, for example, concerns a sea from which a single plant grew and transformed into the first god who created other gods, who then created the islands of Japan and populated them.
This can be compared to the Norse creation myth, in which the world was created by the gods who rebelled against their father, a giant, and killed him. The gods then created the world from his corpse: using his bones to create the mountains, his hair to create trees, and his blood to create the world’s oceans and rivers. In comparative mythology, these different creation myths can be compared to consider what each story seems to reflect about the culture that created them. These considerations are not value judgments, however, and cultural differences are underlined by the common desire across cultures to explain the world through storytelling.
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