Myth or legend? How does one define a story as a myth or a legend? Why do we say “The<\/p>\n
legend of King arthur” and “Greek mythology” instead of\u00a0 “The myth of King arthur and<\/p>\n
Greek legends”? Myth and legend are synonyms for each other. They can be used<\/p>\n
interchangeably but is this correct? In some cases yes it is. In other no. Myth and legend are<\/p>\n
like first cousins as opposed to siblings. A legend is defined as one of several things; A group<\/p>\n
of stories relating to a particular group, people or clan such as the Native American legends. A<\/p>\n
collection of stories such as the Legend of King arthur and Excalibur, the person at the center<\/p>\n
of such stories like King arthur or the story telling of the life of a saint and emphasizing the<\/p>\n
miracles that the saint preformed or their unrecorded deeds. A myth on the other hand is<\/p>\n
defined as an invented story, idea or concept such as “John’s story about his character<\/p>\n
Meliate is nothing but myth.” This is considered a myth since he came up with it himself, a<\/p>\n
story about gods, demigods,and goddess, a traditional story of a being or event that has no<\/p>\n
factual basis or the facts are very questionable. A myth is also defined as an imaginary person<\/p>\n
or thing. To break it down in layman’s terms, a myth is usually a traditional story passed down<\/p>\n
from generation to generation, and is usually about a being that has incredible powers, has<\/p>\n
done something\u00a0 amazing or an event that was simply magical. A legend on the other hand is<\/p>\n
a story about somebody that might possibly have a grain of truth in it but has been greatly<\/p>\n
exaggerated. If that’s still confusing think of it like this. Myths are timeless and change very<\/p>\n
little. Roman and Greek myth are about the same. Egyptian myth has many similarities to<\/p>\n
Norse myth and so on. Legend on the other hand…legend tends to be a little more logical<\/p>\n
and a little more modern. As stated before legend might have a grain of truth in it while<\/p>\n
the rest has been greatly exaggerated. It’s quite logical that in the early sixth century, there<\/p>\n
may have been a person that was honorable, fought valiantly to save his country from<\/p>\n
invaders, killed a great number of invaders and had a tragic romance. Perhaps that happened<\/p>\n
and as word of this person spread, some things were misheard repeatedly differently and<\/p>\n
minor details grew into impossible lengths, covering one grain of truth in many layers<\/p>\n
of mystery and magic, eventually turning that person into the legend we know as King arthur.<\/p>\n
Myths…myths generally don’t change much. Most mythology has beings that have unlimited<\/p>\n
powers, unending lifespans, incredible knowledge, amazing strength, flawless beauty, and<\/p>\n
great enemies. These myths also usually have these same beings assigned to similar areas<\/p>\n
of expertise such as wisdom, war, love, marriage, hate, death and so on. Also they have one<\/p>\n
being that is ruler above all other, somebody constantly trying to gain that position and<\/p>\n
beings older then the ones being talked about, that were overthrown. Essentiall..90% of<\/p>\n
myths sound or are similar whereas 90% of legends sound similar but have different aspects<\/p>\n
and key points. As was stated earlier, myth and legend are more like first cousins than<\/p>\n
siblings. They’re related pretty closely but vary widely in how they’re defined. Just<\/p>\n
remember this. Legends are usually more logical and modern. Myths are usually<\/p>\n
ancient or timeless, and focus more so on people being helped by powerful beings or<\/p>\n
being powerful beings themselves.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/Legend<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/dictionary.reference.com\/browse\/Myth<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/myths.e2bn.org\/about\/info272-what-are-myths-legends-and-folktales.html<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/articles.famouswhy.com\/the_difference_between_a_myth_and_a_legend\/<\/a><\/p>\n