Our Roots are in Our Myths

During the Christmas holidays, I took a break from designing my spring courses and watched Apocalypto, (for the 4^th or 5^th time) Mel Gibson’s Mexican adventure of the declining Mayan civilization, complete filmed on the exotic Yucatan Peninsula.  Some historians claim that Gibson’s claims of human sacrifices is inaccurate and while either claim may or may not be accurate, my concerns were focused on the quality of their communications from the standpoint that I thought I was listening to people from the 21^st Century rather than from  (circa) 320 BC who communicated via hieroglyphics. 

This got me wondering about other mythologies from around the world for some reason.  For instance, there are over 600 global flood myths from every continent. In many cases, the flood leaves only one survivor or group of survivors. 

Comparative mythology has uncovered a number of parallels between the myths of different cultures, including some very widespread recurring themes and plot elements.

Here are some examples:

The creative sacrifice - Many cultures have stories about divine figures whose death creates an essential part of reality

The dying god - Many myths feature a god who dies and often returns to life

The structure of hero stories - suggested that hero stories share a common structure

Axis mundi - Many mythologies mention a place that sits at the center of the world and acts as a point of contact between different levels of the universe

Titanomachy - Many cultures have a creation myth in which a group of younger, more civilized gods conquer and/or struggle against a group of older gods who represent the forces of chaos

The deus otiosus - In many myths, the Supreme Being withdraws into the heavens after the creation of the world

Founding myths - Many cultures have myths describing the origin of their customs, rituals, and identity

I suppose that we should simply embrace these similarities, rather than going to war over our "so-called" differences?