MYTHOLOGY AND

FOLKLORE
 WHAT IS MYTHOLOGY?

• Mythology can refer to the collected myths of a

group of people—their collection of stories they tell
to explain nature, history, and customs—or to the
study of such myths.
• Mythology is a vital feature of every culture.

• The study of myth dates back to ancient history.

• Mythology is now often sharply distinguished from
didactic literature such as fables, but its relationship with
other traditional stories, such as legends and folktales, is
much more nebulous.

• Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods, or

supernatural humans, while legends generally feature
humans as their main characters. However, many
exceptions or combinations exist, as in the Iliad, Odyssey,
and Aeneid. Myths are often endorsed by rulers and
priests and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. In
fact, many societies group their myths, legends, and
history together, considering myths to be true accounts
of their remote past.
• Creation myths particularly, take place in a primordial
age when the world had not yet achieved its current
form. Other myths explain how a society's customs,
institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified.
• A separate space is created for folktales, which are not
considered true by the people who tell them. As stories
spread to other cultures or as faiths change, myths can
come to be considered folktales, sometimes even to the
point of being reinterpreted as one. Its divine characters
are recast as either as humans or demi humans such as
giants, elves, and faeries.
 THREE PRIMARY TYPES OF MYTHS

• DIVINE MYTH
• In religious terms, divinity or godhead is the state of things that
come from a supernatural power or deity, such as a god,
supreme being, creator deity, or spirits, and are therefore
regarded as sacred and holy. Such things are regarded as
"divine" due to their transcendental origins or because their
attributes or qualities are superior or supreme relative to things
of the Earth.
• Divine things are regarded as eternal and based in truth, while
material things are regarded as ephemeral and based in
illusion. Such things that may qualify as "divine" are apparitions,
visions, prophecies, miracles, and in some views also the soul,
or more general things like resurrection, immortality, grace,
and salvation. Otherwise what is or is not divine may be loosely
defined, as it is used by different belief systems.
 LEGENDS

• A legend (Latin, legenda, "things to be read") is a

narrative of human actions that are perceived both by
teller and listeners to take place within human history
and values to possess certain qualities that give the tale
verisimilitude. Legend, for its active and passive
participants, includes no happenings that are outside
the realm of "possibility" but which may include miracles.
• Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep
it fresh and vital, and realistic. Many legends operate
within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely
believed by the participants, but also never being
resolutely doubted.
 FOLKTALES

• A folktale (also spelled folk tale) is a story or legend

forming part of an oral tradition. Folktales are
generally passed down from one generation to
another and often take on the characteristics of the
time and place in which they are told.
• The most famous work on Filipino folktales is
Philippine Folk Tales by Mabel Cook Cole. It is the
first comprehensive popular collection of folk tales
of the islands. She spent four years among the tribes
of the Philippines in the early 20th century while her
husband was engaged in ethnological work for the
Field Museum of Natural History.