Creatures of Myth

in response to the following prompt:

AM I, OR HAVE I EVER BEEN, A MYTHIC FIGURE?

In some ways, all people are creatures of myth. We are destined to follow the paths that have been laid before us, paths that are illustrated by the telling of myth. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." (Eccl 1:9, NIV) The myth is the classic, the common man's way of understanding and displaying the archetypes of mankind. After all, there is no such thing as a truly original story--how can we not be creatures of myth when that is our point of origin?

More specifically, yes, I do believe that I have been a mythic figure. At least that is to say that I have inhabited a number of archetypes throughout my life. Admittedly, though, I tend to think more in terms of tropes and memes than myths. I guess that means that I'm drawing from the "next set of myths" if you will. On that note, although it doesn't so much have to do with me, this article is quite interesting when thinking about the meaning that things may or may not have.

This is more of a scattered set of thoughts right now but it might get added to later...

After having completed the readings, I find that I have new insights to add. Yes, I did throw this article up before I had actually finished the readings. Shame on me. Anyways, although I like the idea of the separation of myth and legend, I will still lean on a more contemporary view when I say I most represent the mythic figure of the idiot. And who, at some point or another, has not played the role of the child, or the fool? If I play a hero, though, it must be a very boring one.

Currently I am fascinated with the seven archetype deities from A Song of Ice and Fire. Maiden, Mother, Crone, Warrior, Smith, Father, and Stranger. Although I don't currently feel that I embody any of those figures, they are very similar to the archetypes in our world. At times, they are treated much time same, but then at other times they are treated very differently. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but that is just how it is. Oh, and there are direwolves in that story, too.

The paratactic and syntactic storytelling differences are intriguing too, but that will be a subject for another post.