10 Examples of Short Myths

Short myths

The myths They are stories of oral transmission that narrate supernatural events and that serve as an explanation of different things. For example, Genesis narrates the origin of the universe.

These narratives were and are taken as true by different civilizations and religions, since emerged to answer questions about the origin and existence of different phenomena. For example, certain natural events were believed to be generated by the gods.

Depending on what phenomenon they explain, myths can be cosmogonic (they narrate the creation of the world), anthropogonic (they narrate the origin of human beings), theogonic (they narrate the origin of the gods), etiological (they narrate the origin of other beings and phenomena, rituals and customs), foundational (narrate the foundation of places) or eschatological (describe what the end of the world).

Today many people study these myths in order to understand how certain societies perceived or perceive the world. In addition to being an important source for understanding the worldview of different societies, the myths could have served as an analogy for natural phenomena such as earthquakes, droughts and floods.

Characteristics of short myths

Examples of short myths

1. Romulus and Remus (Roman myth)

Numitor was the king of Alba Longa, but was dethroned by Amulio, his brother. Rea Silvia, Numitor's daughter, had twin sons, Romulus and Remus. She was afraid that her uncle would murder them, so she placed them in a basket that she left in a river.

A wolf found them and raised them as if they were her children. Later they were found by two peasants who cared for them. One day, the twins discovered his identity and went to Alba Longa to kill Amulio and to return the throne to Numitor.

His grandfather thanked them for their feat and gave them land in Lazio, where Romulus soon founded Rome.

1. Theseus and the Minotaur (Greek myth)

The minotaur was a monstrous being that was in a labyrinth on the island of Crete and that fed on humans. Theseus appeared in Crete to tell Minos, the king of this place, that he could kill the monster.

Ariadna, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with Theseus and decided to help him: she gave him a ball of magic thread so that he would tie it at the entrance of the labyrinth, kill the monster and could leave. Theseus fulfilled his mission and later married Ariadne.

1. The origin of the sun and the moon (Aztec myth)

At one point there was neither the sun nor the moon and the gods met to decide who was going to light up the universe. Tecuciztécatl said that he had to do it, the gods accepted this proposal and said that Nanahuatzin would become the moon.

The gods decided that to become the Sun, Tecuciztécatl had to throw himself into the fire, but the god was afraid and he could not do it. Instead, Nanahuatzin threw himself into the fire and, by his brave act, was transformed into the sun. Tecuciztécatl was embarrassed by his attitude and decided to jump into the fire and, then, he transformed into the moon.

1. The origin of Durga (Hindu myth)

Long ago the gods were at war with the demons, who were establishing themselves in the heavens. The gods had been displaced, they were on earth and they made the decision to create another god to save them.

Vishnu, Shiva and other gods concentrated their powers and from each one's mouth came a ray of fire and thus created a goddess, Durga. She went to heaven and was able to defeat demons.

1. Thor and his hammer (Norse myth)

The hammer that Thor had was magical, because when the god threw it he would hit the target and then return to his hand. But one day, Thor woke up and his hammer was missing.

Thor learned that Thrym, the king of the giants, had the hammer. This king told Thor that he would return it to him only if he married the goddess Freyja, but she did not want to. Thor and other gods agreed that Thor would disguise himself as Freyja, to pretend that she would marry Thrym, so that he could retrieve the hammer.

Thor disguised himself as Freyja, and at the celebration, Thrym requested that the hammer be brought to bless the ceremony. But Thor took it, killed Thrym, and was then able to retrieve the hammer from him.

1. Pan Gu and the origin of the world (Chinese myth)

When the universe did not exist, there was only an egg-shaped being inhabited by different forces and materials. Time passed and this egg gave birth to Pan Gu, a giant and very hairy being. But Pan Gu did not like to be surrounded by nothing and silence, so he created an ax and split the egg in two: yin and yang and heaven and earth emerged.

Pan Gu stayed at the boundary between heaven and earth so that they would not come together again. Some time later, the god passed away and the first people emerged from the remains of his body.

1. Amaterasu (Japanese myth)

Amaterasu was the goddess of the sun and one day Susanoo, her brother, challenged her to see who had the greatest power. She made rice fields appear and transformed her brother's sword into three goddesses. He created five monsters and said that he was the winner, but Amaterasu did not accept it and accused him that he had cheated.

He got angry and destroyed the rice fields. She got angry, scared and went to hide in a cave, causing the sunlight to disappear. The other gods went to find her and brought a mirror. For the trapped goddess to come out, they began to make noise and, out of curiosity, the goddess came out. The gods explained to her that there was another goddess brighter than her, but it was not true, but that the other goddess was Amaterasu's bright reflection in the mirror. She believed them, she came out of the cave to see this supposed goddess and the other gods closed the cave forever.

1. Gnowee (Australian myth)

Long ago men lit fires to see in the dark, because there was no light. One day Gnowee, a goddess, came down to earth to search for her lost son. She used a torch that illuminated the whole earth for a few hours to search for it and then she would get dark, because the goddess needed to rest. This myth explains how the sun originated.

1. Origin of the Ganges (Hindu myth)

Long ago there was a king, Sagara, who had had many children. In a ritual, Sagara was honoring the gods alongside his horse. But Indra, a god, stole it from him.

The king sent his children to look for the animal. They found him in the underworld together with a beggar whom they accused of having stolen him and, therefore, this man turned all the king's children to ashes.

A descendant of the king asked the god Brahma to bring out the souls of the men who were left in the underworld. The god sent the goddess Ganga to purify them so they could go up to heaven.

She descended, she had some inconveniences: she was pushed by a stream of water to the ocean, where the entrance to the underworld was, and she was able to free the souls of the children of Sagara.

This myth explains how the Ganges River was formed and, therefore, in the Hindu religion it is considered a purifying river.

1. The origin of the world (Yoruba myth)

Before there were only two gods: Olorun, the god of the skies, and Olokun, the god of water. They created other gods: Obatalá and Orunmila. Obatala asked Olorun for permission to create the earth and the god of the heavens replied that he had to ask Orunmila how he could create it. Orunmila told Obatalá that she would need a gold chain, a chicken, a snail shell filled with sand, a seed, and a cat.

Obatala used the gold chain to descend from the sky and when she reached the water she emptied the shell of the snail. Then he released the hen to spread the sand and thus the earth was formed. She later planted the seed so that the first tree would grow.

Obatalá played with his cat but felt lonely, so with the clay he made small beings similar to him and asked his father to give them the gift of life. Olorun blew into those beings and that is how the first people emerged.

It can serve you: