10 Examples of Etiological Myths

Etiological myths

The etiological myths are those myths that narrate and explain the origin of natural phenomena, beings, objects, rituals or customs.

The myths are narratives of oral transmission that include supernatural events and that are taken as true by certain civilizations or religions because they arose to respond to different questions.

Myths are classified according to the phenomenon they explain. The cosmogonic myths they narrate the creation of the world, the anthropogonic They narrate the origin of human beings, the theogonic ones narrate the origin of the gods, the etiological ones narrate the origin of other beings and phenomena, rituals and customs, the foundational ones narrate the foundation of places and the eschatological ones describe what the end of the world will be like. world.

Etiological myths explain the cause of the emergence and existence of certain phenomena, things and beings. For example, an etiological myth can explain how rain originated and why it exists.

Today the explanations of these myths are not always taken as true because the different sciences, such as geography, history or physics, gave other explanations about most of these issues.

Characteristics of etiological myths

Examples of etiological myths

1. The rape of Proserpina (Roman myth)

Proserpina was a goddess and was the daughter of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture and plants, and of Jupiter, the father of the gods. One day, Proserpina was gathering flowers when Dis, the king of the Underworld, arrived and kidnapped the young goddess.

Ceres was looking everywhere for her daughter and she was so sad that she forgot to take care of the plants and crops, which caused the plants not to grow.

Jupiter learned that his daughter was in the Underworld and arranged with Dis that Proserpina would spend half the year on earth and the other half in the Underworld. Ceres was happy when her daughter was on earth, so she took care of the plants; but he was sad when his daughter was in the Underworld, so she didn't take care of the plants and they didn't grow well.

This myth explains how the seasons originated, because when Ceres took care of the plants and they grew well, it was spring or summer. But when Ceres did not take care of the plants and they grew poorly, it was autumn or winter.

1. Atlas and Zeus (Greek myth)

Atlas was a Titan and there was a time when the Titans were at war with the Olympian gods. The gods were victorious and Zeus, the father of the gods, condemned some titans to spend their eternity in the Inframudno, but he condemned Atlas to carry the sky so that it would not fall to the earth.

This myth explains why the sky does not fall to the ground.

1. Pandora's box (Greek myth)

Pandora was the first woman made by the gods and she was engaged to Epimetheus. When they got married, they gave her a box with a text that prohibited opening the box.

But Pandora couldn't help being curious to see what was inside the box, and then she opened it. So it was that all the evils in the world came out of the box. However, in the box there were not only evils, but also the spirit of hope.

This myth narrates the origin of evils throughout the world and also has a moral teaching.

1. Prometheus and the theft of fire (Greek myth)

Prometheus was a titan, he was a friend of men and he used to face the gods of Olympus. Once, Prometheus had to decide with the gods how to distribute food between the gods and humans. Prometheus deceived the gods and benefited humans because he gave them the best foods. But Zeus, realizing it, punished all people by leaving them without fire.

People lived in total darkness and could not cook their food. So Prometheus decided that he would return fire to them. To achieve this he stole the fire from the sun and gave it to human beings. For this, Zeus became angry with the titan and punished him in different ways over the years.

This myth explains why people can use fire.

1. The rainbow snake (Australian myth)

According to this myth, a rainbow turned into a serpent, descended to earth, and taught people to dance. But one day two young men were lost and they went to the serpent's dwelling to seek refuge and, as she was hungry, she swallowed them.

The serpent left his dwelling place and the people went out to look for the two young men. They suspected the snake and when they found her she was fast asleep, so a man made her a cut in the side and the two young men came out, who were alive, but had become parrots.

The snake was coiled to a mountain and when he felt the cut, he woke up, got angry and squeezed the mountain very much, which broke into a thousand pieces. By the fury of the serpent the first rain appeared that formed the first lakes, rivers and hills.

This myth explains the origin of the rain, the lakes, the rivers and the hills.

1. The myth of Narcissus (Greek myth)

Narcissus was the most beautiful young man in the world. Many people fell in love with him, but he was very vain and therefore cruel to all the people who declared their love for him.

The gods wanted to punish him for his behavior and sentenced him to fall in love with his own image. One day Narcissus was in the forest, he stood in front of a pond and, seeing his own reflection, fell in love with himself.

The young man could not stop admiring himself and one day he threw himself into the pond. In a short time, in the place where the young man had thrown himself, the first Narcissus flower grew.

This myth explains the origin of the flower that bears the same name as the young man.

1. Echo and Narcissus (Greek myth)

Echo was a nymph that was associated with a mountain and had a very beautiful voice. One day Zeus, the father of the gods, had entrusted Echo to distract Hera, Zeus's wife. But Hera realized her deception and punished Hera, as she took his voice from her and condemned her to repeat the words that others said.

Eco isolated herself and was left alone. One day she was in the field, she saw Narcissus, the most beautiful young man in the world, and fell in love with him. She pursued him hiding, but stepped on a branch and the young man discovered it.

Narciso asked Echo questions, but she couldn't answer him and could only repeat what he said. When Narcissus learned of Echo's feelings, he rejected her. She was saddened and went back to living in solitude.

This myth explains the origin of the echo that occurs in certain places.

1. The laurel tree (Roman myth)

Cupid was very upset with Apollo and shot an arrow at the sun god to make him fall madly in love with the first woman he met; this woman was Daphne, a nymph. Apollo began to pursue Daphne because he was madly in love with her, but she rejected him and asked for help from Peneo, her father, who was a river.

Peneus transformed Daphne into a laurel in front of Apollo's eyes. The god was very sad to have lost Daphne, so he took some leaves from the laurel tree and made a crown with them.

This myth tells the explanation of the origin of the laurel tree and the laurel wreath. This crown was very important in Roman society, because with it poets, athletes and warriors were honored.

1. Tecuciztécatl and Nanahuatzin (Aztec myth)

A long time ago the sun and the moon did not exist, and people lived in the shadows. The gods met to decide how they were going to light up the universe and decided that a god would he would transform into the sun to illuminate it by day, and another would transform into the moon to illuminate it from evening.

The dio Tecuciztécatl said that he offered to transform himself into the sun and the gods decided that Nanahuatzin, another god, would transform into the moon. The moment of the ceremony arrived and Tecuciztécatl had to throw himself into the fire to transform himself into the sun, but he cowered.

In his place Nanahuatzin threw himself, who, because of his bravery, did not transform into the moon, but into the sun. Tecuciztécatl was very ashamed, so he threw himself into the fire and transformed into the moon.

This myth narrates the origin of light, the sun and the moon.

1. Anansi (African myth)

Long ago the god Nyame had all the wisdom in the world stored in a clay pot and, therefore, people did not know how to weave, make tools or use food to prepare foods.

One day, Nyame gave the clay pot to Anansi, a spider. Anansi decided to hide the pot in a tree so that only he could access the wisdom. He made cobweb threads and tied the pot around his waist to carry it to the top of a tree, but he couldn't climb well with the pot hitting his legs.

Anansi's son suggested that he tie the pot to his back so that it would not disturb him while he climbed, and so did the spider. As he went upstairs, Anansi began to think that even though he had all the wisdom in the world, his son had been smarter than him. Because of this, the spider was enraged and threw the pot on the ground. The pot broke, wisdom spread throughout the world, and human beings learned to weave, to make tools, and to cook.

This myth explains the origin of different activities and knowledge that people have.

It can serve you: