Usachev V. A., Rakitskij M. D.,
Donetsk National University of economics and trade named after Mikhail Tugan- Baranovsky

The main variety and motivation myths

The main aim of this article is the main varieties of myths and their motives. Myth is a legend, sending the people of the world, the place of man in it, the origin of all things, about gods and heroes; a vision of the world. Specificity of myths is most clearly in primitive culture, where myths represent part of the science, a seamless system, in terms of which perceived and described the entire world. Later, when out of Mythology are such forms of social consciousness as the art, literature, science, religion and the like, they hold a number of mythological models, with the inclusion in the new structure; the myth is going through its second life. Antique mythology human beings usually associated with Greek and Roman mythology, but this is not right in each State had its ancient myths and legends. A brief look at the mythology of large States:

1) Greek mythology. The ancient Greeks perceived world as one huge ancestral community, they gathered all the diversity of human relations and phenomena of nature

2) Roman mythology image hard and collective mythology. The Romans were extremely tolerant of false gods, so its a little left.

3) Mythology of Egypt, which is often incomprehensible to ordinary people and decryption requires serious and scientific interpretation. Egyptian mythology contains many puzzles, which I'm sure mankind will be tricks or even very many years.

4) Slavic Mythology is closest to our mentality, but at the same time, Slavic mythology is not always clear to us, more civilized descendants (in our understanding of human sacrifices were not very normal).

5) Japanese and Indian mythology, developed in isolation from the rest of the civilized world and biblical myths and legends which tell us only the good.

Common myths of all peoples is their variety. myths of aetiological (letters. "causal", i. e. the explicative) is the myths that explain the emergence of various natural and cultural features and social objects. In principle, etiological myths and function is most specific for the myth itself. Etiological myths are practically under the first stories about the origin of some animals and plants (or their private properties), mountains and seas, the heavenly luminaries and meteorological phenomena, social and religious institutions, economic activities, as well as fire, death, etc. As a special variety of etiological myths include myths that explain the origin of the rite of worship, religious acts Myths narrate about the origin of the сosmogoniс space as a whole and its parts are related in a single system. Cosmogony typically involves the separation and selection of main elements (fire, water, land, air), the sky from the Earth, the Earth's oceans, the universe of the world tree, the world's mountains, building on the sky lights, and so on, then the creation of the landscape, plants, animals, human. Various space objects can be found, even kidnapped and transferred cultural heroes, are biologically gods or their will, their magic word. Part of the cosmogonic myths are myths antropogoniс— on the origin of man, the first people, or tribal ancestors (tribe in myths are often identified with "real people" with humanity). Human origins can be attributed to the myths as the transformation of Totem animal as separation from other beings, as an improvement (spontaneous or gods) some imperfect beings, as biological generation gods or as divine demiurgs of Earth, clay, wood, etc., as moving some creatures from the lower world to the Earth's surface. The origin of women sometimes described differently than the origin of men (from a different material, etc.). The first person in some myths is treated as the first death since already existed before gods or spirits are immortal. The сosmogonic myths about myths Astral, solar and moons reflecting the archaic view of stars, the Sun, Moon and their mythological personification. Myths of Astral, Stars and planets. In archaic mythological systems, stars, or the entire constellation is often represented as animals, trees, in the form of a heavenly Hunter with the beast, and t. p. Several myths ends moving heroes to the sky and turning them into stars or, conversely, expulsion from heaven not passed tests in breach of the prohibition (wives or sons of heaven). Location of stars in the sky can be interpreted as a symbolic scene, an original illustration of a myth. As the celestial mythology stars and planets is strictly attached to certain gods. Presentation on the impact of the movement of celestial luminaries on the fate of individuals and the entire world has mythological background to astrology. Solar myths and moons, in principle, are a form of Astral. In archaic mythologies the Moon and the Sun are often in the form of a twins pair of cultural heroes, or brother and sister, husband and wife, parent and child. . The Moon and Suns characters of dualistic myths, built on the interplay of mythological characters, Luna (per month) for the most part it is negative, and the Sun is positive. They represent the opposition and two "halves" Totem tribe, night and day, feminine and masculine, etc more archaic lunarnyh myths month appears more often in the form of masculinity, and in the more developed — female. The divine existence of the Moon and the Sun (as is the case with the stars), sometimes preceded by earthly adventures of a pair of mythological heroes. Some moons myths explain the origin of the Special spots on the Moon ("Moon man"). Solar deity tends to become the main, especially in ancient societies headed by King-priest. View on the movement of the Sun is often associated with a wheel, with chariot, which horses, with the fight against monsters or God of storms. Diurnal cycle is also reflected in the mythical motive of evanescent and returning the solar deity. Universality is the myth of the daughters of the Sun. Twins myths — wonderful creatures presented as twins and often acting as pioneers of the tribe or cultural heroes. The origins of the twins myths can be traced in the perception of the twins of birth, which most people thought ugly. In myths of the twin-brothers they usually were first rivals, and later became allies. Some dualistic myths twin brothers did not antagonic each other, and embody different began (see above myths solar). There are myths about twin brother and sister, but found and options, where the incestuous marriages, brother and sister is preferred to have several brothers. Myths are the inescapable part of totemic totemic beliefs and rites of society; These myths are based on the fantastic uncanny relationship between a specific group of people (originally, etc.) and t. h. totems properly, i.e. species of animals and plants. On the content of the totemic myth is very simple. The main characters have these characteristics and human and animal. The most typical form of totemic myth known Australians and African peoples. Totemic features clearly visible in images of the gods and cultural heroes in mythology peoples of Central and South America. The remnants of totemiс preserved in Egyptian mythology, and in Greek myths about the tribe, the myrmidons, and frequent motive of turning people into animals or plants (e.g., the myth of Narcisse). Calendar myths closely connected with the cycle of calendar ceremonies, usually with agrarian magic oriented regular change of seasons, especially in the revival of vegetation in the spring (interlaced and solar motives), harvest. In the ancient Mediterranean farming cultures dominated by myth, symbolizing the fate of the spirit of vegetation, the grain harvest. The calendar is the myth of the old and or death and resurrection of the hero (myths about Isis, Tammuze, Adonise, Dionysus etc.). As a result of the conflict with the demon, Goddess-mother or divine sister-wife hero disappears or dies or suffers physical damage, but then his mother (sister, wife, son) searches for and finds resurrects, and he kills her demonic opponent. Myths of the heroic capture critical points in the life cycle, are built around the hero's biography and may include his beautiful birth, testing from senior kinsmen or hostile demons, finding a wife and marital test, fight beasts and other feats, the death of the hero. Biographical in heroic myth in principle similar to the outer top of the myth kosmogoniс; only here ordering chaos is related to forming a personal hero, capable of continuing to support their own space. Reflection of initiation in heroic myth is mandatory withdrawal or expulsion of the hero of his society and journey in other worlds, where he acquires the spirits-helpers and wins the demonic spirits-enemies, where he sometimes had to go through a temporary death (swallowing and Monster; death and resurrection). Test initiator (host sometimes form the "challenge") may be the father, or uncle of the hero, or the future father-in-law, or tribal chief, heavenly deity, such as the Sun God, and t. p. Exile hero sometimes motivated by its misconduct, violation of taboos, inter alia, incest (incest with his sister, or wife, father, uncles), also a threat to power his father chieftain. Greek mythology hero as the term means son or descendant of deity and mortal human. In Greece the cult of the dead heroes took place. Heroic myth is a major source of generation as a heroic epic, and fairy tales. Myths about the "latest" things about the end of the world arose relatively late and relied on the model of myths calendar, myths about the change of epochs, cosmogonic myths. In contrast to the сosmogoniс myths, not an tell the world and its elements, and on their destruction — the loss of land worldwide flood, haotiс space, etc. It is difficult to separate the myths about disasters that accompanied the change of epochs (about the death of the Giants or the older generation of gods who lived before the advent of human catastrophes and periodic update of the world), from the myths about the ultimate destruction of the world. More or less advanced eschatology find in myths the Aboriginal American mythologies, Hindu, Iranian, Christian (Evangelical "Apocalypse"). Èshatologiс disasters often precede the violation of the law and morality, strife, crimes of people calling for vengeance of the gods. The world is killed in a fire, flood, as a result of space battles with demonic forces, from hunger, heat, cold, etc. primary source that inspired the ancient people create myths, as already stated above was their environment. That from a scientific point of view, they could not explain myth. Whence and whither Sun, why is thunder and lightning, why on Earth have so many varieties of different creatures and why some of them very pleasant man, while others suggest fear ...