Myth Enthusiast
My first memorable encounter with mythology came in my eighth grade world history class. We read many different creation myths, and the differences and similarities among them fascinated me. I remember in that class developing a particular fondness for the stories and rituals of ancient Egypt: I even briefly wanted to be an Egyptologist when I grew up. I have since spent considerable time since getting acquainted with the gods and goddesses of Greek and Norse mythology, the adventures and battles in the epic poems of ancient India, the delightful legends of Native American tricksters like Raven and Coyote, and many more stories from other great mythological traditions around the world.
Although I first discovered what anthropologists would describe as “myths” in middle school, a similar reaction had been evoked in me earlier by another type of narrative: fantasy fiction. I read quite a bit as a child, but stories like Redwall and The Chronicles of Narnia had a much greater impact on me than more realistic novels. These fantasy stories carried me away to other worlds, to long-forgotten pasts of legends and magic, and filled me with powerful images of joy and heroism, of sorrow and loss, of longing and hope. My imagination was overwhelmed when I finally saw Star Wars in high school, years after most of my peers, and I knew that I would never be the same after my time in that galaxy far, far away.
I have continued to be delighted and nourished by these stories over the years, all of which I classify as “mythic narratives” or “myths.” The stories contained in ancient myths and in the mythic genres of fantasy and science fiction can still delight us and challenge us to fulfill our human potential.
