American Myths Are Unique But Not In a Good Way

To understand America (the country it is and the world we live in) is to look understand its myths and how they differ from those of other nations and cultures because that reveals so much of the mindset that created them and the country.

America is not unique in creating its myths. All nations and cultures create and maintain their own myths, but they come from within a social framework and events over a period of time and reflect a sense of shared identity. Without that, they cannot exist because only a few would understand them, and therefore, they would be meaningless. That is why often the stories they tell are contradictory reflecting all the paradoxes that are part of human and societal experience of different elements of society. Equally importantly, in other societies, they are not constantly referenced as integral to current elite actions and lives. They are a backstory of a people.

While the original myth about King Arthur (a very human figure who suffers a great deal in his personal life as he aims to build a better, more just world), it is believed, arose from Celtic traditions rooted in loss of their lands to the invading Angles and Saxons, it eventually evolved to represent all Britain including the descendants of those same Angles and Saxons who now shared their identity with a greater whole.

Arthur of the Britons became Arthur of Britain to unify all.

The mythical, Indian epic, Mahabharata, ostensibly tells the story of an extended royal family, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, in Northern India, who are clearly Indo-Aryans because they are described as tall and fair in contrast to Krishna who is short and dark thus from the Indian heartland but also a cousin of the Pandavas, (there is even a character called Karan whose description is of someone with blonde hair, blue eyes and illegitimate, thus the ultimate outsider but eventually accepted). They, living outside Hindu precepts, bloodily fall out in a fight for the throne. The aim is to skewer them for their selfish hedonism. Yet in fact, it ends up inadvertently showing a nobility to their social conventions and emotions that makes them both modern and appealing. (Duryodhana, the main antagonist). At the same time, Krishna, deified as a Hindu god, comes over as a destructive force whose motivations, never completely clear but often voiced in ethical and metaphysical constructs, lead to the complete annihilation of the world and the death of nearly everyone, including ultimately himself. Yet paradoxically, it is a Hindu epic because of its philosophical framework. But India is more than a Hindu country and culture so the poem reflects a more complicated and richer mixture of people and issues so all Indians can identify with it. (Going to watch The Ramayana with thousands of others in the dark.)

The Shahnameh (Book of Kings) has for centuries helped define Iran and the Iranian people, as well as ensuring the importance of the Persian language.

China has a huge range of myths covering how the world was created to stories of lost love with people at its centre.

Many Russian mythological creatures come from the influence of the Slavic pagan religions of Eastern Europe. Frequently, Christianity altered these tales and turned deities into demons and heroes into saints. Many of the creatures are humanoids or creatures representing humans, so people remain central to the stories.

So, why and how were American myths created? And what purpose did they, and do, still serve?

Listen without prejudice!