Expanding "Mythology"

Lesson Objective:
Students will develop a more comprehensive and positive definition of "mythology."

Thanks to Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, the definition of mythology often inspires a negative impression of a culture's beliefs and values because he claimed that only words rooted in tangible fact and identifiable authors should be considered logical. Since the majority of myths originated in an oral tradition, many myths are therefore often dismissed as lies, fabricated stories, or entertaining tales. As a class, we worked to expand our definition and understanding of what is mythology.

Students took notes and participated in group discussion.

Homework: Write a well-developed paragraph summarizing what was discussed in class and identify how your definition/understanding of "myth" has changed. Due: Weds. 9/2/08