Myths and Value Essay Example

Myths and Value Essay Example Myths and Value Essay Myths and Value Essay Essay Topic: Mythologies Treasure Island Myths and Value Name: Course: Date: Myths and Value Lesson 1 A myth is a traditionally told story about historical events usually meant to explain something or to instill certain beliefs and values. Most myths are held by members of a certain community or institution and they are known by all the members. They determine how the people carry themselves since they have some influence on the way they make their judgments. Myths are known to instill various values depending on the subjects they cover. Myths have various uses, which include preservation of social cultures such as Santa Claus, explaining mysterious natural phenomena and instilling morals among the people. Lesson 2 The Greek are among the communities with myths that they treasure up to date. One of the famous Greek myths is that of the boy who flew too high. It narrates the story of and a talented architect and inventor who were trying to escape the island of Crete with his son Icarius. They had been kept prisoners by king Minos due to Daedalus’ abilities. They wanted to go back home in spite of been adequately provided for in the island. Daedalus discovered that they could escape from the tower and use a boat as their get-away. He tricked the king into providing him with feathers and wax for an ongoing project, which he used to make wings. He worked on the wings at the rooftop until they were ready for use. Icarius and his father practiced flying with the wings until he could fly as good as his father. On the day they had planned their escape, Daedalus just like any other father gave his son some instruction. He told Icarius to always follow him and not take a different path since Daeda lus is the one who knew the way home. He instructed Icarius not to fly too low since his feathers would be filled with moisture, become heavy and make him sink into the sea. If he flew too high, the wax would melt away and the feathers would fall off. They both went to the rooftop ready for take-off. The father flew into the air first as the son followed. While in the air, Icarius discovered that he could fly without much effort and he forgot the instructions he had been given. He flew too close to the sun and immediately the wax began to melt and the feathers fell off. Before he could do anything, he was falling fast into the sea. His power of flight had been overtaken by the power of gravity. Lesson 3 This interesting narration is not just a story but it has various moral lessons. Icarius is used in the myth to represent the people in society who are rebellious and do not follow rules given to them. Icarius ignores the instructions given to him by his father, which result to his downfall. He is warned against going too close to the sun, which is exactly what he does, and the result is his fall into the sea. This means that people who do not follow instructions often end up in problems. For instance if you do not follow the doctor’s prescription, you could end up falling sicker or your ailment could persist. In the myth, Daedalus comes up with the ideas for the escape and goes ahead to invent the magical wings. This shows that a father should provide for his children and the welfare of his family should be a major concern to him. Daedalus leads Icarius into flying and he teaches him how to fly. Here, the role of a father is brought out by molding of the son in his childhood. By Daedalus, giving Icarius instructions shows his concern for his son. He even begged the son not to get too close to the son since he knew the consequences. Daedalus and his son were provided with comfort by king Minos but they still wanted to go back to their home. This teaches that east or west home is the best. Even if someone travels the world, home will always be the best place in the world since there is a lot of love from family. Their escape from the island where they were prisoners is a lesson that people should always make effort to make their lives better and not settle for destructive lives if they have the ability to improve their lifestyles. The name of the story is the boy who flew too high and it ends in tragedy of the boy falling into the sea after he refuses to adhere to the instructions given to him by his father. This warns against overdoing actions since ‘too much of something is dangerous’. Take eating as an example, if you eat too much you get a stomach upset and if you do not eat you get hungry. It is therefore wise for a person to eat just enough to satisfy him. The phrase ‘fly too high’ is used to denote success. In most cases when people become successful, they tend to be ignorant of rules and this leads to their downfall and this serves as a warning to them. The sun in this case represents evil that destroys people and makes them fall. Icarius falls when he gets too close to the sun. This is a moral teaching that evil should be avoided and people should instead do good deeds. References Graves, R. (1955). The Greek myths. Baltimore: Penguin Books. Eliot, A. (1976). Myths. New York: McGraw-Hill. Barthes, R. (2012). Mythologies. New Yo3424rk: Hill and Wang.