Line #53 Main/Mythology


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9	A mythology is the entirety of all the [=myths=], {{legend}}s, and traditional beliefs of a specific culture, people, or region. The term can also mean "the study of myths," but in colloquial usage and around this wiki, expect the former meaning. Though these are often thought of as "dead" genres that only contain ancient works, most religions and cultures have mythology, and mythological stories continue to be created and reinterpreted all the time in living religions.
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11	The terms myth and legend are used more or less interchangeably in everyday language. When things are interpreted a little more strictly, then myths are lore about gods and other entities of cosmic relevance, while legends are narratives with human protagonists. A third segment of mythology is so-called "low mythology," which encompasses folk beliefs about lesser non-human mythical beings.
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13	Mythology is one of the [[OlderThanDirt oldest known genres]] and exists in different media. It's certainly grounded in OralTradition, but all known and troped mythological stories are necessarily {{Literature}}. Mythology has inspired copious visual {{Art}} since ancient times and, in some cultures, {{Theatre}}. The modern {{Fantasy}} and {{Mythopoeia}} genres are also strongly influenced and inspired by mythology.
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15	Mythological stories are (or were) not usually considered {{Fiction}} by the people or community which create(d) them -- instead, they are often interpreted as true accounts of past events or the present state of the world. As such, mythology is directly relevant to the society that made it: Myths especially form an important part of {{Religion\|Tropes}} and shape the worldview and the practices of worship of their believers. Legends supposedly record history and may evoke a sense of cultural or national identity, as well as reinforce a society's social norms and values. All in all, mythology provides a people or community with ideas about their own place in the greater context of the universe and history. This doesn't mean it can't provide more mundane services like entertainment, too.
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17	Overlaps with {{Legend}}s and {{Fairy Tale}}s, which tend to be more cultural than religious.
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19	!!Myths, legends, folktales, and religions with their own pages:
20	[[index]]
21
22	!!!The Americas
23	* General -- Myth/NativeAmericanMythology (many different indigenous cultures of the Americas)
24	* Indigenous North Americans:
25	** Myth/NavajoMythology (Southwestern US)
26	** Myth/InuitMythology (indigenous Arctic tribes from Alaska, Northern Canada, and Greenland)
27	** Mesoamerican Mythology (pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America)
28	*** Myth/AztecMythology (Nahua peoples)
29	*** Myth/MayanMythology
30	** Myth/TainoMythology (indigenous people of the Caribbean Islands)
31	* Indigenous South Americans:
32	** Myth/IncaMythology (Quechua and other Andean peoples)
33	** Myth/TupiGuaraniMythology (native tribes in Brazil and the Amazon region)
34	** Myth/PanoMythology (Amazonian natives between the rainforests of Peru and Brazil)
35	* Post-Colonial Folklore:
36	** Myth/BrazilianFolklore (Brazilian folktales influenced by European, African, and indigenous cultures)
37	** Myth/MountainFolklore (Appalachian region of the United States)
38
39	!!!Asia-Pacific and Oceania
40	* Central and North Asian Mythologies:
41	** Myth/AinuMythology (indigenous people of northern Japan and eastern Russia)
42	** Myth/AltaicMythology (Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Hunnic, and Xiongnu peoples of the Eurasian Steppes)
43	* East Asian and Mainland Southeast Asian Mythologies:
44	** Myth/ChineseMythology
45	*** UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}
46	** Myth/JapaneseMythology
47	*** {{UsefulNotes/Shinto}}ism
48	** Myth/KoreanMythology
49	** Myth/ThaiMythology
50	** Myth/TibetanMythology
51	** Myth/VietnameseMythology
52	* Maritime Southeast Asian and Oceanian Mythologies:
53	** Myth/AboriginalAustralianMyths (indigenous ethnic groups of Australia)
54	** Austronesian Mythologies:
55	*** Myth/MalaysianMythology
56	*** Myth/PacificMythology (Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian peoples)
57	*** Myth/PhilippineMythology
58	** Myth/PapuanMythology (indigenous ethnic groups of New Guinea)
59
60	!!!Europe, North Africa, West and South Asia
61	* Afro-Asiatic (and Semitic) Mythologies:
62	** Abrahamic Mythology and Religions:
63	*** UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}
64	*** UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}
65	*** UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}
66	*** UsefulNotes/{{Manichaeism}}
67	** Amazigh Mythologies (North Africa):
68	*** Myth/GuancheMythology (indigenous people of the Canary Islands)
69	*** Myth/KabyleMythology (Northeast Algeria)
70	*** Myth/TuaregMythology (Sahara desert)
71	** Myth/ArabMythology (pre-Abrahamic Arabian paganism)
72	** Myth/CanaaniteMythology (pre-Abrahamic Levantine paganism)
73	** Myth/EgyptianMythology (ancient Egyptian religion)
74	** Myth/MesopotamianMythology (ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian religions of the Fertile Crescent)
75	* Finno-Ugric Mythologies:
76	** Myth/EstonianMythology
77	** Myth/FinnishMythology
78	* Indo-European Mythologies:
79	** Myth/ArmenianMythology (ancient Armenian religion)
80	** Myth/BalticMythology (various Baltic tribes around the Baltic Sea, including present-day Latvia and Lithuania)
81	** Myth/CelticMythology (ancient Celtic peoples of Britain and Ireland)
82	*** Myth/ArthurianLegend (the legends and stories about the founding of Britain)
83	** Myth/ClassicalMythology (ancient Greco-Roman and Hellenistic religions)
84	** Myth/HinduMythology (various religious traditions native to the Indian subcontinent)
85	*** UsefulNotes/{{Hinduism}}
86	*** UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}
87	** Myth/HittiteMythology (ancient Anatolia in present-day Turkey)
88	** Myth/LusitanianMythology (ancient tribes of the Iberian Peninsula)
89	** Myth/NorseMythology (extension of Germanic paganism in Scandinavia)
90	** Myth/PersianMythology (ancient Iranian religions)
91	*** Myth/ScythianMythology (nomadic Iranian tribes from Central Asia)
92	*** UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} (ancient Persian religion, one of the oldest in the world)
93	** Myth/RomaniMythology (folktales and religious traditions of the Roma people)
94	** Myth/SlavicMythology (various Slavic peoples of Central/Eastern Europe and the Balkan Peninsula)
95	*** Myth/RussianMythologyAndTales
96	* North Causasian Mythology:
97	** Myth/NartSagas (mythology of the North Caucasus)
98
99	!!!Sub-Saharan Africa
100	* General -- Myth/AfricanMythology (many different cultures in Sub-Saharan Africa)
101	* Austronesian Mythologies:
102	** Myth/MalagasyMythology (indigenous religion of Madagascar)
103	* Central African Mythologies:
104	** Myth/BetiPahuinMythology (the Beti speaking peoples of Central Africa)
105	** Myth/KongoMythology (the people of the lower Congo River)
106	** Myth/MbutiMythology (the pygmy peoples of Northeast Congo)
107	** Myth/MongoMythology (the legends of the Mongo and related peoples of central Congo)
108	** Myth/NyangaMythology (the lore of the Nyanga and related peoples of Kivu)
109	** Myth/SawaMythology (the Sawabantu of coastal Cameroon)
110	* East African Mythologies:
111	** Myth/GreatLakesBantuMythology (the peoples of the Great Lakes region of East Africa)
112	** Nilotic Mythologies
113	*** Myth/AlurMythology (the southern Luo people of East Africa)
114	*** Myth/MaaMythology (Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania)
115	** Myth/SwahiliMythology (the people of the Southeast African coast)
116	* West African Mythologies:
117	** Myth/AkanMythology (the Akan speaking peoples of Lower Guinea)
118	** Myth/FulaniMythology (the Fula speaking pastoralists of the Sahel)
119	** Myth/GbeMythology (the Gbe people of Lower Guinea)
120	*** UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}} (Afro-American religion and culture with influences from multiple traditions)
121	** Myth/HausaMythology (the traditional beliefs of the Hausa of the Central Sahel)
122	** Myth/IbibioEfikMythology (the Ibibio-Efik people of Lower Guinea)
123	** Myth/IgboMythology (the Igbo people of Lower Guinea)
124	** Myth/IjawMythology (the people of the Niger Delta)
125	** Myth/JukunMythology (the Jukun and related peoples of Nigeria and Cameroon)
126	** Myth/MandeMythology (pre-Islamic beliefs and lore of the Mande people of West Africa)
127	*** Literature/TheEpicOfSundiata
128	*** Myth/MendeMythology (tales of the Mende of Sierra Leone and Liberia)
129	*** Myth/WoiEpic (the Kpelle people of Upper Guinea)
130	** Myth/MossiMythology (the Mossi people of the Sahel)
131	** Myth/SenufoMythology (the Senufo people of the Sahel)
132	** Myth/SererMythology (the Serer people of Senegambia)
133	** Myth/SonghaiMythology (the Songhai people of the Western Sahel)
134	** Myth/YorubaMythology (the Yoruba people of Lower Guinea)
135
136	!!!Miscellaneous Folklore
137	* Myth/NauticalFolklore (sea-related legends)
138	* UsefulNotes/WiccanMythology (Wicca neopaganism)
139	[[/index]]

Context Main / Mythology