The Purpose of Myth

4 questions myths address are:
1. Who am I?
2. What is the nature of the universe in which I live?
3. How do I relate to that universe?
4. How much control do I have over my own life?
4 themes in world mythology are:
1. The first parents are often the gods of sky and earth.
2. The creator god creates the first humans from the earth.
3. The world being destroyed by a great flood.
4. The idea of rebirth.
The beginning of the universe for most major cultures is often when divine beings deprecate the earth and sky.
Hero myths and epics teach members of society appropriate attitudes, behavior, and values if that culture.
Ordinary people identify with heroes because heroes are also imperfect.
The foundation of the Matriarchal Society was the agricultural year.
Sigmund Freud's views myths as the expression of the individual's unconscious  wishes, fears, and drives.
Myths demonstrate that people possess the intellectual capacity to understand the world in which they live.