Mythstory

What is the relationship between myth and history? Has our understanding of this relationship changed because of the work of archaeologists?

Myths are often times just history with religion in them. Take the Epic of Gilgamesh for instance. Gilgamesh was a king of Uruk, but he was not two-thirds divine nor slayed the bull of heaven and humbaba. People poured their religion, which we know today as myth, into the facts to make great stories in which we enjoy today. Another example is The Iliad. In the Iliad, it takes the Trojan war and puts their Greek myths into it. It is quite interesting actually how they make great tales out of regular things such as a war.


I would say yes. If archaeologists had not found things like the Epic of Gilgamesh or The Iliad, then we would not be able to learn about their mixing of myth and history.