Contemporary mythology

Contemporary mythology, also called contemporary parable, is a recently developed term to describe modern stories which bear a resemblence, either in content or in cultural significance, to traditional mythology such as Greek Mythology or religious stories. In the same way that ancient mythology provided explanations of the world and its origins, contemporary mythology provides modern people with a metaphoricial language which helps us to explore, share, and understand our perceptions of the world. It also provides common reference points to facilitate the discussion of social and philosophical ideas. The term is usually, though not always, applied to stories of the fantasy and science fiction genres.

The term is also used to describe the internal rules or conceits employed by a particular story or fictional "world". As a prominant example, the fictional world of Star Wars has very detailed rules, history, population, physics, religion, etc. All of these make up the contemporary mythology of the Star Wars universe.

Ancient myths grew out of ancient cultures, using their values, and symbols which were directly relevant to the people in those cultures. As a basic example, defining the Greek god Zeus as the "king" off the gods was a reflection of a society which was ruled by its own Kings, and making him the father of all the gods was a reflection of their value that the King was a patriarch and caretaker of their society. Since our values, symbols, and understanding of the physical world have signifigantly changed over time, many find that contemporary mythology is more useful and relevant to their experience in the world. Though many ancient myths still have great resonance, contempoary mythology may have more immediate applications and is more likely to be connected to common experience.

Put simply, it is more likely that a person in America will have seen the Star Wars movies than it is that they will be familliar with the details of Greek mythology. And where as the values represented in religious myths may seem outdated and distant, or may have negative connotations to particular individuals, the same people can use the spiritual struggles depicted in Star Wars to discuss and understand their own experience in the world.

There is considerable evidence that ancient people considered their myths to be true (i.e. the Gods were real and had actually done those things detailed in mythic stories) in the same way that religious myths are often believed be true today. In contrast, contemporary mythology is usually understood to be fiction and metaphorical--- though some notable and debatable exceptions exist.

Contemporary myths are often re-creations or reinterpretations of ancient myths. For example, the ancient myth of the Vampire now exists in narratives such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which many have identified as a contemporary myth. It is also common for contemporary mythology to employ similar kinds of symbols as ancient myth. For example, in ancient mythology it was common for person to employ an animal mask to take on the spirit and energy of that animal. In a contemporary myth such as the superhero story of Batman, the hero uses a mask and costume to endow himself with the power and iconic force of that animal. The point is made more obvious in the Spider-Man comics where, aside from himself, many of his classic enemies have an animal motif like Doctor Octopus, The Scorpion, The Lizard and The Chameleon. Similarly, the well known character Superman closely resembles the ancient myth of a changeling[?], a non-human child who was raised by humans and grew to become their champion. Many super-hero stories can be included in the category of contemporary parable. Star Trek has been described as a futuristic version of the Odyssey combined with the American notion of the frontier.

Study of contemporary mythology often includes comparisons with ancient myth, and with established formal philosophy. Theories of contemporary mythology are also being more and more widely used in religious practice, psychotherapy, and the observation and analysis of popular culture. Theories of contemporary mythology are also often connected to theories of the collective unconscious first posited by Jung.