Mythology Is Defined as the

Mythology is defined as the oral retelling of stories that one particular culture believes to be true. These stories, called myths, often times contain elements of the supernatural with the purpose of explaining or interpreting natural events as they pertain to nature, the universe and humanity in general. When viewed together, mythology creates a historical account of the development of humanity within the world. As one culture fades and new cultures have risen, the outgoing culture's myths were often adapted by the new culture and added to.

Thus, mythology can be described as an accumulation of our collective mythological history. Three of the major areas of mythology that have influenced the development of this so-called collective mythological heritage are the concepts of Atonism, Zarathustrism and Judaism, all of which follow the monotheism line of mythology. To understand this, one can look at history as being divided into two periods of mythology. The first period is the polytheistic period where a cultures mythology was characterized with the presence of many gods and other divine characters.

Thus, explanations for the creation of the universe, the weather and all other happenings were explained through the actions of the actively present gods. Examples of such cultures include the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. On the other hand, these polytheistic cultures eventually gave way to the cultures following a monotheistic mythology. These cultures included Atonism, Zarathustrism, Judaism and, eventually Christianity.

However, it must be noted that monotheism mythology has never completely replaced polytheism but has had a much more influential role in the development of what has become known as Western mythology. Atonism comes from the word atonement and is a prevalent part of the Judea and Christian mythology. Accordingly, Atonism describes how one's sins can be forgiven by the follower's god.

In Judaism, atonism is the process of forgiving or pardoning a transgression and, with in Judea mythology, this is done through the performance of rituals performed by a high priest. In Christianity, atonism refers to the pardoning or forgiving of sins done through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Zarathustrism, on the other hand, is based on the philosophical mythology as given by Zoroaster, an ancient Iranian prophet. According to Zarathustrism, the universe is a cosmic struggle between the truth and the lie.

The main characteristics of this mythology are the belief in a doctrine consisting of creation, existence and Free Will. The purpose of humankind is to sustain creation, existence and free will. This is accomplished through taking an active participation in life and exercising good thoughts, words and deeds. Judaism is perhaps the best know mythology as it is also a prominent religion that has had much influence on such Western thought as Christianity.

Although the mythology of Judaism is much to expansive to even attempt to summarize, it can be characterized by several key beliefs. Unlike many other religions, the mythology of Judaism is not based in a specific group but instead within a collection of sacred texts and traditions, thus giving it a strong mythological tradition. According to the Judeo mythological tradition, there is a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent and transcendent god who created and continues to govern the actions of all living things.

The best way to truly gain an in depth understanding of these three mythologies is to review the primary sources that have developed them. Thus, the next step to understanding the mythology of monotheism is to review the myths that have been passed down from generation to generation. Akhenaton's, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, Hymn to Aton provides a remarkable insight into the mythology of the ancient Egyptians. The hymn is remarkable in it is one of the rare examples of the artistic outpouring that occurred during the Amarna period.

Further, it serves as an excellent example of the gradual transition between polytheism and monotheism as the poem is highly monotheistic whereas ancient Egypt was highly polytheistic. According to the hymn, the Pharaoh Akhenaten praises Aton, the disk of the sun, as being the only god and thus the creator of the entire universe. For example, the hymn states, "O sole god, like whom there is no other!" And "Whilst thou went alone...." The hymn also follows the general creation myth of Genesis, a staple in the Judeo mythology.

Like the Genesis story, in the Hymn of Aton, the myth states that God is the one who gave speech, races, land and people. In essence, according to the hymn, the sun is the giver of all life, which makes sense as it is the sun's light that gives the means to sustaining life. Historically, many scholars view this hymn as one of the earliest known examples of monotheistic mythology.

In fact, the Pharaoh's thoughts were eventually found heretical by his own people and were quickly reverted to the more traditional polytheism of Egyptian mythology. However, this fact of both monotheism and atonement found in this hymn serve as an example of how mythology is passed on, as many scholoars argue that this hymn is an indication that Egyptians were the original source of Judaism and thus, the Judeo-Christian tradition. Thus, moving to the mythology of Judaism, we first look at the book of Exodus, in particular Chapter 20.

Exodus is the second book of the Torah and follows Genesis with the story of the Israelites in Egypt, where they are oppressed by the Pharaoh. It is also the story of Moses, who is sent to Egypt by God in order to liberate the Israelites and return them to the promised land. Exodus Chapter 20 is the issuing of the Ten Commandments by Moses.

According to Judaism, the Ten Commandments are a covenant made between the Jews and God that dictate what it is they must do to worship and please God. Of particular importance to our discussion is that it is in the Ten Commandments that the concept of monotheism is grounded, thus marking the official split between traditional Egyptian polytheism and modern Judeo-Christian monotheistic mythology.

According to the Ten Commandments, the Jewish God proclaims, "I, the Lord, am your God...You shall not have other gods besides me." Thus, the mythological tradition of monotheism is created. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments not only seem to take from Egyptian monotheism, but also exhibit concepts of antonism in that the Commandments essentially say "if you do this, I will forgive you and protect you," thus establishing the Jewish tradition of atonism.

In the Book of Deuteronomy, Chapters 6 and 13, tells of the three sermons delivered by Moses to the Israelites at the end of the Israelites wanderings through the desert. Within these.