If one of the purposes of mythology is to explain things about the world and abo

Question

If one of the purposes of mythology is to explain things about the world and about ourselves, what do these myths teach us? What do they tell us about human nature? About this particular society?

What do you think motivates Oisin to go to Tir na nOg with the fairy woman? What qualities might these represent in a warrior that society of the time would have wanted to emulate?

What do you think Cuchulainn's name change says about his society? Keeping in mind what his new name means, what do you think this points to as important and valuable?

Why do you think the children of Lir turn into swans? What emotions or traits do we associate with a swan?

In two of the stories you read this week, we encounter characters who live far longer than the normal lifespan of a human, yet still must eventually face the death of their loved ones and themselves. What do you think is the effect of a significantly longer lifespan on someone's ability to cope with loss? Do you think this longer lifespan makes a difference? Why or why not?

Explanation / Answer

The fairy woman was so elegant and beautiful. Only a very few myths bring out the qualities of women that doesnt include beauty. Beauty is often treated as a primary characteristic that a woman should posses and no other talent can make up for it and is not given as much attention. so here we see that the fairy woman was beautiful with flowing golden hair, which probably would have made Oisin to fall for her. But we can see that Oisin posses characteristics like being sure and certain. He is also bright and beautiful. The young deer was swift and possesed all the qualities of a warrior. Since he was found to be in the shape of a deer when first discovered, maybe he wanted to explore the more initimate stuff about magic.

Setanta, even as a boy had all the skills of a warrior. He was self trained and brilliant. The quick way he thought before killing the hound was amazing which gave him his new name which means hound. Even though Cuchulainns's preferred to be called as Sentanta, when it was mentioned that it was a prophecy, he accepted the name. This shows that people were way into prophecies and believed things said about the future. Like anyone, they had respected the signs of future from their gods.

Their skin was white and soft as swans’ feathers, and they had large blue eyes and very sweet voices. So they were turned into swans. It shows that they were sophisticated and gentle.

Longer lifespan makes a difference for us to accept our deaths because living is tiring. But it doesnt change the way of coping with a loss. We might say that death is better when we tend to live for a very long time, but the pain of heartbreak and loss doesnt change

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