According to Webster's dictionary, folklore is the traditional customs, tales, sayings, or art forms preserved among a people. In addition, folklore of any society anywhere is the humanity of people; it unifies them and directs their wisdom towards the benefits of the human kind. Folklore also progresses as the society progresses, and it moves from one generation to another. Therefore, studying the folklore of a particular society helps in understanding the development of this society over the years. In this paper, several folklore stories will be discussed from different societies across the world including Greek and Roman folktales, Scotland, and Palestinian folktales.
The first folktale that will be discussed is from ancient Greek and Roman societies. The title of the tale is Constellations 31, which can be found in Star Myths and Folklore of the Greeks and Romans: A sourcebook. This story discusses Poseidon and Amphitrite. Poseidon wishes to marry Amphitrite, but she wanted to preserve her virginity, therefore she fled to Mount Atlas. Poseidon sent out many searches to find her, among them was the dolphin. The dolphin, under the order of Poseidon, went looking for Amphitrite around the island of Atlas, and eventually the dolphin found her. The dolphin then brought Amphitrite to Poseidon, and he married her and "decreed the highest honors of the sea for the dolphin". Poseidon insisted that this dolphin that found Amphitrite was sacred and placed an image of it among the stars. In the sky, the dolphin has one star on the mouth; two on the dorsal fin; three on the ventral fins; one on the back, and two on the tail. Because of the number of stars corresponds to the number of Muses, this animal is said to be fond of music.
This story about Poseidon and Amphitrite and the dolphin is common in the ancient Greek and Roman societies. The author talks about how the Greeks and Romans did not only view the dolphin as the emblem of philanthropy and service; a well established tradition, attested by ancient authors of natural history as well as poets, also associates the dolphin with love of music.
How can culture be revealed in myths? Folk literature & folklore show a way of culture by sharing their stories. Culture shown through folk literature is about people of a culture & their beliefs & customs. Folk literature is both simultaneously revealing & limiting about an inuit culture. In "The...
Many years ago before technological advances were made in the medical industry, people had to rely on folklore medicine, such as herbal remedies. ... Arguments have been made against folklore medicine such as the fact that there is no real evidence that these remedies work medically, therefore producing false hopes. ...
Medieval Folklore Therapies: Most folklore medicines were "simples" made of herbal ingredients, which were taken raw or in teas. ... Because of these differences, diseases can become mild or severe, acute or chronic, easily curable or difficult to cure or incurable Indian Folklore Remedies: Turmeric has been a vital medicine in ancient India and is still used extensively as an ingredient in food preparations as well as for external application on the body. ...
Vampires: Folklore Throughout the Ages What, exactly, is a vampire? ... There has recently been an influx of vampire folklore in popular culture. ... In order to observe vampire folklore in full, on must sort out and observe all of the different types of vampire lore, from the origin to the modern conception. ... Evidence of vampire folklore in other Slavic areas of Europe including Poland, Bulgaria, and Russia, has been found as early as the 10th century. ... Vampire Folklore in the 19th Century A resurgence of vampire folklore occurred in the late 1800s, when Gothic novels became increa...
He focused on the folklore of Ireland in his initial works, and the more contemporary aspects of social life later. ... The mythologies are his Irish folklore, the stories of old told by word of mouth and fable from his childhood. ... They read it and touted it as Irish folklore in itself, when really it was a simple tribute to the stories of old. ...
The description also has a sense of folkloric cartoon imagery to it that helps make the tale universal and timeless. ... And so the statement "the kind that great man put" evokes the sentence structure of religious folklore or biblical writing through the verb at the end of the sentence. ... Kafka's choice of not describing time through a longer list by including months, seasons or time creates a folkloric understanding of time and helps to give weight to his exploring of the human condition though imagery. ... By personifying the fleas when "he asks the fleas to help him...
Eatonville was the first incorporated all-black town in the United States, which figured prominently in her later fiction and collections of folklore. ... Hurston's folklore collections include Mules and Men (published in 1935), based on her field research in the American South and Tell My Horse (published in 1938), which describes folk customs in Haiti and Jamaica. ... The theory of sacredness and being in touch with your inner self is always present, as the novel espouses a worldview rooted in folklore and mythology. As an anthropologist, Hurston collected rural mythology and folklore...
William Hedges tells us that, "by 1820 he had become a partial convert to romanticism, catering to the vogue for tearful sentimentality (though he made fun of it too) and exhibiting romantic interests in landscape, folklore, and the past" (2072). ... Irving got the idea for his story from German folklore. ... Even in today's society this folklore of missing out on many years appears. ... The folklore of Rip Van Winkle has stood the test of time. ...
This town of Sleepy Hollow and its characters have become a permanent part of this country's folklore. The story originated in German folklore, "capturing feelings of a country being transformed from classical lifestyles to romantic dreams" (History of American Literature1). ...