This tragic flaw allows people to associate with these heroes. They are not perfect beings, but rather people, people that have flaws. Another feature of both myths that is very important to the idea of a universal ethical and moral code is the idea of repentance for sins. Both Tristan and Mwindo commit behaviors that are un-hero like, yet in the end they realize this and make up for their bad behaviors. Mwindo restores all the villages that he has destroyed. In the end Tristan repents for his sins, and makes penance for all the wrongs he has committed. All the elements of these stories are a result of the collective unconscious. The ideas of sin and repentance and good and noble behaviors are supported by all societies. The collective unconscious is projected into the morals and basic features of myths.
Myths as a result are governed by these ideas and are the universal feelings, thoughts, and memories shared by all humans. Thus it stands to reason that myths reflect human nature and human nature is reflected in myth. Some myths, generally creation myths, relate to questions like those mentioned previously. Others seem more like stories, or epics that heighten our imagination and interest. Enshrouded in their entertaining allure myths stand to educate and inform the reader, not only of history, but of moral and ethical behaviors. These myths define an ethical and moral basis upon which all of society and religion is built, and which applies to all people.
Myth and religion are synonymous in this respect; they tell stories around which a moral code is woven. Myths like religion are compensatory; they compensate for something that is lacking in society. This societal lacking may be a loss of structured ethics, or of freedom of love, or lack of basic human rights. The Romance of Tristan and Iseult was written during the crusades in a time of arranged marriages. The story would be told in court to ladies who never experienced love and adventure, and so the stories contained these subjects.
