I was once part of a panel about science fiction and mythology, and naturally, we ended up talking more about mythology—that happens a lot when you’re trying to dissect it and adapt it for science fiction. It turns out that even though mythology is as old as humankind, few of us know much about it at all. Case in point: my fellow panelists were all white men, and most of the myths they talked about were Greek and Norse. I, the lone woman and the lone Asian, was left to talk about the myths and the perspectives of the eastern hemisphere.
Later, an audience member of Irish descent asked what I felt was the jackpot question: why aren’t Celtic myths as well-known as Greek and Norse myths?
Why aren’t any other myths as well-known as Greek and Norse myths, for that matter?
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Mythology says a lot of interesting things about a particular culture at a particular time and place. Not only do you get to learn about fascinating material cultures—architecture, pottery, food preparation, and so much more—but you get to learn about a culture’s values and how they play out across experiences like war, sex, and death. All great points for worldbuilding, all great takeaways for science fiction and fantasy writers.
The thing about mythology is that, the same things that make them exciting—war, sex, death—can be the same things that make the mythology vanish. An invading culture or expanding religion may destroy records or alter them to carry foreign values and turn away from traditional ones. A colonizer may marry and impregnate a native storyteller, who will have no time for anything other than her child. A younger generation's desire to live and work in cities spells the death of old traditions—such as the recitations of myths—as there are fewer and fewer people to pass them on to.
Why aren’t any other myths as well-known as Greek and Norse myths? Consider that as history is written by the victors, so, too, do the victors propagate the planet’s most popular myths. It’s an uncomfortable truth, but much of the western world has a history of invasion, colonization, and empire; and for the longest time, the culture they upheld as ideal was that of the ancient Greeks. And today, Norse myths are gaining some traction thanks to the Marvel movies—which are produced by Hollywood, which dominates much of the entertainment of the English-speaking world. A lot of them, also, have been sanitized for an English-speaking western audience with Christian values.
(Language is another barrier, but talking about the importance of translating myths for an English-speaking audience will take a whole other article.)
Even though many other myths have been lost to time, there are many that still remain, accessible through the right keywords in a search engine and books, if your interest runs that deep. The culture that eschews them, however, will not change; it’s up to you to find them and get to know them.
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But should you, as a writer who is likely an outsider to the myth’s culture of origin, breathe new life into them?
It’s a complicated question, one that has no easy, satisfying answer. First of all, make sure that the origin culture is not a closed culture. These hold their myths sacred and borrowing them lightly may be considered taboo.
Second of all, find out more about that culture. Read around it—read more myths than just the one you plan to adapt or retell, and perhaps read some nonfiction about the culture as well. Talk to peo
ple from that culture, get their insights and perspectives. You wouldn’t want to take a value they consider sacred and demonstrate it as barbaric and regressive, for example. Remember that you’re a guest in someone’s house; don’t track mud on the floor, eat their lunch, and rearrange their furniture, too.
It may seem like treating a story with respect takes a lot of work—and it is. But anything worth your respect—a person, an experience, a relationship, a passion like writing—takes a lot of work.
Storytellers are some of the most imaginative people in the world. It shouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination for storytellers to seek out and learn other stories that have always been there, too.
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