A founding myth (Greek aition) is the etiological myth that explains the origins of a ritual or the founding of a city, group, belief, philosophy, discipline, idea or nation. Etiology (alternatively aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. A ritual is a set of actions often thought to have Symbolic value the performance of which is usually prescribed by a Religion or by the Traditions A founding myth may serve as the primary exemplum, as the myth of Ixion was the original example of a murderer rendered unclean by his crime, who needed cleansing (catharsis) of his impurity. An exemplum (Latin for "example" pl exempla, exempli gratia = "for example" abbr In Greek mythology, Ixion was king of the Lapiths, the most ancient tribe of Thessaly, and a son of Ares or Antion or the notorious Catharsis ( Κάθαρσις) is a Greek word meaning "purification" "cleansing" or "clarification

Founding myths are prominent features of Greek mythology. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance "Ancient Greek rituals were bound to prominent local groups and hence to specific localities," Walter Burkert has observed. Walter Burkert (born Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, February 2, 1931) a scholar of Greek mythology and cult, is an emeritus ^[1] "i. e. the sanctuaries and altars that had been set up for all time. " Thus Greek founding myths established the special relationship between a deity and local people, who traced their origins from a hero and authenticated their ancestral rights through the founding myth. A hero (from Greek grc ἥρως hērōs) in Greek mythology and Folklore, was originally a Demigod, the offspring of a mortal and Greek founding myths often embody a justification for the overturning of an older order.

An example of a Roman founding myth is Virgil's The Aeneid. For the group of nine Ancient Egyptian deities see Ennead. The Aeneid (əˈniːɪd in David McCullough's 1776 details the development of a modern founding myth. David Gaub McCullough (mə-kŭl'ə (born July 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Born and raised in Pittsburgh McCullough later attended 1776 is a book written by Historian David McCullough, first published by Simon & Schuster on May 24, 2005.

See also

• National myth
• Promised land

Notes

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