Mythical Reverence and Rational Reasoning Towards Nature: A discussion

Abstract

The ancient art of storytelling is flavoured with numerous myths. Literature reflects this in various forms of writing. One can find numerous myths in association with religion and culture. Primitive men worshipped nature, as it seemed to be superior to human power. They looked at the environment in awe. And myths prevailed on nature in the ancient era. Later on, men raised questions against these myths based on scientific arguments. They found that these myths were laid to preserve nature. Humans need a healthy environment to live a healthy life. Thus it is mandatory for them to safeguard it. With time humans started disregarding these myths saying that science is more important. Thus the reverence towards nature is also neglected which leads to disrespect and carelessness towards the environment. The present paper focuses on the myths prevalent in Southern India with particular reference to Tamil literature and also points out the mythical reason behind preserving nature. It explores how the human race failed to safeguard nature by neglecting the ancient myths. It attempts to prove that science is there to restore the environment and not to degrade.