In an article by Fatih Berk in 2015 on the role of mythology to the cultural heritage of a nation, it was concluded that the mythology of a nation doesn't emerge by its history, but it is rather by means of mythology that the history of a nation is formed. Mythology is a piece of literature that is written to explain the origin of something; in the case of Greek Mythology, as it was discussed in class, it talks about the origin of the universe and how everything in it came to be.

Mythologies have always had a strong influence on human cultures across the world, as well as on the literature generated by these societies. "Mythology has two major roles," says Robert Graves, a prominent mythology critic. The first is to respond to the difficult questions that youngsters ask: who created the world? What will happen at the end? The myth's second role is to legitimize an existing social structure and account for ancient rituals and practices." Mythologies prominently define the legitimacy of human life in society. Mythologies have a significant impact on human behaviors, ideas, and literary importance. The study of mythology is essential now because mankind everywhere and at all times face the same basic issues and ask the same questions. People desire to know why they are and what they are, why nature operates the way it does, and how cause and effect interact. Questions of this sort seek answers from such research, which may aid in arriving at some explanation of the universes 'how and 'why.' "At various levels of consciousness and articulateness, myth is a method of expressing the roots of social activity."

More than being boxed in the idea of being "just a myth," I'd like to believe that the piece of literature has socio-cultural relevance. In Greece, there have been built altars dedicated to each of the Olympian gods, implying that the mythology holds relevance to the faith and religion of the Greek. But nowadays, in a time where the reliability of a belief system is placed under the scrutiny of science, what role does mythology play in a progressive and modern society?

Mythology has always had these elements in it that didn't sit right with me. The earliest that I read the Greek Mythology was when I was in sixth grade. Most of the timeline in the rule of the Olympian gods has been predominated by patriarchal and toxic masculine themes. The Greek and Roman mythologies have parallel stories. The Greco-Roman society was extremely patriarchal. This is reflected throughout classical mythology's myths. Looking at classic mythology, we can see that the roles women portrayed are very different from the roles women play in today's society. Although there are some similarities between women's roles in today's society and those in the past, their roles are more similar. This can be seen by examining the attributes of Greco­ Roman female gods and the roles women play in myths. When we compare the roles of women in myths to the roles of women today, we can see that there are many differences and few similarities. Now, we live in an era where feminism exists and is being advocated for by many. Hence the premises at which the Greek mythologies' plot revolves on is obsolete and if it were written in the modern days, it would be subject to the public's criticism, especially with the fact that there have been undertones of misogyny and sexual harassment that the literature has dabbled on.

In another angle, the Greek Mythology also heavily revolves on the idea of power and fight for who's the most rightful to reign as god. This concept isn't far from reality as we know it happens in real life since the time of monarchs. Even in the modern times where power is vested upon someone via means of election, we still witness countless tyrannical leaders who sit in power and drown themselves in it. However in the Greek Mythology, only those with equal status of being god can usurp the one who is currently in power. The people are powerless and helpless creatures. But this is very much different from the modern society where the people of the nation hold the power to both electing the person they deem capable to lead them and ousting leaders who abuse their power. Other than these, discrimination in social status is also a persistent theme throughout the book. This can be compared to the caste system that is still being implemented in nations like Nepal, where people who come from low social status are considered less of a human than those who come from wealthy and higher social classes.

I think, the place of Mythology in the modern times is in the world of Art and Literary appreciation where we can grasp its beauty and criticize its flaws. And to the society,  it serves  as a cautionary tale as to how the greed for  power drives someone into his unbecoming.