Christian Mythology în William Golding's Lord of the Flies

The concept of myth has been defined in many ways during the ages. One of the definitions is the following: a myth is a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events . Many cultures have their own versions of common myths, but there appear to be common images, themes and motives which Jung called archetypes.

All great works of literature are based upon mythic themes or stories. Myths and mythic symbols are the elementary particles of imagination and creativity. The cultural historian Jacques Barzun has said: “What links myth with Literature, is the imagination.”

Christian mythology is the body of traditional narratives associated with Christianity from a mythological perspective. These traditional narratives include, but are not limited to, the stories contained in the Christian Bible. Myths and legends number among the most creative and abundant contributions of Christianity have inspired artists, dramatists, clerics, and others to contemplate the wondrous effects of Christian salvation on the cosmos and its inhabitants. Legends are episodic continuations of mythic narratives; they describe the effects of primordial events on an imagined history that is as fabulous as the primordial mysteries that brought that history into being. Legends describe history in fantastic terms in order to clarify the significance of the powers that underlie it. Christian legend contends with the question of what the Christian mystery means in the here and now. Because of their local frame of reference, legends vary incessantly, and widely different accounts emerge from diverse locales and periods. Favourite legendary themes are the struggles and miraculous adventures of heroes in the faith, accounts that edify the faith and support the courage of the listener. Some of the most popular Christian myths are the following: the creation of the world, the end of the paradisiac condition and the fall of humankind, the assumption of human form by a god, the saved saviour, the cataclysm at the end of time and the final judgment.