Walter F. Otto's Dionysus: Myth And Cult

“”Empty fantasies” these myths certainly are not. On the contrary, they contain much more that is real than if they were reporting that which had once occurred”.1 This quote by Walter F. Otto in his book, Dionysus: Myth and Cult, though used for a specific example, articulately and briefly explains why we read myths at all. They tell us not only about the people of the time, but also about ourselves. Through myths we can learn about a culture's values, about why we choose to or not to devote our lives to a religion, and about what these things mean for society as a whole. Miraculously, through myths about people from a different place and time than us, we are able to better understand ourselves here and now. Specifically this paper will