Does Classical Mythology reflect a disposition to explore the realities of the world or a desire to escape from them?

The first 200 words of this essay...

"Does Classical Mythology reflect a disposition to explore the realities of the world or a desire to escape from them?"

For the purposes of this essay the themes of religion and death will be explored in an attempt to understand whether the ancient Greek societies used myth to understand these concepts or if they used them in a desire to escape the realities of their daily lives.

"Religion, it seems to me, is a set of theories or myths...In the case of religion the problem to be solved is big: the world. Most religions claim to explain the origins, ground plan, building materials, and working of the world; they often also prescribe conduct" (Jarvie 1969).

As the opening statement suggests, in the absence of science and scientists as it is understood today, the function of myth is to provide a framework with which the people of the time used to understand the world around them. It provides explanations for why the world is the way it is; how it was made and how it evolved and what was expected of the people who inhabited it. Myths provide a set of principles by which to live your life.