I have a thing for mythos too.
(And Methos, if you're a Highlander fan)
How much do I intentionally use mythology in my stories? They're the deliberate foundations of my urban fantasies. How far do I twist them?
Fafafafafaaaaar.
I really like to play with take the characters that aren't the popular ones. More fun? The ones who wandered off into the sunset never to be heard from again. Every pantheon has a stable of the forgotten. What about the tertiary characters who are there just to hand over the Weapon of Utter Success to the protagonist then vanish from the myth? These folks are ripe for their own sagas.Oh, then there are the symbols that cross multiple myths from around the world. Circle of Life anyone? (Go ahead, sing the song form the Lion King, I'll wait.) What about my personal fave, the dragon? Eh? Eh? I'm on team "Benevolent until You Piss Them Off" for the record.
How can any author resist those writing prompts?
Now, the funny part. I don't intentionally use established mythology in my epic fantasies. However. By the time I'm reading the almost-nearly-final draft, I see pieces of assorted familiar myths waving from the pages. Jeffe pretty much nailed the reason for that on Sunday -- "[myths] are iconic embodiments of our understanding of the world - both natural and supernatural." Without those bits of common understanding, I don't know that the story would resonate with readers.
Dear, dear readers, if you could create a story for a secondary or tertiary character from an established myth whose story would you write?
