Making Money With Mythology

American superheroes and their make believe stories are very popular these days. But before them, the gods and heroes of a country’s mythology used to be more famous. In fact, they are taught in schools and children grew up knowing their stories.

What is Mythology?

According to a definition from Wikipedia, mythology is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. The main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods, or supernatural humans.

As can be noted, many of these mythological beings were once worshipped and even feared. Many started out as religions and when people started to not believe that these beings were not real, they were eventually classified as myths.

This is still happening now. Long established religions that have existed for centuries are being challenged. Many people are starting to not believe in these religions and are even classifying them as myths. The discretion is up to the believer.

What Is The Appeal Of Mythology?

There must be a reason why myths have survived the test of time. They may not be as popular now and continue to fade away from our collective memories, but somehow they still manage to hang on to our minds. Here are some reasons why they persist:

They Have Left A Permanent Mark In History:

They were the first answers invented to humanity’s most baffling questions. Due to their appeal as an answer to the relatively ignorant people then, they were believed then as true and in some cases still being taught as true by the current crop of ignorant people in the world.

For example, there are people who still believe that lightning and thunder still come from the thunder gods who reside in the sky like Thor or Zeus. Even though people are now taught in schools how thunder and lighting form, there are still people who refuse to believe in science but rely more on the myths told to them by their elders.

There are schools that still teach mythology as a part of their literary studies. Because early literature and art were once entirely devoted to mythology, one cannot have a good grasp of literature and art without being knowledgeable in mythology.

In fact, many part of our lives have been influenced by mythology. The names of days and months are derived from mythology. Many calendar events such as seasons owe their origins to mythology.

So, it is very hard to escape from the effects of mythology. Our daily lives and traditions are affected by them. But this is not such a bad thing as long as you believe that myths are just that, old made up stories that are not real.

Don’t be the person who still believes that natural disasters are caused by angry gods. It is saddening to see people online commenting that natural disasters are caused by angry gods. These people should have learned science first so they can better handle natural disasters.

Familiarity:

Children are taught mythology at such a young age. They are taught by the child’s elders, the schools, television, movies, books and so on. As long as the children do not grow up believing that these myths is true, they do not have a negative effect on the children.

As a businessperson, this could be advantageous. Imagine if you are marketing a product based on its strength. Let us say it is a hammer. You could name it Hercules Hammer and people would easily identify your product with strength and invincibility.

If you were marketing a story about vampires, you do not have to explain what a vampire is and that they drink human blood. Almost all people in the world know that once you describe a creature as a vampire, it means that it sucks human blood.

The same can be said for superheroes. They are starting to become the modern day myths. Many people do not believe that superman is true, but this does not stop many people from idolizing him.

The idolization of superman can be so extreme that people not only tattoo their body with his “S” symbol but also want to be him. There are Asians who change their skin and eye color just to become more caucasian like superman is.

It is not hard to imagine that in the distant future, superhero stories can become so twisted enough that there would be people in the future who would believe that they are real. This is how myths are invented.

An Escape From Reality:

Perhaps the reason why people have been captivated with mythology is because of the interesting, powerful and uncommon characters these mythologies have. For example, Greek Mythology is full of stories of beautiful and handsome goddesses and gods.

Not only were they frequently described as perfect human specimens but they were all powerful too because they are gods and heroic characters with abilities that are beyond normal human beings.

Who would not want to trade places with these beings if they were real? Many people would trade places with these mythology characters in a heartbeat. These people are just like the kids who dream of having superpowers.

These people are like the husbands and wives who watch movies and television shows that depict people living exciting lives of suspense, romance, and riches. And what is more exciting than to be a god or a powerful creature who lives an adventurous life.

This must be the reason why the character of Hercules and Thor have been adapted for the superhero world. Superhero creators are known for borrowing characters and heroes based from mythology.

Mythology Sells Well Even In Their Original Format

One good thing about mythology is that it has already pre-made stories and characters which have existed even before the advent of the copyright law of all countries. You may do with them as you wish.

Sell Them In Their Original Form With Minimal Changes

There are many authors and publishers who make money selling the original mythology stories. They don’t change much of the characters or stories but just update them to their reader’s taste.

For example, the famous writer Neil Gaiman has a famous book about Norse Mythology. It is a bestseller and many people regard it as one of his best books. He doesn’t deviate much from the myths, but he just retells the stories from his perspective.

Then there is also Stephen Fry with is book about Greek Mythology. He also does not deviate much from the mythology stories, but instead, he gives a more complete story of the myths.

For example, in one of his seminars he read a more complete story from his book about King Midas. Most people only know that King Midas was given the power to turn everything he touches into gold. The story ended with him turning his family to gold which made him an unhappy man.

However, Stephen Fry also told the story of how Midas was able to lift the curse on him and how his family turned to normal. Ultimately, the complete story tells how Midas killed himself because of a curse by a Greek god.

If you want to make money in mythology this way, you should focus on writing style. If you have ever read or heard both of these men, you would clearly notice that they have a distinct style of communicating.

It’s not because these people are both British. These two men are known for not only being authors but are also known as an artists as well. Neil Gaiman is an excellent writer known for journalism and comics. Stephen Fry is a full blown artist who has appeared in movies.

Mythology Illustration Books

Mythology Illustration books also sell well. Instead of you concentrating on the stories, you concentrate instead on the illustrations. There are reasons why mythology illustrations are desired.

Because gods, goddesses, heroes and other mythological creatures are fantastical in appearance, they sell the book by themselves. Also, mythology is often associated with art. When readers see the mythology illustrations in books, they associate it with museum pieces and other ancient artifacts.

Depict Mythological Characters in Modern Settings

The question: “Could these mythological characters be real?” has always been asked by many people. Many people are intrigued with stories of supposedly non-existent beings being alive. It simply excites people’s minds.

For example, there are still stories going around that Hitler and Elvis Presley aren’t really dead yet. There are stories online from people who claimed to have seen these people or heard from someone that have seen these people.

This must be the reason why Rick O’Riordan’s fictional books about Greek mythological characters existing in modern society are very popular. His Percy Jackson books have even been turned into movies.

Going back to Neil Gaiman, his book which is named “American Gods” is also very popular. In his book, the mythological gods of various cultures and countries exist in America where they live modern lives.

This book of him has become so popular that it has already been turned into a television series. In many of his writings, Neil Gaiman uses mythological characters and stories as inspirations.

In case you haven’t known it yet. Neil Gaiman has both a book and comics following. His most notable comic book has been the Sandman comics series. These comics have also been influenced by mythology.

Mythology YouTube Channels

It’s not only in books and illustrations that you could make money with mythology. There are YouTube mythology channels with more than a million subscribers. They also have several videos with more than a million views.

For example, there is a YouTube channel named Mythology & Fiction Explained. Many of his video topics overlap, but this is understandable. The stories and characters of mythologies can be so complex and interrelated together that there is bound to be a repetition.

Based on what I have observed and you could check it out yourself, mythology videos are quite popular. I checked not only this channel’s videos but also other mythology channels. I found videos with several thousands if not more than a million views while only being present in YouTube for a short while.

Mythology Is A Rich Source Of Material

Besides being familiar to both young and old people, mythology has another advantage. There are mythologies that are so expansive that you would never run out of materials to use as a media product.

How many mythologies based on culture do you know? Chances are, you would only know a small amount of mythology from your own culture as well as a small amount of mythology from Greek and Norse mythology, which are two of the most famous mythologies in the world.

Let’s take Greek mythology. How many Greek gods and goddesses do you know? Do you know their stories and family tree? Chances are, you would only know a few gods and goddesses as well as only know the most basic of their backgrounds.

But let us say you become an expert in Greek mythology. How about Norse mythology or Celtic mythology? How about urban myths? The list is endless. Simply put, you would never run out of ideas to write. This is the advantage of mythology.

An Update Of The Indian Market

Perhaps a good news for writers from outside America especially to countries where mythology as a form of entertainment is not very popular. In India, there are now Indians who are interested in their country’s mythology.

One book that is not only popular in India but in many parts of the world is titled “The Immortals of Meluha” by Amish Tripathi. It is a modern interpretation of how the Indian mythology character Shiva became a god to Indians.

I can’t give away most of the plot, but according to the book, Shiva was once a human but through his heroic deeds became a legend and then ultimately became venerated as a god in Hindu culture.

Conclusion

Mythology is very familiar to both young and old alike. It is taught by our elders, our schools and by the media we consume. Every nation’s culture is affected by it. This is the reason why there would be an endless amount of ideas that you could derive from it.

You could sell mythology content in its almost original form with original stories and illustrations. You could also rewrite the stories and illustrations to suit your audience. After all, mythology is more ancient than copyright law and you can do with it as you wish.

The Online Horror Market.