Home » Reading & Literature » Folklore » Apocalypse!

Apocalypse!

© Virginia Marin

Apocalypse, according to Webster, is defined as any revelation of a violent struggle in which evil will be destroyed. It stems from the Greek word, apocalypsis, a revealing or a prophetic vision. In our modern usage it has come to refer to visions of a catastrophic end of the world. Apocalypse myths are eschatological in nature and form. Eschatos is from the Greek meaning last and eschata meaning last things. The study of last things is known as eschatology. The ending -ology always means the study of. The study of apocalyptic myths and folklore will take you on a fascinating, though often frightening journey which will not soon be forgotten...

As I begin this article, I have mingled feelings. Actually, if I look back to the ebbing months of our past century, I admit that I was running scared even then from fear of what may be on the horizon. The hype, whether true or imagined, of the perils of the approaching Y2K left not only me but countless others with a sense of impending doom, not to mention depleted bank accounts expended for generators and emergency supplies of food, water and medicine.

I also begin it with joy. I say this because I love good mystery and detective stories and apocalyptic myths do contain mystery. The mystery genre is a favorite of mine and I must confess I spend more on collecting these books than is wise. But it is a hobby and folks do add to their hobbies.

Mysteries are somewhat like faerie tales in that good usually triumphs over evil and in the end the hero and heroine live happily ever after. What a wonderful, comfortable scene that is. Now, somewhere along the way, I find myself saying of a deleterious situation, "I don't know how you are going to get out of it, but it is going to work out all right."

I have before me several Apocalyptic stories. Each of them tells how this world scene is going to end. Common to human culture is the idea of an impending catastrophic end to the world. These cataclysmic events always mark the end of the old order and the ushering in of a new world order.

Tied closely to this is the concept that a higher power becomes weary of his subject's failures and must intervene. In some cases the righteous are granted life in another world but always in a non-worldly state of being.