This study analyzed the reinterpretations of myths in the Myths episode of
With Gods, a webtoon series, from the perspective of acceptance and variation
of myths, and examined storytelling methods for the popularization of myths.
The episode put the time and space backgrounds in order and connected
individual myths organically. Its linear structure is a storytelling style to reinforce
the internal inevitability of stories and incorporate complex events and stories
into one, thus satisfying the readers' expectations.
Seen from today's perspective, myths lack probability in the development of
events and do not show the internal worlds and psychological conflicts of
characters specifically in some cases. In the episode, the author filled missing
parts up with his imagination, added causal relations to the events, and depicted
the internal psychology of characters in a concrete manner, thus increasing
probability.
The episode presents the myths of our times recreated by accepting the
changes of the times. In the webtoon, people's ability to change the reality,
the boundary between the subject and others, and the values of individuals and families are the issues we face today. The ways the webtoon resolve those
issues seem like mythological alternatives to call a transcendent world in reality.
Myths should be expanded and transformed according to the changes of the
times to maintain their life force and keep breathing, from which perspective
the episode is a new myth of our times that has expanded the traditional
imagination or a different modern version of mythology.