Final answer:
Myths are narratives with epic proportions that establish societal values, beliefs, and identity, going beyond the need for factual accuracy to express deeper moral truths and order. They are fundamental in teaching, unifying, and guiding cultural and national identities, transcending chronological time and factual veracity.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Augustin Fuentes and various other scholars, myths play a significant role in shaping a society's beliefs and values. Myths can be stories of epic proportions that explain the world, promote religions, or imbue societies with values. They may feature cultural heroes and semidivine figures used as teaching tools for society. Whether or not the stories are factual, myths embody moral truths and societal norms, and they provide a sense of identity and collective destiny. Indeed, the veracity of a myth is often less important than the truth it aims to convey, which transcends chronological time and reasoning.
Myths also have a strong social importance in affirming the ideologies upon which a nation is built. As historian Kim Byung-Joon notes, nations rely on foundational myths for cohesion, even if these myths may conflict with historical evidence. Furthermore, in periods of societal change such as revolutions, new myths emerge to support the values of a transformed society. Therefore, myths are neither purely imaginary nor purely factual but are crafted and perpetuated over time to teach, unify, and guide societies.