Robin Hood Myth Vs Sicilian Culture

Myths can tell a tale of a person, belief, or a group that accomplishes something extraordinary, whether it is good or bad to society. “A usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon”(Merriam-Webster). There is no greater example of an embodiment of a myth than the Italian mafia. Since the culture of mafia became mainstream, there have been two myths in particular that have stand out to people: the Robin Hood myth and the Sicilian Culture myth. Through the years the myths have evolved as they are drawn from a certain period of time: 1870-1950. The Robin Hood myth and the myth of the Sicilian culture have gone on to impact

The upbringing of the organization has two facets: create a better environment by helping those in need and the other one is to seize opportunities to gain an advantage over others by strategic force. “The idea of the Mafia being a Robin Hood-like organization in defense of the poor had a long life in Italy. But the sheer brutality of the war against the state put the validity of the myth in question. There was so much violence and Mafia brutality. That is when the myth of the good Mafia dies. It enters into a period of crisis”(The

The people of Italy have been a victim of this type of falsification, especially on the island of Sicily. This can be some justification for why the myth of the mafia is present. The word mafia originates from Italian, as does the type of organization, which has paved the way for the mobs in Russia, Poland, etc. From the early states of Italy’s birth, the south lacked the governmental resources needed to foster growth. Thus, the mafia seized the moment and took things into their own hands. Crime seems to emerge from the greatest lack of unemployment; in this case the southern area hit the hardest was Sicily, which makes sense why the myth of Sicilian culture became present. On the flip side, an alternative myth became present: The Robin Hood myth. The Myth can quickly be dispelled, as they may work towards helping people, but those people are either their members or their family, which in most cases are the same