myth

Table of Contents

Introduction
The nature, functions, and types of myth
- Relation of myths to other narrative forms
  - Fables
  - Fairy tales
  - Folktales
  - Sagas and epics
  - Legends
  - Parables
  - Etiologic tales
- Approaches to the study of myth and mythology
  - Allegorical
  - Romantic
  - Comparative
  - Folkloric
  - Functionalist
  - Structuralist
  - Formalist
- Functions of myth and mythology
  - Explanation
  - Justification or validation
  - Description
  - Healing, renewal, and inspiration
- Myth in culture
  - Myth and psychology
  - Myth and science
  - Myth and religion
    - Ritual and other practices
    - Religious symbolism and iconography
    - Sacred texts
  - Myth and the arts
    - Oral traditions and written literature
    - Visual arts
    - Performing arts
    - Music
  - Myth and history
- Major types of myth
  - Myths of origin
  - Myths of eschatology and destruction
  - Messianic and millenarian myths
  - Myths of culture heroes and soteriological myths
  - Myths of time and eternity
  - Myths of providence and destiny
  - Myths of rebirth and renewal
  - Myths of memory and forgetting
  - Myths of high beings and celestial gods
  - Myths concerning founders of religions and other religious figures
  - Myths of kings and ascetics
  - Myths of transformation
- Myth in modern society
  - Secularization of myth and mythology
  - Demythologization of major religious traditions
  - Political and social uses of myth
Animals and plants in myth
- Relationships of opposition or difference
  - Cosmogonies
  - Animal and plant deities
  - Hunting and agricultural deities
  - Culture heroes
  - Demonic plants and animals
- Relationships of descent
  - Creation of human beings from plants or animals
  - Totemism
  - Hierarchy
- Relationships of mixture
- Relationships of transformation
- Relationships of identity
  - Soul-stuff
  - Death, or postmortem, soul
  - Plural souls
  - The alter ego, or life index
- Relationships of similarity

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myth summary

myth

Written by Jonathan Z. Smith, Richard G.A. Buxton, Kees W. BolleSee All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Feb 12, 2024 • Article History

mythological figure

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Category: History & Society

Key People:: John William Waterhouse

Related Topics:: Germanic religion and mythology; creation myth; Greek mythology; Japanese mythology; sphinx

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myth, a symbolic narrative, usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional, that ostensibly relates actual events and that is especially associated with religious belief. It is distinguished from symbolic behaviour (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, icons). Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing apart from ordinary human experience. The term mythology denotes both the study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition. As with all religious symbolism, there is ...(100 of 22834 words)

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