Question: What Is Myth?
Myth is a common word, but is it really what we mean? The story of Pandora's box is said to be a myth, but what makes that any different from the story of Noah's Ark for a religious Jew or Christian or the parable of Atlantis for those who believe in Atlantis? Even the disproved legend about the axing of a cherry tree by George Washington counts as a myth. The word myth is used in many contexts, but it doesn't seem to have a single meaning. When people use the word, what do they have in mind?
Answer: Myths, are stories shared by a group, that are a part of that group's cultural identity, just like family traditions. However, most families would be offended to hear their stories described as myths. The following examples of myths-as-family-traditions show that what we really mean here isn't so much myth as something else: probably (1)lie or (2)tall tale. Myth can also be a synonym for despised religious dogma [see the 3rd example]. Following these three, you'll find definitions from various experts in the areas of philosophy, psychology, or religion, followed by a simple, elegant, working definition. If you think you can provide insight, there's a form further down on which you may add your definition.
Thank you, Robert O'Connell, for this working definition of myth.
Imaginary scenario I: The LieWe say that such and such is a myth when the term "urban legend" or outright lie might be better:
Child: "Grandpa, tell me the myth about how you got that scar on your face."
Grandpa to child: "It's not a myth. It's the truth. I was there."
Grandpa to Ma: "What nonsense have you been telling the child? Do you think I've got Alzheimer's?"
Imaginary scenario II: The Tall TaleSometimes we disparage someone else's religious beliefs with the term myth:
Grandpa to child: "Did I ever tell you the myth about how a co-worker put a piece of liver on the counter to thaw and when she came home it had crawled up the wall?"
Imaginary scenario III: Dogma of Someone Else's ReligionThese uses of the term myth have a negative connotation.
Grandpa to child: "Who told you you'd go to Hell if you did that? That's just a myth of the Catholics."
More positively, many of us love to learn more about the stories of the gods and goddesses, and to do so, we scour the Internet and bookstores for reference material on keyword myths.
Experts Define Myth
These negative and positive descriptions of the content of myth are not definitions and don't even explain very much. Unfortunately for those who want a simple answer to the question, "What is myth?", there is no completely satisfactory answer. Many have tried, with only limited success. A look at an array of definitions from leading philosophers and other thinkers shows the complexity behind the seemingly simple term:- Origins - Myths are often stories of origins, how the world and everything in it came to be in illo tempore. - Eliade.
- Dreams - Sometimes myths are public dreams which, like private dreams, emerge from the unconscious mind. - Freud.
- Archetypes - Indeed, myths often reveal the archetypes of the collective unconscious. - Jung.
- Metaphysical - Myths orient people to the metaphysical dimension, explain the origins and nature of the cosmos, validate social issues, and, on the psychological plane, address themselves to the innermost depths of the psyche. - Campbell.
- Proto-Scientific - Some myths are explanatory, being pre-scientific attempts to interpret the natural world. - Frazer.
- Sacred histories - Religious myths are sacred histories. - Eliade.
- Stories - Myths are both individual and social in scope, but they are first and foremost stories. - Kirk.
A Useful Working Definition of Myth
"Myths are stories told by people about people: where they come from, how they handle major disasters, how they cope with what they must and how everything will end. If that isn't everything what else is there?"Thank you, Robert O'Connell, for this working definition of myth.
To help define myth, people often compare myth with science and religion. Usually myth is relegated to the area of lies.
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