A myth is a story which has deep explanatory or symbolic resonance for a culture and one which is believed to be true by those who tell it. The term is sometimes used pejoratively in reference to common beliefs of a culture or for the beliefs of a religion to imply that the story is both fanciful and fictional. Most often the term refers specifically to ancient tales from very old cultures, such as Greek mythology or Roman mythology. Some myths descended originally as part of an oral tradition and were only later written down, and many of them exist in multiple versions.

Myths are not the same as fables, folktales, fairy tales, anecdotes, or simple fiction, but sloppy usage has blurred the distinctions in many people's minds.

All cultures have developed over time their own mythology, consisting of legends of their history, their religions, and their heroes. The great power of the symbolic meaning of these stories for the culture is a major reason why they survive as long as they do, sometimes for thousands of years.

A collection of myths is called a mythos, e.g. 'the Roman mythos.' A collection of those is called a mythoi, e.g. 'the Greek and Roman mythoi.'

One notable type is the creation myth, which describes how that culture believes the universe was created. Another is the Trickster myth, which concerns itself with the pranks or tricks played by gods or heroes.

Joseph Campbell was considered by some people to be the world's leading authority on myth and the history of spirituality.

See also: Mythical place

Historians' views on myths

Although myths are often considered to be accounts events that have not happened, many historians consider that myths can also be accounts of actual events that have become highly imbued with symbolic meaning. One way of conceptualizing this process is to view 'myths' as lying at the far end of a continuum ranging from a 'dispassionate account' to 'legendary occurrence' to 'mythical status'. As an event progresses towards the mythical end of this continuum, what people think, feel and say about the event takes on progressively greater historical significance while the facts become less important. By the time one reaches the mythical end of the spectrum the story has taken on a life of its own and the facts of the original event have become almost irrelevant.

This process occurs in part because the events described become detached from their original context and new context is substituted, often through analogy with current or recent events. Conversely, descriptions of recent events are re-emphasised to make them seem to be analogous with the commonly known story. This technique has been used by Right-wing conservatives in America with text from the Bible (e.g. Revelation), and was used in the Russian Communist era in propoganda about political situations with misleading references to class struggles.

Also, myth is often used to refer to a commonly held but erroneous belief.

The terms urban myth or urban legend are sometimes used to describe something that is false, but, strictly speaking, those can be either true or false as well.

External Links

• Myths of the Common Cold
• Myths about Fire Protection in Southern Oregon
• Common Consumer Protection Myths