Myth vs. Mythology vs. Lore - Let’s get the terminology right. Plus an important update about the NIGHTfall Event that caps Wordle Quest’s first season and launches us into Season Two!
Slippery indeed! Long ago I used to distinguish between a number of different terms: "a myth," myth, mythos, mythology, myth and author, author.
"A myth" = a lie. ("That's a myth. The truth is...")
"myth" = a traditional story used in a particular culture for particular reasons; does not generally have an author ("The Achilles myth is mostly about the importance of family")
mythos = The collection of myths that make a up a coherent and meaningful complex or network of stories in a particular culture ("The Greek mythos is a product of the collision of Bronze Age Greek warrior culture and West Asian polytheism and epic")
mythology = The study of myths.
myth and author = a traditional story reworked by a specific author for specific literary reasons (e.g. Sophocles' Oedipus the King)
author = an original story that has no ties to myths on its surface (e.g. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald).
Lore and legend... we can go on and on. Nowadays for me it's just "myths" (the original stories) and "mythology" (the bending, blending, and breaking of those original stories). But to each their own.
Slippery indeed! Long ago I used to distinguish between a number of different terms: "a myth," myth, mythos, mythology, myth and author, author.
"A myth" = a lie. ("That's a myth. The truth is...")
"myth" = a traditional story used in a particular culture for particular reasons; does not generally have an author ("The Achilles myth is mostly about the importance of family")
mythos = The collection of myths that make a up a coherent and meaningful complex or network of stories in a particular culture ("The Greek mythos is a product of the collision of Bronze Age Greek warrior culture and West Asian polytheism and epic")
mythology = The study of myths.
myth and author = a traditional story reworked by a specific author for specific literary reasons (e.g. Sophocles' Oedipus the King)
author = an original story that has no ties to myths on its surface (e.g. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald).
Lore and legend... we can go on and on. Nowadays for me it's just "myths" (the original stories) and "mythology" (the bending, blending, and breaking of those original stories). But to each their own.