Introduction: Some perspectives on myth.

Abstract

In modern technological, industrialized societies, the term "myth"has come to mean "fallacy," "falsehood," or "misinformation." However, the word "myth" is derived from the Greek root, mythos, i.e., "tale" or "talk," and came to be used in contrast to historia (a knowing by inquiry). A number of contemporary writers are suggesting that far from being falsehoods, mythic "talking tales" (or narratives) are actually the repositories of enduring truths. Rudnytsky (1988) observes that "the myths of Oedipus and the Fall may not tell us the way things were; but they do teach us the way things are" (p. iv).The early Greeks understood how the dramatic enactment of a myth had therapeutic effects on members of the audience; in weeping for Oedipus, Elektra, and Antigone, one wept for the sorrows of humankind (Meade, 1992). Rollo May asserts that mythmaking is essential for mental health because myths are ways of making sense in a senseless world. For May, "Myths are like the beams in a house: not exposed to outside view, they are the structure which holds the house together so people can live in it" (1991, p. 15). May finds that modern cultures lack the myths and rituals that would provide significance and meaning, hence there is a "cry for myth" that would provide peoples' lives with identity, community, morality, and creativity (pp. 30-31). Von Bertalanffy (1981) explained that Myth is neither a primitive philosophy or science... nor pre-logical confusion... rather it is a worldview based upon categories that are This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.