Mythology

The term mythology can refer to either the study of myths or a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story; however, the academic use of the term generally does not refer to truth or falsity. In the study of folklore, a myth is a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form. Many scholars in other fields use the term "myth" in somewhat different ways. In a very broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story.

Recommended Reading

Some of the sources are listed here in order of publication date:

1. Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Princeton University Press, 1949.
2. Kirk, G.S. "On Defining Myths". Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. Ed. Alan Dundes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. 53-61.
3. Segal, Robert. Myth: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004.
4. Armstrong, Karen. A Short History of Myth. Knopf Canada, 2006.