Literature Introduction What is mythology? In order to understand the meaning of mythology we need to look at the origin of the word ‘myth.’
Mythos is a Greek word meaning
‘spoken story,’ ‘speech’ or simply ‘the plot’ What is mythology?
Logos is a Greek word meaning ‘account.’
Logos means that the story teller takes personal
responsibility for the ‘account.’ This means that they can personally verify the story, as it probably happened to them.
Mythos therefore suggests ‘storytelling’ in comparison to
logos. This is the basis of the word myth. Aristotle’s view Aristotle was a famous Greek philosopher, and the student of Plato (who himself was the student of Socrates).
Aristotle equated mythos with fiction and
saw it as a way of producing catharsis (another Greek word) which means healing/cleansing Aristotle’s reasoning
If Aristotle equated mythos with
fiction as a way of producing catharsis, what does this suggest he was saying about the role of mythology within culture? Influence Greek Mythology has had a profound effect on western thought and literature.