La Notion Du Mythe: The Concept Of Myth

La Notion Du Mythe: The Concept Of Myth

La Notion Du Mythe is a French phrase that when translated in English means The Notion of Myth. It is used by the Greeks during the 5th Century as a label for topics in literature, philosophy, poetry, and even science that has a mythical description.

Myth comes from the Greek word 'mythos' meaning a traditional story that involves supernatural elements to explain a natural phenomenon through creative use of imagination. These are told to every member of a tribe, race or nation.

Myth is a very influential tool in contemporary literature. There were many influential myth critics. Some of them are: Francis Fersusson, Richard Chase and Philip Wheelwright but it is Robert Graves who discovered the exact formula of the word order. The formula was named by him as 'Archetypes' which elaborately means the conventional metaphors. Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss Psychiatrist and the First Modern Psychologist, said that the myth is a product od the 'Collective Unconscious' of a race. Myth has been a great tool used in literature because writers had always been fascinated by the elements of its remoteness, mystery and heroism. Apparently, the myth topic also catches the attention of book readers but application of the word 'myth' has wide variations. We should not be confused about the difference of myth, legend and folktale. Meyer Howard Abrams, an American Literary Critic, said that: "If the protagonist is a man rather than a supernatural being, the story is usually not called myth but legend; if the story concerns supernatural beings, but is not part of a systematic mythology, it is usually classified as a folktale."