Mythos
Mythos originally simply meant "speech" or "story" in Homer — it only later acquired the sense of a traditional sacred narrative, and eventually the modern meaning of a false belief.
The Meaning of Mythos
In Homer, mythos means a public speech or authoritative statement — Achilles speaks mythoi. It carried weight and authority. Over time, it narrowed to mean a traditional story about gods and heroes — what we call myth. Plato distinguished mythos from logos (reasoned argument), using myths deliberately when logic could not reach the truth (the Allegory of the Cave, the Myth of Er). In modern English, "myth" has been further degraded to mean "falsehood" — a word that once meant the most authoritative speech now means the most unreliable.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The word "myth" underwent one of language's great reversals: from Homer's "authoritative speech" to modern "false belief" — exactly the opposite journey.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Plato
💭 conceptPhilosophy, myth, forms
Athenian philosopher who both critiqued traditional myths and created powerful new ones in his dialogues
Palaephatus
💭 conceptRationalism, myth interpretation
Ancient rationaliser who explained myths as misunderstood historical events in On Unbelievable Tales
Hyginus
💭 conceptMythography, fables
Roman-era mythographer whose Fabulae preserves hundreds of concise Greek myth summaries
Parrhesia
💭 conceptphilosophy, rhetoric
Frank speech or fearless truth-telling — the willingness to speak the full truth regardless of consequences, especially to the powerful.
Enthousiasmos
💭 conceptReligion and Inspiration
The state of being possessed by a god, the original meaning of divine inspiration in Greek religion.
Narcissistic Personality
💭 conceptPsychology and mythology
A psychological condition characterised by grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, named after Narcissus, the beautiful youth who fell in love with his own reflection
Epic
💭 conceptLanguage and literature
An English adjective meaning grand in scale or heroic, derived from the Greek epos meaning word or speech, referring to the tradition of long narrative poems about heroes and gods
Thucydides
💭 conceptHistory, politics, war
Athenian historian who stripped myth from history in his account of the Peloponnesian War
Apodeixis
💭 conceptphilosophy, rhetoric
Demonstration or proof — the act of showing something to be true through reasoning from first principles.
Theomachy
💭 conceptmythology
Battle against or among the gods — narratives in which gods fight each other or in which mortals dare to oppose divine power directly.
Rhetoric
💭 conceptLanguage and communication
An English word for the art of persuasive speaking and writing, derived from the Greek rhetorike techne meaning the art of the rhetor, a public speaker
Xenophon
💭 conceptHistory, philosophy, horsemanship
Athenian soldier-writer whose works preserve mythological allusions within practical and philosophical contexts