Myth

Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths.

Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality.[1] Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be true accounts of their remote past.[1][2][3][4] In particular, creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form.[1][5][6][7] Other myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified.[1][6] There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals.

The main characters in myths are usually non-humans, such as gods, demigods, and other supernatural figures.[8][2][9][10] Others include humans, animals, or combinations in their classification of myth.[11] Stories of everyday humans, although often of leaders of some type, are usually contained in legends, as opposed to myths.[8][10] Myths are sometimes distinguished from legends in that myths deal with gods, usually have no historical basis, and are set in a world of the remote past, very different from that of the present.[10][12]