myth

/mith/, n.

1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.

2. stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth.

3. any invented story, idea, or concept: His account of the event is pure myth.

4. an imaginary or fictitious thing or person.

5. an unproved or false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.

[1820-30; < LL mythos < Gk mythos story, word]

Syn. 1. See legend. 3. fiction, fantasy, talltale.

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Traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the worldview of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.

Myths relate the events, conditions, and deeds of gods or superhuman beings that are outside ordinary human life and yet basic to it. These events are set in a time altogether different from historical time, often at the beginning of creation or at an early stage of prehistory. A culture's myths are usually closely related to its religious beliefs and rituals. The modern study of myth arose with early 19th-century Romanticism. Wilhelm Mannhardt, James George Frazer, and others later employed a more comparative approach. Sigmund Freud viewed myth as an expression of repressed ideas, a view later expanded by Carl Gustav Jung in his theory of the "collective unconscious" and the mythical archetypes that arise out of it. Bronisław Malinowski emphasized how myth fulfills common social functions, providing a model or "charter" for human behaviour. Claude Lévi-Strauss discerned underlying structures in the formal relations and patterns of myths throughout the world. Mircea Eliade and Rudolf Otto held that myth is to be understood solely as a religious phenomenon. Features of myth are shared by other kinds of literature. Origin tales explain the source or causes of various aspects of nature or human society and life. Fairy tales deal with extraordinary beings and events but lack the authority of myth. Sagas and epics claim authority and truth but reflect specific historical settings.

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▪ electronic game

      real-time tactical combat game series that was released in 1997 by American electronic game manufacturer Bungie Software. Dropped into a market already glutted with the legendary Warcraft and Command and Conquer series, Myth set itself apart by focusing on warfare tactics and ignoring economic and resource development, offering a purer battle-based experience.

      In Myth players control groups of units, including human swordsmen, “elven” archers, Molotov cocktail-throwing “dwarves,” and journeymen (healers). Play is heavily dependent on knowing how to take advantage of the units' different abilities, with swordsmen able to quickly close in on and butcher archers, archers able to shoot down frail dwarves from a safe distance, and dwarves able to blow up swordsmen before they can be reached. In single-player games, players must use their battalions to accomplish various goals in a quest-style game. In multiplayer action, players first choose units, with different associated “costs,” for their armies, and then warfare begins on predetermined maps customized for one of many different battle types. These types include everything from capture the flag to a hunting game in which players compete to see who can kill the most animals.

      One factor that sets Myth apart from other games in the genre is its dedicated fan base. Myth fans have provided extensive volunteer programming and updating to keep the series fresh and enjoyable for other die-hard fans. Myth spawned two direct sequels, Myth II: Soulblighter and Myth III: The Wolf Age.

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