Mythology

Abstract In general mythology refers to several things. At its base are myths, and therefore mythology first means the received corpus of muthoi (legendary stories of superhuman/supernatural deeds, usually ancient) believed to be true by a people, and often considered to explain the world's phenomena. Second, mythology means the study of myths, the application of reasoning ( logos ) to the muthoi in order to comprehend them. This general conceptual differentiation is also valid for mythology in the specific domain of politics and political thought. Accordingly, examples of the meaning of political mythology qua mythemes include Greek deities’ interference in wars, Rome's founding by Romulus and Remus, biblical accounts of the divine bestowing of law on humans, or Korea's founding by the quasi‐divine Tangun. Alternatively, political mythology construed as study of political myths goes back at least to classical Greek philosophy. The defining characteristic of this type of political thought vis‐à‐vis mythology is that it is reflective, taking mythology as material to be explained both in terms of the descriptive or normative meaning/interpretation of the content of the myths themselves and in terms of the political function that myths have when intervening in political affairs. Lastly, political mythology also refers to the set of more or less intentionally or naturally propagated narratives – usually mistaken – underpinning the beliefs of members of a political entity regarding themselves or events associated with them or that entity.