The Myth of Mythos

We need images and myths through which we can see who we are and what we might become. 〰 Christine Downing 〰

Mytho⚘Trófi Act I (background photo © Michael Krahn on unsplash

Mythos and Logos

In Ancient Greek ways of thinking, patterns of imagining, and waves of feeling Mythos and Logos appear as fraternal twins. Both carry a range of meanings, which lead time and again to the same essence 〰 an essence captured in the English symbiont word.

Logos and Mythos cover the whole territory of phenomena which rely on and are nurtured by the spoken word ::: speech, account, tale, story, oral tradition, history….

At some point, probably quite early on in their lives, the paths of the twin brothers split and take separate directions. Logos sticks to the groove of theological accounts and philosophical discourse, while Mythos trails off, down the meandering tracks of the legendary realms.

Logos goes on to reproduce and generate the terminology of logic and logistics, leaving behind a long trail of words ending in -logue and -logy, and eventually finds himself branded as logo.

Mythos gets drawn into epic battles of ancient heros, lured into romantic affairs of illicit divine and human relations, swept away by legendary adventures, and swamped by an unending onslaught of tragedies, survives in a meager three words :::

Mythology [from Greek mythos = word, speech; legend, story + logos = word, speech; reason, judgment, understanding] refers to a collection of traditional stories, or myths from a particular culture. Mytho-logy is effectively a tautology.

Mythopoiesis [from Greek mythopoios = mythos + poiein = to make, create] describes both, the creation of myths as well as the generative powers of those stories.

Stichomythia [from Greek stikhos = of lines, verses + mythos = speech, talk] refers to a dialogue in alternate lines, used especially in Greek poetry and drama.

In contrast to the highly successful career of Logos from word to logo 〰 the most sought-after symbol on Planet Commerce 〰 the life of Mythos has taken a considerable downturn.

Once celebrated as a vibrant metaphor; representing the beginnings of the world known to anthropos; revered as the creation myth in pretty much all cultures, the fame of Mythos spread far beyond the banks of the earth-encircling River Okeanos, before being degraded into urban myth.

Given the importance of Mythos and Logos 〰 and seeing that every minor phenomenon was honoured by ancient Greek poets, bards, decorators of clay amphoras, and painters of friezes drawing inspiration from offspring of the fertile Olympian gods and godesses 〰 the absence of these two verbionts among the crowd of personified spirits comes as a surprise.

Logos is only represented in the Pseudologoi, the daimons of lies and falsehood. They belong to the prolific brood of Eris, goddess of strife, discord, contention and rivalry. We can argue that the emphasis lies on pseudo [from Greek pseudein = to tell a lie, commit an error, break an oath], but the connection with logos [from legein = to speak, tell] cannot be denied, and its relationship with the phenomenon of pheme is wellknown.

Despite this dark history, Logos has made a name for itself in the Anthropocene. In contemporary language, the word is well represented in anthology, college, election, lecture, legislation, logarithm, sacrilege, tautology, and many more.

Mythos, by contrast, is nowhere to be found in the pantheon of immortal residents of Mount Olympus. How could the poets, artists, and philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome all miss this glaring absence? Perhaps Mythos was such a familiar feature, so firmly rooted in Hellenic consciousness, that it didn’t prompt or need further illustration?

Who knows. Based on the fact that Mythos has lost its street cred in contemporary Anthropocene consciousness, we feel that this missing link needs fixing. But before we do so, let’s follow the life paths of Logos and Mythos a little further and try to understand what happened.

Logopoeia and Mythopoetic Identity

Logos provides accounts of the visible world. Mythos communicates metaphorical concepts and phenomena, inviting us to delve into invisible realities of the human mind.

Logos is more appropriate for abstract theory. Mythos suits the arts, song lyrics and poetry.

Logos is reliable and can be proven by objective evidence. Mythos is vague and relies on subjective perception. That’s the theory.

In practice, the mythologic pair is inseparably entangled by their roots. In 1934, American modernist poet and literary critic Ezra Pound coined the word logopoeia [from logos + poiein] in the sense of poetic writing which charges words with meaning based on context and prior usage.

According to Pound, “the good writer chooses his words for their 'meaning,' but that meaning is not a set, cut-off thing like the move of knight or pawn on a chess-board. It comes up with roots, with associations, with how and where the word is familiarly used, or where it has been used brilliantly or memorably.”

The term mythopoetic identity was conceived and developed in recent decades by Bill Plotkin, psychiatrist, wilderness guide, and agent for cultural regeneration. Plotkin defines mythopoetic identity as “The way we consciously identify and experience the nature of Soul — namely, through metaphor in the form of poetic or mythic images or patterns. Since it’s not possible to directly describe our eco-niche in everyday descriptive language, we comprehend and appreciate it mythopoetically. Essentially what Carl Jung meant by 'personal myth'."

Mythopoiesis describes both, the creation of myths as well as the generative powers of those stories. The adjective mythopoetic can be used to describe archetypal patterns. The ancient Greek storytellers were masters at mythopoiesis.

Mythopoetic identity is a contemporary term for an identity expressed through symbol and metaphor, or captured in images and dreams.

Considering the importance of Mythos and mythopoiesis in personal life, and as a catalyst for the Symbiocene we took the audacious step to create the link which seems to be missing in the Ancient Hellenic stories. The first step is to create a Word⚘Fairy dedicated to Mythos and its poetic qualities.

Mytho⚘Trófi is the new ‘kid’ in the wildwordwoods. The name is a combination of two Greek words, mythos + trófi (= food) 〰 in reference to the nourishment that myth provides for selfknowing and becoming aware of our human identity.

Mytho⚘Trófi represents the archetypal Storyteller 〰 a driving force which stimulates all forms of creative expression related to the spoken and written word. Here is where the story of Mythos begins.

An Untold Myth

Once upon a time, the Storyteller-archetype was held in high regard by everyone, from young children and their grownups gathering berries and hunting wild hare, to old men living in high places. The tales of the storyteller were full of myth and poetry, and the people understood that language.

At some point the mythopoetic way of telling stories and preserving the knowledge of the people fell out of favour. The audience may have got bored, hearing the old story one time too many.

Soon enough some smartass knew bigger, better, and truer facts of Logos than the storyteller. They began to take over the narrative, picked the myths and poems apart, and walked away.

When the ranks of the audience get thinner, when people tire of listening to the ‘old myths of Mythos’ and are bedazzled by ‘novel accounts of Logos’, the tales of Mythos become wilder and more violent just to keep the house entertained.

At this point the mythopoetic stories become infected with lies and gossip. That’s how this archetype shows its shadowside. The shadow of any archetype turns up when the archetype itself suffers suppression.

The contemporary use of urban myth was not on the radar of the Hellenic users of mythos. Everyone knew what mythos meant. Nobody would have dreamt of confusing Mythos with the Pseudologoi.

Urban myth is a term produced by the Anthropocene and thrown into the mix of the range of skills and influences of Mythos out of ignorance. But that’s a misnomer, amounting to defamation.

An ‘urban myth’ is not a myth at all. It is a rumour at best. Used in the sense of hoax. Filled with the same images and feelings as lie and deception. Whenever you use or hear the term urban myth, remember that it is an invocation of the shadow of the Storyteller archetype.

To support Mytho⚘Trófi, we have ‘reverse engineered an ancient Greek’ personification to represent the original range of meanings of the first part of the name. This mythical ancestor of our new Word⚘Fairy is obviously called Mythos.

Mythos is the daimon of words, stories, tales and legends. He is a son of Kalliope (the muse of poetry and eloquence, eldest daughter of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory), and Hermes (messenger of the gods, and god of language, learning & crafty wiles).

As a small child, Mythos once fell into Lethe, the river of oblivion. Although Kalliope pulled him out immediately, the effects of the brief dip could not be totally prevented. As a result, some of the stories Mythos tells are not entirely accurate accounts. His memory can be a little fragmented at times.

But that doesn’t make him a liar in the sense of the Pseudologoi. Mythos has to rely on fantasy, a wealth of imagery and creative gifts. The memory gaps are outweighed by the infinite repertoire of stories.

Mythos is a master storyteller. Even if he doesn’t always remember all the facts 〰 and although he might mix up a few details here and there 〰 the gift of eloquence he inherited from his mother shines through and carries him a long way.

“A myth is a way of making sense in a senseless world” existential psychologist Rollo May observed. “Myths are narrative patterns that give significance to our existence.”

Mythos and Mytho⚘Trófi can help restore our relationship with myths. They can help us understand the words we use, our language, and ultimately ourselves, so that we may see who we really are.

first published on symbiopaedia.com

---