ABSTRACT
The terms "myth" and "utopia" are united in everyday language use by the peculiar fact that they both have a very positive and, simultaneously, very negative meaning. Myth can be "deep wisdom", but it can also be a "lie". Utopia can refer to a "delightful dreamworld", but also to "self-deception". Theorizing Myth, historian of religions Bruce Lincoln defines myths as "ideology in narrative form". The idea of religion and myths as manifestations of ideology can also receive a more Marxist touch. In Mythologies Roland Barthes maintains that myths transform historical decisions made by specific people into nature and fate. Utopias explore possible lifestyles and assess them against the good. To some extent utopias are really secularized versions of the religious myths of the Elysian Fields, Avalon, the return of Christ, the New Jerusalem and the land west of Eden. Utopias are humanistic, while eschatological and soteriological myths are religious.
