ABSTRACT
Myths in general are, almost by definition, factually false. They cannot be tested empirically or scientifically, for among their components they manifestly contain objects, places, persons, and events that have not existed and mostly could not possibly exist. The popular use of the term “myth” therefore, as signifying something erroneous – “the myth of progress,” the “myth of the nation-state” – misses the essential point. Myths, as Percy Cohen says, “are not errors, for their truth, for those who accept them, is preserved for eternity” (Cohen 1969, p.337).
