ABSTRACT
Hubert's introduction to Stefan Czarnowski's book on Saint Patrick is a great untranslated and, outside the circles of scholars of the history of French sociology, almost wholly forgotten gem of the Durkheimian corpus. Myth is an almost subconscious state of mind, a narrative that, however multiform and confused, is the object of collective belief. From this perspective, myth is a social fact, fundamentally a product of human beings in society that cannot be reduced to the imagination, for this would fail to properly acknowledge the essentially collective character of the symbolic order. The myths at the core of heroic cults form the basis of tragedy and drama insofar as they are key theatrical elements of the primitive festivals which engender more advanced aesthetic structures. A newly deceased person becomes the subject of taboos and ritual requirements stemming from the social group's sense of weakness in the face of the death of a member.
