ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the Greek word that gives us the English “myth” evolved from a term meaning “speech” or “utterance” into something closer to the modern idea, even in the course of the Classical period in Greece. Myth is put into its broader context of belief and tradition. This in turn will bring people to the growing gap, already seen in the Classical period, between tales like those in Homer and Hesiod and more theoretical ethical thinking. The dissonance led to three major responses by the end of the Classical age: outright rejection; rationalization; and allegorization. The chapter looks at the range of disparate ancient sources from which continuous stories might be woven—or sometimes simply cannot be tied together. The “invention of tradition” served as a convenient means of connecting people with their past while shading over features that might be less useful in the present.
