From Greek 'mythos' (speech, story) — once a neutral term in Homer, demoted by Plato's opposition to 'logos' (reason).
A traditional story, especially one concerning the origins of a people, natural phenomena, or explaining a practice, belief, or institution; a widely held but false belief.
From Late Latin 'mȳthus,' from Greek 'mŷthos' (μῦθος, word, speech, story, narrative, tale). In Homer, 'mŷthos' simply meant 'word' or 'speech' — a public, authoritative utterance. The narrowing to 'a traditional sacred story' occurred when Greek philosophers (especially Plato) contrasted 'mŷthos' (story, unverifiable narrative) with 'lógos' (reason, verifiable argument). The
In Homer's Iliad, 'mŷthos' simply means 'word' or 'speech' — Achilles delivers a 'mŷthos' (an authoritative utterance) to his warriors. The word had no connotation of falsehood. It was Plato who weaponized the distinction between 'mŷthos' (story, unverifiable) and 'lógos' (reason, verifiable), and this philosophical opposition eventually turned 'myth' into a synonym for 'lie' — one of the most consequential semantic demotions in Western intellectual history.