Mytheme
Mythemes are themes from which myths are thought to be constructed, from a structuralist perspective on mythology.[1] These structures then lead to theories on myths from different cultures sharing a source. Russian folklorist Vladimir Propp formed a structuralist approach towards Indo-European myths, in which he treated the individual tale as one unit of analysis.[2] However, others criticize the superficial nature to this approach and rather suggest a more intersectional perspective.[3]
Examples
- The mytheme of the flood likely developed out of one or more historical events, which can be seen, for instance, in the ancient Mesopotamian epics Atra-ḫasīs and the Epic of Gilgameš,[4] the Ancient Egyptian myth of the Destruction of Mankind,[5] and the biblical story of Noah's Ark.
- The myths of the Greek Adonis and the Egyptian Osiris share several elements.
- Lev Manovich uses the term in his book The Language of New Media to describe aspects of culture with which computer images enter into dialogue.[6]
References
- ↑ mytheme - definition of mytheme in English | Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries | English. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ↑ File:Propp Vladimir Morphology of the Folktale 2nd ed.pdf - Monoskop. monoskop.org. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ↑ Dogra, Sapna. The Thirty-One Functions in Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folktale: An Outline and Recent Trends in the Applicability of the Proppian Taxonomic Model. Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities 9 (2) (2017-08-18). doi:10.21659/rupkatha.v9n2.41.
- ↑ Tigay, Jeffrey H.. The Evolution of the Gilgamesh Epic (in en) (2002)Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers. ISBN 978-0-86516-546-5.
- ↑ Destruction of Mankind Stella | PDF | Ancient Egyptian Religion | Middle Eastern Mythology (in en). Scribd. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ↑ Google Books. books.google.com.mt. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
