A mythographer, or a mythologist is a compiler of myths. The word derives from the Greek "μυθογραφία" (mythografia), "writing of fables", from "μῦθος" (mythos), "speech, word, fact, story, narrative" + "γράφω" (graphο), "to write, to inscribe". Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts. In the 21st century, the mythographer might also be a scholarly interpreter, sometimes drawing on field work, often with the aim of contributing to t...
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A mythographer, or a mythologist is a compiler of myths. The word derives from the Greek "μυθογραφία" (mythografia), "writing of fables", from "μῦθος" (mythos), "speech, word, fact, story, narrative" + "γράφω" (graphο), "to write, to inscribe". Mythography is then the rendering of myths in the arts. In the 21st century, the mythographer might also be a scholarly interpreter, sometimes drawing on field work, often with the aim of contributing to the fields of cultural anthropology, religious studies, or a myth theory.
One of the first Western attempts at rationalization of mythology, and more generally of religious beliefs, can be traced to Euhemerus. This Greek mythographer at the court of Macedon in the late 4th century BC held that myths were actually true stories of historical persons, twisted and amplified. This doctrine is called Euhemerism. Even today, the Ancient astronaut theories has been described as "neo-Euhemerism" by French sociologist Jean-Bruno Renard.
The philosophes,...
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