Kernel of truth

October 18th, 2023

The intention of all myths is to convey or to speak, in some fashion, the undercurrent of truth. In ancient ages, truth and wisdom were hidden to be found by acolytes in strange and fantastical stories that have survived to our day as myths. The exact description from the manual of rhetoric from the first century CE says — “Mythos is a false story offering an image of truth”.

Myths are far removed from the actual story or happening that was used as a base plot device to convey a deeper meaning. Or hidden meaning and hermetic understanding allowed to be found by just a few initiates. It can be said that a myth means a false story only resembling the truth by means of old events far removed from the reality of today and the past when those events took place.

It is possible to make an ontological hierarchy based on this description — the actual events are considered the most real; a historical narrative relating those events is a second-order representation. And the third-order are myths, which are only a simulation of the second-order account, i.e. a retelling of the historical narrative within a poetic art form. As with all simulations, there is always a degree of distortion. The story of those real events is distorted in myths and might resemble the actuality only in names or geographical settings. I prefer it this way. Arguments about minor details of past events (or about their interpretation) are no longer of any interest to me. A fictional narrative created from those said events is my interest now.