A Guide to Mythology

by Helen A. Clarke

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Copyright Status: Manuscript of this book is available in public domain and copyright already expired.

There is much talk nowadays as to the authenticity of the records of savage myths. Much of this talk seems to me futile, for a myth is not a fixed entity. Each successive narrator is almost sure to vary and embellish somewhat the material that comes to him, according to his own inventive fancy.

If, therefore, a savage myth recorded by a white man retains the chief characteristics of the savage myth, in spite of some fanciful turns given it by him, to the degree, say, that a story of Ovid’s retains those of a Greek myth, it is to all intents and purposes a savage myth, and the embellishments may be disregarded, as Ovid’s are when we are considering Greek Mythology. I have, therefore, included in this volume those versions of the myths that seemed most readable and attractive, provided the primitive attitude of mind and customs were fully emphasized.