On mythic criticism: A proposed compromise

Abstract

In the essay “On Mythic Criticism,” Robert Rowland (1990) charged some rhetorical critics with misusing the term “myth” and argued for a “narrow functional/structural” definition. His respondents agreed unanimously on the point that rhetorical critics must strive for precision in their work; however, they found the functional/structural definition too confining. In this essay, I offer compromise for critics to use in classifying a society's sacred and secular narratives under the umbrella term of mythos. This is followed by a brief contemporary example of the interplay of rhetoric and mythos.