Dictionary

mythopoeic en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /mɪθə(ʊ)ˈpiːɪk/ (UK)

Etymology

From Hellenistic Ancient Greek μυθοποιία (muthopoiía, “mythopoeia”) + -ic.

Meanings

1. Giving rise to myths; pertaining to the creation of myth.
   • If we study myth in a scientific way, we miss the experience of moving into a mythopoeic mode of consciousness. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light:Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 8:
   • No other fully historical hero has furnished such a perfect opportunity for the mythopoeic faculty. 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.25:
   • Suppose a serious literary critic were to write about Hollywood autobiographies: “Niven experiences life as an imprisoning reality of personal experience, plus mythopoeic elements, a vast sottisier in the tradition of Jessel's This way, Miss.[…] 1985 December 23, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, “Book of The Times”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Relateds

mythopoeia · mythogenesis · mythopoesis · mythopœic

Synonyms

mythogenic