H. Bancroft describes myths as--
"A mass of fragmentary truth and fiction, not open to rationalistic
criticism; a partition wall of allegories, built of dead facts
cemented with wild fancies; it looms ever between the immeasurable
and the measurable past."
But he adds:
"Never was there a time in the history of philosophy when the
character, customs, and beliefs of aboriginal man, and everything
appertaining to him, were held in such high esteem by scholars as at
present."
"It is now a recognized principle of philosophy that no religious
belief, however crude, nor any historical tradition, however absurd,
can be held by the majority of a people for any considerable time as
true, without having had in the beginning some foundation in fact."[1]
An universal myth points to two conclusions:
First, that it is based on some fact.
Secondly, that it dates back, in all probability, to the time when
the ancestors of the races possessing it had not yet separated.
A myth should be analyzed carefully; the fungi that have attached
themselves to it should be brushed off; the core of fact should be
separated from the decorations and errors of tradition.
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