protomyth
An initial form of a myth that is inferred or known about only from secondary sources; a motif that is not yet accorded the status of myth, but may (it is supposed) become one.
Noun
- An initial form of a myth that is inferred or known about only from secondary sources; a motif that is not yet accorded the status of myth, but may (it is supposed) become one.
- In the protomyth, for which the Latvian and Indie myths give evidence, the sun-maiden, which Helen strongly resembles, was married to the divine horsemen (v. (Robbins) Dexter [1980]: 21-22; Dexter [1984]: 138-142). -...
- Petrosyan, noting that this story links the water-horse to the twins' conception, proposes a protomyth in which the horse is the twins' father. - 2005, “Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, Volumes 14-16”, in...
- The language Gerty borrows from such fantasies and the other languages of popular culture that surface in the novel constitute frustrated protomyths that seek universal significance for the everyday in ways that...
Origin
From proto- + myth.