μῦθος

See also μύθος

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *mēwdʰ- (“to complain or care about something”).

Pronunciation

• (5th BC Attic): IPA: /mý͜ytʰos/

• (1st BC Egyptian): IPA: /mýːtʰos/

• (4th AD Koine): IPA: /mýθos/

• (10th AD Byzantine): IPA: /mýθos/

• (15th AD Constantinopolitan): IPA: /míθos/

Noun

μῦθος (genitive μύθου) m, second declension; (muthos)

1. something said: word, speech, conversation
   • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 11.561

     ἀλλ' ἄγε δεῦρο, ἄναξ, ἵν' ἔπος καὶ μῦθον ἀκούσῃς

   • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 4.777

     μῦθον, ὃ δὴ καὶ πᾶσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶν ἤραρεν ἥμιν.

   1. public speech
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 1.358

        ἔργον ἐποίχεσθαι· μῦθος δ' ἄνδρεσσι μελήσει

      • Hesiod, Works and Days, 192
   2. (mostly in plural) talk, conversation
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 4.214
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 4.239
   3. advice, counsel, command, order, promise
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Iliad, 5.493

        Ὣς φάτο Σαρπηδών, δάκε δὲ φρένας Ἕκτορι μῦθος·

      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Iliad, 7.358

        οἶσθα καὶ ἄλλον μῦθον ἀμείνονα τοῦδε νοῆσαι.

   4. the subject of a speech or talk
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 22.289
      • 458 BC, Euripides, Electra, 346
   5. a resolve, purpose, design, plan
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Iliad, 1.545
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 3.140
      • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 4.676
   6. saying, proverb
      • 458 BC, Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers, 314
   7. the talk of men, rumor, report, message
      • 5th century BC, Sophocles, Ajax, 226
      • 5th century BC, Sophocles, Ajax, 189
2. tale, story, narrative,
   • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 3.94
   • 7th, 8th century BC, Homer, Odyssey, 4.324
   1. tale, legend, myth
      • 460-420 BC, Herodotus, Histories, 2.45
      1. (in Attic prose) a legend of the early Greek times, before the dawn of history
         • circa 380 BC, Plato, The Republic, 330.D
   2. a professed work of fiction, fable, such as those of Aesop
      • circa 380 BC, Plato, The Republic, 377.A
      • 4th century BC, Aristotle, Meteorology, 2.3,2
   3. the plot of a tragedy
      • 4th century BC, Aristotle, Poetics, 6.8

Inflection

Second declension of μῦθος, μύθου

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	μῦθος	μύθω	μῦθοι
Genitive	μύθου	μύθοιν	μύθων
Dative	μύθῳ	μύθοιν	μύθοις
Accusative	μῦθον	μύθω	μύθους
Vocative	μῦθε	μύθω	μῦθοι

Usage notes

The scholia on the Odyssey 21.71 says that μῦθος is Aeolic for μόθος, but compare μυθιήτης. It is used there in the significance of "resolve, purpose."

Derived terms

• μύθευμα
• μυθικός
• μυθογραφέω
• μυθοειδῶς
• μυθολογεύω
• μυθολογία
• μυθοπλάνος
• μυθοποιέω
• μυθύδριον

Descendants

• English: myth
• Greek: μύθος
• Russian: миф (mif)

References

• LSJ
• Bauer lexicon
• Strong’s concordance number: G3454