Myth

You can tell the story of Ulysses in one hundred different ways; you can write the lenghty Odyssey, or a short summary of one page, the meaning you convey is the same; but if you try to explain this meaning, this is impossible, you will always lose some understanding. This impossibility to translate the story into an explanation is a characteristic of myths. Myths are usually exemplar stories, that represent universal archetypes: the Greek myths, the stories of the Bible, the fairy tales. Post-christian literature often attempted to create myths, with scarce success. For instance, Amleth is a translation of Oresteia in psychological terms, because psychology kills the force of myth, that lies in the spiritual truths told by the story. The only exception are, strangely, many American telefilms; Columbus and possibly Dr House are plainly mythical creations.