The 5 differences between myth and legend

April 25, 2024

Since prehistory the human being has tried to give a find meaning in everything that happens in the world . Based on what we know and experience, we are able to try to elaborate explanations of why things are the way they are, where we come from and where we are going.

The different peoples and cultures have been establishing different stories for this purpose, in many cases inserting religious and supernatural elements. Many of them have ended up configuring myths and legends. Nowadays these two concepts are often confused, so in this article you can find 5 differences between myth and legend .

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Myth and legend: what are they and what do they look like?

When we talk about myths and legends, we are talking about forms of narrative expression that are part of the collective imagination of a people with the intention of trying to explain an aspect of reality for which at the time of the birth of the story there was still no explanation, or whose origin was intended to magnify. These are stories that have been transmitted orally through the generations, many of them reaching our days. But, what do we understand by myth and what by legend?

It is considered myth to that narration that is located outside the real space-time and that usually has as protagonists divine or supernatural entities, or great heroes who perform incredible deeds and whose figure has not existed in the real world. In general they try to explain abstract concepts whose origin is uncertain, like the world, life, love or hate. Its main function is to try to make sense of things, using analogies between what we do not understand and elements present in our lives.

A legend, although it is also a story in the form of narration that is transmitted through the generations and that usually have supernatural and fictitious elements , try as a general rule to give an explanation of a concrete historical fact. They tend to be based on real historical facts, although they incorporate fantastic elements that alter, modify or give a different meaning to the story. Its function is to highlight the characteristics of a real character or people, not trying to give a sense to reality but to promote social values and concrete ideologies.

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Five fundamental differences between myth and legend

Observing how we have defined each of them already it is possible to establish a differentiation between myth and legend . Even so, in order to facilitate the understanding of their differences, we can find that 5 of the main differences between one and the other are the following.

1. What are they based on

One of the most identifiable differences from the definitions given is what each type of history is based on. The legend is based on a real historical event subject to direct observation which subsequently becomes enriched and deformed over time.

The myth, however, is a fictitious elaboration created directly from fantasy based on analogies between the real and symbolic elements.

2. What do they intend to explain?

As we have been able to contemplate, legends and myths have traditionally had a different objective despite being similar in the way of posing it. The legends usually pretend to show, encourage or enrich a value, historical event or real character, having a rather educational purpose. As far as myth is concerned, is an attempt to explain reality in a mystical way , trying to understand the why and the origin of things.

3. Temporary / spatial situation

One of the most visible differences between myth and legend is the temporal or spatial context in which they appear. Generally, we can observe that the legend is circumscribed to a concrete and real historical moment, in a perceptible territory as existent or if imaginary contextualized in a part of the concrete world.

In the case of myth, the period of time or the location in which the events occur is located outside the real world, being unrecognizable . In some cases we speak of the beginning of time or its end, or they are placed on a different plane of existence from ours.

4. Type of characters

The type of characters that appear in the story also change between myth and legend. While in the legend there are usually also fictitious or supernatural beings the characters are human beings that have existed or they are part of real peoples, in the myths the protagonists are directly supernatural beings, gods or heroes who as a rule have not had representation in the real world.

5. Alleged origin

Although this aspect is linked to that of the temporo-spatial situation, it is interesting as a difference between myth and legend.We are talking about the origin to which the story told within the story itself is attributed.

Generally the legends are attributed to the testimony of people who say they have lived or seen the fact that is spoken, being the product of a direct observation of the facts. However, the myths they refer to metaphysical aspects that man has not been able to observe by himself. In this way, as a general rule, its creation is attributed to the transmission of information by gods or spirits, who have decided to communicate certain knowledge to man.