The word myth originally meant a true public narrative before inverting its meaning
The word myth began as a term for authoritative, true public speech in Ancient Greece before linguistic shifts in the 19th century inverted its meaning to denote a false belief.
The Greek term 'mythos' originally functioned as a neutral descriptor for 'speech' or 'narrative' until a semantic inversion transformed it into a synonym for falsehood. While Plato first introduced 'mythologia' around 400 BCE to distinguish storytelling from philosophical inquiry, the term 'mythology' entered English in the 15th century via John Lydgate's 'Troy Book' as a way to interpret fables.
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