Meaning of protomyth | Babel Free

Definitions

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.

Examples

“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.”

“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 correspond to Joyce's strategies. Though these protomyths fail, they are not treated altogether unsympathetically.”

CEFR level