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  • From: "Donald R. Vance, Ph.D." <donaldrvance AT mac.com>
  • To: stoneyb AT touchwoodcreative.com
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Myth and Legend (was Genesis 30:20-30)
  • Date: Fri, 14 May 2010 16:55:19 -0500

My understanding of the difference was "gods" vs "humans." That is, if the story concerned humans and human events, it was legend; if it concerned the gods or prehistorical events, then it was myth. This is very close to Stoney's definition.

On May 14, 2010, at 4:13 PM, Stoney Breyer wrote:


that is a bit different than basic genre identification. However, it's
still an odd question, &c

If I understand James' objection correctly I think it's a very proper
question. To the best of my recollection the traditional definitions
distinguish legend from myth not on the basis of origin in some sort of
historical actuality (which is the definition George advanced) but in what
we might term historical 'virtuality': legend is located **by its narrators
and audiences** in historical time. The Matter of Britain and the Trojan
War are legendary rather than mythical not because Arthur and Odysseus have
the same sort of documented historical actuality as Charlemagne (they do
not) but because his epos is securely placed by the narrative tradition in
'historical' time.

Stoney Breyer


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