The Poetics of Myth. Volume I

A monograph by the famous Soviet scholar Eleazar Meletinsky, which brought the author worldwide fame.

This fundamental study is dedicated to mythology as a source of artistic imagery and its role in literature. The author examines the structure of myth, mythological thinking, and the history of the perception of myth in different scientific schools.

Special attention is paid to how myth "comes to life" in culture, folklore, and literature of the 20th century, when writers consciously turn to mythological models and symbols. Meletinsky analyzes the connection between ancient myths and modernist mythologism, showing how mythological thinking transforms in artistic language.