Laurence Coupe offers students a comprehensive overview of the development of myth, showing how mythic themes, structures and symbols persist in literature and entertainment today. This introductory volume:

Illustrates the relation between myth, culture and literature

with discussions of poetry, fiction, film and popular song

Explores uses made of the term ‘myth’

within the fields of literary criticism, anthropology, cultural studies, feminism, Marxism and psychoanalysis

Discusses the association between modernism, postmodernism, myth and history

Familiarizes the reader with themes such as the dying god, the quest for the Grail, the relation between ‘chaos’ and ‘cosmos’, and the vision of the end of time

Demonstrates the growing importance of the green dimension of myth

Fully updated and revised in this new edition, Myth is both a concise introduction and a useful tool to students first approaching the topic, while also a valuable contribution to the study of myth.