The term "mythos" seems to have gained by now a specific connotation in English, one which presents it as meaning not an isolated myth, but a collection of myths which form a private cosmology, or even a cosmogony (theory of how the cosmos was created) too.
The term is often used for collections of literary works by authors such as H.P.Lovecraft, or Lord Dunsany.
Also it can happen that isolated larger works can be deemed as being potentially a form of a mythos as well, such as Meyrink's novel "The Golem".
It does seem that only works or collections of works that present a distinctive and overarching force or entity or world, are seen as such a "mythos". For example the work of Kafka, no matter how full it is of patterns and motifs, is still not widely argued to be a mythos in the current use of the term in English.
Lastly, this sort of Mythos is to be seperated from the religious or non-religious mythologies associated with historical belief in divinities, given that in most known examples of it there is no real aspiration of the author to actually argue that this private cosmos of his conception is directly linked to a belief that it presents an image of the external cosmos.
Maybe some here have a favorite Mythos in the literary realm, and can share it. My own is probably Lovecraft's, although i tend to think that such a linking of all works (or virtually all) under this sort of concept is not really by itself beneficial for the work itself.
The term is often used for collections of literary works by authors such as H.P.Lovecraft, or Lord Dunsany.
Also it can happen that isolated larger works can be deemed as being potentially a form of a mythos as well, such as Meyrink's novel "The Golem".
It does seem that only works or collections of works that present a distinctive and overarching force or entity or world, are seen as such a "mythos". For example the work of Kafka, no matter how full it is of patterns and motifs, is still not widely argued to be a mythos in the current use of the term in English.
Lastly, this sort of Mythos is to be seperated from the religious or non-religious mythologies associated with historical belief in divinities, given that in most known examples of it there is no real aspiration of the author to actually argue that this private cosmos of his conception is directly linked to a belief that it presents an image of the external cosmos.
Maybe some here have a favorite Mythos in the literary realm, and can share it. My own is probably Lovecraft's, although i tend to think that such a linking of all works (or virtually all) under this sort of concept is not really by itself beneficial for the work itself.
) and Dune. Back in the '60s, someone asked Frank Herbert if he had intended to start a new religion. His response was, "Good god, NO!" But it happened anyway, as many people have taken parts of the series to heart (ie. the Litany Against Fear).
