Editing Religion and mythology (section)

===Mythology===
The term ''[[mythology]]'' usually refers either to a system of myths or to the study of myths.<ref>"Mythology", ''OED'', 2007.</ref> However, the word "myth" itself has multiple (and some contradictory) definitions:
* 2007: According to the [[Merriam-Webster]] Dictionary, "Myth: "1 a: a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the [[world view]] of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. b: [[Parable]], [[Allegory]]. 2 a: a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of [[society]]. 2b: an unfounded or false notion. 3: a person or thing having only an imaginary or unverifiable existence. 4: the whole body of myths.<ref>"Myth", Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2007.</ref>

In regards to the study of culture and religion, these are some of the definitions scholars have used:

* 1968: The [[classicist]] [[Robert Graves]] defines myths as "whatever religious or heroic legends are so foreign to a student's experience that he cannot believe them to be true."<ref>Graves 1968, p. v.</ref>
* 1973: Another classicist, GS Kirk, rejects the notion that all myths are religious or sacred. In the category of "myth", he includes many legendary accounts that are "[[Secularity|secular]]" for all practical purposes.<ref>Kirk 1973, p. 11.</ref>
* 1997: [[Folklorist]]s define a myth as "a sacred [[narrative]] explaining how the world and humankind came to be in their present form".<ref>Dundes 1997, p. 45.</ref>
* 2004: In religious studies, the word "myth" is usually reserved for stories whose main characters are gods or [[demigod]]s.<ref name="Segal 2004, p. 5">Segal 2004, p. 5.</ref>
* 2004: The classicist Richard Buxton defines a myth as "a socially powerful traditional story".<ref>Buxton, p. 18</ref>
* 2004: Robert A. Segal, professor of theories of religion at the [[Lancaster University]], defines "myth" broadly as any story whose "main figures [are] personalities -- divine, human, or even animal. Excluded would be impersonal forces such as Plato's Good."<ref name="Segal 2004, p. 5"/>