Children in Ancient Greece were familiar with traditional myths from an early age.

According to the
philosopher Plato (c. 428–347 BCE), mothers and nursemaids narrated myths and stories to the children
in their charge: David Wiles describes them as a repository of mythological lore.[60]

Bruce Lincoln has called attention to the apparent meaning of the terms mythos and logos in the works
of Hesiod. In Theogony, Hesiod attributes to the Muses the ability to both proclaim truths and narrate
plausible falsehoods (i.e., falsehoods which seem like real things).[61] The verb used for narrating the
falsehoods in the text is legein, which is etymologically associated with logos. There are two variants in
the manuscript tradition for the verb used to proclaim truths. One variant uses gerusasthai, the other
mythesasthai. The latter is a form of the verb mytheomai ('to speak,' 'to tell'), which is etymologically
associated with mythos.[61] In the Works and Days, Hesiod describes his dispute with his brother
Perses. He also announces to his readers his intention to tell true things to his brother. The verb he uses
for telling the truth is mythesaimen, another form of mytheomai.[61]

Lincoln draws the conclusion that Hesiod associated the "speech of mythos" (as Lincoln calls it) with
telling the truth. While he associated the "speech of logos" with telling lies, and hiding one's true
thoughts (dissimulation).[61] This conclusion is strengthened by the use of the plural term logoi (the
plural form of logos) elsewhere in Hesiod's works. Three times the term is associated with the term
seductive and three times with the term falsehoods.[61] In his genealogy of the gods, Hesiod lists logoi
among the children of Eris, the goddess personifying strife. Eris' children are ominous figures, which
personify various physical and verbal forms of conflict.[61]

Interpreting myths

Comparative mythology

Main article: Comparative mythology

Comparative mythology is a systematic comparison of myths from different cultures. It seeks to discover
underlying themes that are common to the myths of multiple cultures. In some cases, comparative
mythologists use the similarities between separate mythologies to argue that those mythologies have a
common source. This source may inspire myths or provide a common "protomythology" that diverged
into the mythologies of each culture.[62]

Functionalism

A number of commentators have argued that myths function to form and shape society and social
behaviour. Eliade argued that one of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for
behavior[63][64] and that myths may provide a religious experience. By telling or reenacting myths,
members of traditional societies detach themselves from the present, returning to the mythical age,
thereby coming closer to the divine.[4][64][65]
Honko asserted that, in some cases, a society reenacts a myth in an att