Language and Myth: Diseases of Each Other? (Poetic Diction)

 

Muller claimed that myth is the “disease of language.” While this may make sense to some extent, some such as Owen Barfield have argued that the opposite is true: “language is the disease of myth.” In Poetic Diction, Barfield explores the etymology of words such as north, hero and a few others. Looking into this using the Online Etymology Dictionary, we find that the word “hero” traces back to “demigod.” However, neither Muller or Barfield are completely correct. This is because myth and language are diseases of each other with vocabulary begotten from each other. An example of this is the name “Zeus.” It is believed that the name for the king of the Greco-Roman pantheon has its origins in PIE (Proto-Indo European) word “Dyeu” which means “to shine.” Whether or not this word results from myth is a whole other question that is likely impossible to answer; however, some tie it to gods or secular vocabulary (Online Etymology Dictionary). Who knows, it could be both!


PIE is actually quite interesting!

https://www.etymonline.com/word/*dyeu-

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