Allusion: A reference or quotation to a work of literature or other cultural artifact that readers are expected to recognize as a result of their cultural and literary awareness. A reader recognizing the allusion can then apply its context and meaning to the context of the work making the allusion and so gain a deeper understanding. For instance, the title of William Faulkner's novel The Sound and the Fury is taken from Shakespeare's Macbeth, where Macbeth refers to time as "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Recognizing the allusion, a reader is able to apply this knowledge to Faulkner's novel in order to better understand the novel.

Archetype: "[A] primary symbol, action, setting, or character-type that is found repeatedly in myth, folklore, and literature. Religious mystics have at various times proposed that there is a universal symbolic language of dreams and visions; and in the 20th cent. this notion was encouraged by the speculative anthropology of J. G. Frazer and the psychology of Jung, who claimed that human beings shared a 'collective unconscious' for which archetypal images, whether in dreams or in imaginative literature, provided evidence. Archetypal criticism . . . under Jung's influence has sought to trace the recurrence of such symbols and types as the Earth Mother, the Quest, the Paradisal Garden, and the Trickster. . . . The wider significance of archetypes in literature was explored by Frye" ("Archetype")

Aryan Hypothesis: "Extrapolating from Sir William Jones's theory of Central Asian origins for the world's largest linguistic group, a variety of European intellectuals posited the existence of a strong, technologically superior race that conquered the prehistoric world from India to Iceland, thus leaving its indelible mark on the languages, myths, and gene pool of this vast territory. This hypothetical race, which they called the Aryans, provided 19th-century German nationalists with an ancient, heroic Golden Age upon which to base their theories of national greatness" (Leonard, par. 32).

Binary oppositions: Paired opposities, such as off and on; left and right; right and wrong; good and evil; black and white. In Marx's view, one group is privileged while the other is marginalized in a society or culture.

Bourgeoisie: A term used by Marx to refer to the ruling class (see Proletariat)

Classical Mythology: The myths of the Greeks and Romans

Comparative Mythology: Approach to myth dominating 19th century studies of mythology based on Herder's Volk Theory (see Volk Theory) where people's myths were seen as an indirect consequence of their physical environment. Three schools: Comparative Mythologists, Nature School, Ethnologists

Eclectic: A collective approach to study, drawing materials from a wide range of approaches; a smorgasbord rather than a single school of thought

Ego: Term used by Freud to refer to rational part of the human psyche that balances the forces of the id and superego and makes decisions based on the "reality principle," a response to the reality of the situation (see id, superego).

Ethnocentrism: "A tendency or disposition to judge other ethnic groups, cultures, nations, or societies by the standards and customs of one's own, often accompanied by a dislike or misunderstanding of other such groups and a belief in the intrinsic superiority of one's own" ("Ethnocentrism").

Euhemerist: Someone "who interprets myths as primitive explanations of the natural world or as time-distorted accounts of long-past historical events." The term is based on the name of Euhemeros of Messene who argued the stories of the gods were embellished history about real persons (Leonard and McClure 5).

Fable: A brief story, often involving talking animals, which teaches a moral lesson ("Fable").

Folklore: Traditional tales, songs, rituals, or ideas that express the mores and beliefs of a culture ("Folklore"). These stories may take place in the future, the present, the historic past, or a timeless realm (Delahoyde and Hughes, par. 4) but are relevant to the present (Laubach 1). David C. Laubach identifies four key aspects of folklore: expresses oral traditions, associated with a particular group or culture, has different versions or variants, and has no known origin or author (Laubach 1-2).

Golden Age: Belief in a golden past when life was better. The view is often tied to views of history which show cycles of growth and destruction or linear movements toward a final apocalypse.

Id: Word coined by Freud to refer to that part of the human psyche driven by natural instincts or desires and operates according to the "pleasure principle," that is, which makes decisions based on what gives the most pleasure to the individual by satisfying the individual's desires and needs (See ego, superego).

Ideology: "[A] system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy"; "the set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual" ("Ideology noun").

Legend: These are stories about great heroes, considered historically accurate ("Legend") but may contain references to the gods or to accounts of extraordinary or miraculous events. These heroes serve as exemplars or models of behavior for people within a society.

Logos: A Greek word translated "word" or "story." Over time the meaning of the word evolved from everyday discourse or "crafty 'legalese'" to "a means of arguing" to absolute or ordering truths (Leonard and McClure 2-4). The apostle John uses the word to refer to Christ as the divinely inspired absolute word of God (Leonard and McClure 6-7).

Monomyth: A theory proposed by Joseph Campbell that hero stories reflect a cycle of birth and rebirth, paralleling the cycle of the seasons, an adventure from innocence to mature awareness which transforms the hero and helps the hero find his/her place in the world (Leonard and McClure 17).

Monotheistic: A system of belief where there exists only a single god. (see polytheistic)

Mores: "Cultural norms that articulate the most basic social values about appropriate behavior and that carry a strong sanction if violated. The nearly universal prohibition against incest is an example. Waving goodbye, on the other hand, is a lesser norm--sometimes characterized as belonging to the folkways of a group or community" ("Mores").

Mystery: "Mystery is that which is obscure, hidden, but which by revelation can be divined as the depth of the divine reality. Thus mystery is inaccessible, but can be apprehended by intuition" (Deneken, par. 1); "a secret imparted only to the initiated, what is unknown until it is revealed, whether it be easy or hard to understand" (Orr, par. 1)

Mysticism: "Belief in a perception of reality that is elevated above normal human understanding. It may involve some form of spiritual search for unity of self with God or the universe. It is found in most major religions, and exponents of mysticism (mystics) may experience trances, dreams, or visions. In India, mysticism has long been important in Hinduism, and is based on Yoga. Mysticism in Judaism is apparent in Hasidism and the Cabbala. Mystics in the Far East have mostly been followers of Taoism or Buddhism" ("Mysticism").

Myth: A myth is a story, usually involving a god or gods, which attempts to answer the basic questions of human existence. The truth of a myth is metaphorical; that is, a myth is true regardless of its historical accuracy in that it expresses a truth about human nature. The truth of a myth is also transcendent; that is, myth attempts to relate human existence in time and space with the transcendent, that which is beyond time and space, infinite and eternal. A myth develops out of a unique culture and both explains this culture and defines models of behavior within this culture. At the same time, myths express universal attitudes and feelings about what it means to be human.

Mythology: The term mythology is used in two senses. First, mythology refers to the scholarly study of myth. Second, mythology is used to refer to the corpus of myths of any particular culture, for example, Greek mythology, Norse mythology, or Aztec mythology.

Mythos: A Greek word translated as "word" or "story." Originally, the word was used by Hesiod to refer to "divinely inspired poetic utterances" but eventually evolved to mean fanciful or imaginative story (Leonard and McClure 2).

Natural Selection: "The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded by Charles Darwin, and it is now regarded as the main process that brings about evolution" ("Natural Selection noun").

Pantheon: "All the gods of a people or religion collectively: [as in] the deities of the Hindu pantheon" ("Pantheon noun").

Polytheistic: A system of belief that includes many gods (see monotheistic)

Profane: Common or ordinary, the opposite of sacred (see sacred)

Proletariat: Term used by Marx to refer to the common laborer and working class (see bourgeoisie)

Relativity: "Theory, proposed by German-born US physicist Albert Einstein, based on the postulate that the motion of one body can be defined only with respect to that of a second body. Mass, space and time are interdependent. This theory led to the concept of a four-dimensional space-time continuum in which the three space dimensions and time are treated on an equal footing ("Relativity"). The term came to be applied more generally across culture to refer to views of reality based on the observer's unique perspective.

Religion: "A system of belief in a higher power than humans, usually with rites, traditions, values, and customs that govern aspects of behavior, including many with implications for health and human rights, such as marital customs, rights of women, childbearing and human reproduction, permitted and proscribed foods, methods for disposal of the dead, and attitudes toward others with different beliefs and/or practices" ("Religion").

Sacred: An object or place set apart for or dedicated to the gods (see profane).

Structuralism: "Twentieth-century school of critical thought. Ferdinand de Saussure argued that underlying the everyday use of language is a language system (langue), based on relationships of difference. He stressed the arbitrary nature of the relationship between the signifier (sound or image) and the signified (concept). Initially a linguistic theory, Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes developed structuralism into a mode of critical analysis of cultural institutions and products. It is associated especially with the notion of a literary text as a system of signs" ("Structuralism").

Superego: Term coined by Freud to refer to the socially defined and critically conscious part of the human psyche which imposed restrictions on behavior and inhibits the id (see id, ego).

Taboo: "The ritual avoidance of a person, place, or thing. The word taboo is Polynesian in origin, but it has come to designate prohibitions in many cultures" ("Taboo").

Typology: Originally, "[a] system of interpretation applied by early Christian theologians to the Hebrew scriptures (the 'Old Testament'), by which certain events, images, and personages of pre-Christian legend could be understood as prophetic 'types' or 'figures' foreshadowing the life of Christ. Typology--literally the study of types--is thus a method of re-reading the Old Testament anachronistically in terms of the New Testament, so that Adam, Isaac, Jonah, and other characters are pre-figurings of Christ; the Tree of Knowledge in Eden is a type of the Cross, and so on" ("Typology," Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms). Applied more generally as a "[s]ystem of groupings that aids understanding of the things being studied by distinguishing certain attributes or qualities among them that serve to link them together into a closed set of items" ("Typology," World Encyclopedia). In other words, types are complex patterns of images that are similar across cultures. For instance, any story about a person who sacrifices himself/herself for his/her people but will return to rule the people can be labeled a "Christ type."

Ur Language: A belief in a first language from which all others evolved. A secular view of this idea is the search for Proto-Indo-European, the root forms of languages dominating an area ranging from the Indus Valley through the European continent (Leonard and McClure 7-9).

Volk Theory: A view developed by Johann Gottfried Herder that focused on localized groups of humans or "folk" whose life and culture were intricately and organically tied to their local environment, leading to a simple and honest lifestyle (Leonard and McClure 7-10).