Myths We Live by

Colin Grant challenges the popular use of 'myth' as a dismissive designation for the superstitions and falsehoods of 'other' cultures. He argues that 'myths' are not merely archaic relics of a simpler bygone era, irrelevant to the technically sophisticated consumer of contemporary Western culture, but an integral and living part of our daily lives. The author maintains that myths occupy a place in our present-day lives that is every bit as important to us as the divinities and heroes of classical antiquity were to the ancients. Grant explores some of the 'living myths' that shape our everyday lives - science, sports, sex, consumerism, societal values, ecology, and religion - and maintains that many of these myths serve as religious substitutes in a secular age. The myths themselves are in a constant state of flux and transformation. They ebb and flow, both with in the context of wider culture and individual experience.