Short answers, pulled from the story.
In scholarly terms, the word myth means speech, narrative, or fiction without any inherent judgment on its truthfulness. A story is classified as a myth because it plays a fundamental role in the society that tells it, not because it is untrue. This definition contrasts with the colloquial usage that emerged in the early 19th century to label beliefs as falsehoods.
The first example of the word myth in English appeared in 1830, long after the term mythology had already taken root in the language. Before this date, mythology referred to a moral, fable, allegory, or parable understood to be false. The Greek loanword mythos and the Latinate mythologia both appeared in English before the first example of myth.
The main characters in myths are usually non-human figures such as gods, demigods, and other supernatural entities. Legends feature humans as their primary protagonists and often deal with leaders who may have a historical basis. Myths are set in a primordial age when the world had not yet achieved its later form, whereas legends may have a historical basis.
In the 19th century, scholars like Max Müller and Edward Burnett Tylor developed nature mythology, positing that primitive man was primarily concerned with the natural world. Müller called myth a disease of language, speculating that myths arose due to the lack of abstract nouns in ancient languages. They interpreted myths as metaphors for natural phenomena.
The myth-ritual theory claims that myths arose to explain rituals, a view first put forward by Smith and later expanded by James George Frazer. Frazer argued that humans gave up belief in natural law in favor of a belief in personal gods controlling nature, which gave rise to religious myths. By telling or reenacting myths, members of traditional societies return to the mythical age to come closer to the divine.
A mytheme is a theme whose transcendent or supernatural dimension allows it to interact with other mythemes to form a myth. For a myth to take shape, at least two mythemes must combine in some way. The term prosopomyth, coined by José Manuel Losada, designates the character born as a myth in its essence.