mythos

1. (by extension) A set of assumptions or beliefs about something.Examples: "Of all the stories that fuel conflict, none affects you more than your mythos of identity—the core narrative that shapes how you see your identity in relation to that of the other side. In a conflict, you are likely to regard yourself as the victim and the other as the villain. You fill in the details of this mythos with personal grievances and accusations. Of course, the other side also sees the conflict through a mythos—and in theirs they are the victim. Unless you transform the fundamental way you relate to each other—your mythos—your conflict will remain."broadlycountableuncountable

2. (literature) A recurring theme; a motif.Examples: "To get most benefit from the four mythoi, one must avoid making two errors. First, a work embodying the comic mythos may be called comic but should not be confused with comedy since the latter term has too many meanings that are exclusively dramatic. The same stricture applies to tragedy and the tragic mythos. The second error is to assume that a work embodying the ironic mythos is an anti-romance."; "In addition to mythoi drawn from myths and fairy tales, romances also employ mythoi derived from chivalric romances."countableuncountable