An Introduction to Mythology

An Introduction to Mythology is a book by Lewis Spence, first published in 1921. It offers a wide-ranging scholarly survey of myth, folklore, ritual, and the origins of religious ideas, tracing the development of mythic thought from early cultures through to more complex societies.

Spence explores central themes such as creation myths, the nature of deities, cosmology, and ritual practice, examining how myth functioned as both religion and a form of proto-science for earlier peoples. He also considers how many mythological ideas continue to echo in later belief, superstition, and literary tradition.

Written against the intellectual backdrop of early twentieth-century anthropology and comparative religion, the book reflects contemporary efforts to classify and understand myth in historical and scientific terms. Spence was part of a generation grappling with questions of animism, polytheism, and the origins of symbolic thought.

The work has influenced later studies in folklore, comparative mythology, and the history of religion, and it remains a useful reference for students and general readers interested in myth theory, world mythologies, ritual studies, and the evolution of belief systems.