Structuralist theory of mythology

The structuralist theory of mythology is a method of analyzing mythology, in which the mythology is treated as if it follows the same structure and rules as language. The method was devised by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, who claimed that myth, like language, can be broken down into constituents (which he called "mythemes" in the case of mythology). Each constituent could then be addressed separately but, at the same time, compared and contrasted with the other constituents. The structuralist method differs from the symbolist method, which instead seeks meaning solely within the constituents and not between them.

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