Knowledge skills for Mythology

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Literature would be about prior books written on the subject. Useful for researching and citations.

I don't think "Literature" in GURPS means knowledge of the scholarly literature on an academic field or subject. Knowledge of scholarly literature in general equals Research; knowledge of scholarly literature in a particular field equals the skill for that field. Literature in GURPS means belles lettres, or more broadly the high, folk, and popular arts expressed in language. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress or Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky is "literature"; Tucker's Instead of a Book or Mises' Human Action or Friedman's The Machinery of Freedom is not—those are works of economics or political science or political philosophy.

The skill of Literature could be used to study many primary sources, such as the Homeric Hymns or the Rg Veda, or perhaps compendia that have come to be read as belles lettres, such as the Theogony or the Elder Edda. But I don't think it would include the study of Campbell or Dumézil or other mythographers.

I can see including the study of myths in Theology (Comparative or for any religion that has myths). But I don't know if religion=mythology or mythology=religion. It might be a simpler solution to define Expert Skill: Mythography and say that it includes any elements of anthropology, history, literature, philosophy, and theology that relate to myths.