1. Nature myths (esp. Max Müller): all myths refer to natural phenomena, of which deities are personifications.
2. Aetiology: myths offer causes.
3. Ritual myths (esp. Sir James Frazer and some other students of Comparative Mythology): myths explain rituals.
4. Charter myths (esp. Bronislav Malinowski): myths don't explain, but rather they offer justification for social institutions and customs.
5. Structuralism
a. Vladimir Propp: myths are made up of "functions," or units of action which recur in many different myths.
b. Claude Lévi-Strauss: myths reveal truths through their structure, especially by mediating irreconcilable contradictions.
1. Sigmund Freud: myths, like dreams, reveal unconscious thoughts and desires.
2. Carl Jung: myths, like dreams, contain symbols, called "archetypes," which are universal, part of the "collective unconscious" of humankind.