Schelling on the Origin and Nature of Mythology

In his early and middle periods Schelling saw myth as a veneer of philosophy and even philosophy itself, but it was only in his later philosophy of mythology that he established the origin and nature of myth as a central issue and expounded it in depth through a historical-critical approach. In the process, he rejects the idea that mythology is an “invention”, refutes various poetic, historical, scientific and religious interpretations, and finally reveals the origin and essence of mythology from the perspective of ethnic origins and original human consciousness.