The volume is a programmatic manifesto for the new series MythoS. The author develops new methods ? the hyleme analysis and the stratification analysis ? and applies them on mythological materials, reconstructing myths as ?Stoffe? and making them understandable in their polymorphic nature. In this groundbreaking work, the author sets the stage for a general theory of myth based on a new comprehensive, transmedial and comparative Stoff-research.