Our method thus eliminates a problem which has, so far, been one of the main obstacles to

the progress of mythological studies, namely, the quest for the true version, or the earlier

one. On the contrary, we define the myth as consisting of all its versions; or to put it

otherwise, a myth remains the same as long as it is felt as such. A striking example is

offered by the fact that our interpretation may take into account the Freudian use of the

Oedipus myth and is certainly applicable to it. Although the Freudian problem has ceased

to be that of autochthony versus bisexual reproduction, it is still the problem of

understanding how one can be born from two: How is it that we do not have only one

procreator, but a mother plus a father? Therefore, not only Sophocles, but Freud himself,

should be included among the recorded versions of the Oedipus myth on a par with earlier

or seemingly more "authentic" versions.

An important consequence follows. If a myth is made up of all its variants, structural

analysis should take all of them into account.

--Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Structural Study of Myth” (1955/1963)