In order to understand the turn towards myth in the 20th century, this seminar will discuss the definitions and understandings of myth since early Greek philosophy and Plato and its renewal in the philosophy of romanticism, especially that of F. Schelling. These two foci will be the corner stones of the understanding of the myth theory of Ernst Cassirer and his critics, which was very influential on the study of religion during the 20th century and Gershom Scholem's study of the Kabbalah in particular.