mythos

noun4

1. •
   Anything transmitted by word of mouth, such as a fable, legend, narrative, story, or tale (especially a poetic tale).

   • POLY′MYTHY (S[ubstantive]) in Poetry, a fault in an epic poem, when instead of a single mythos, or fable, there is a multiplicity of them. — 1760
2. •
   A story or set of stories relevant to or having a significant truth or meaning for a particular culture, religion, society, or other group; a myth, a mythology.

   • The term cobber [...] is still a part of our linguistic culture, and mateship is still a part of our cultural mythos. — 1996
3. •
   A set of assumptions or beliefs about something.
4. •
   A recurring theme; a motif.

   • In addition to mythoi drawn from myths and fairy tales, romances also employ mythoi derived from chivalric romances. — 2011