It is occasionally noted that Plato's use of myth is strangely different from the more socially natural myths of the sort told by Hesiod and Ovid. The first aspect of myth to consider is the distinctive features of mythic writing. For example, The content of myths frequently describes events relating to the gods.
Myths involve fantastic events and heroic endeavors.
Myths depict beasts we do not normally see, gods we do not normally encounter, heroic deeds we do not normally witness, and all in a narrative setting in which such events occur frequently without comment on their extraordinary character. If I saw a cyclops, I would be very surprised. All these features of myth are also elements of a different genre, that of fantasy. But myth goes on to serve an additional narrative function. Myths purport to tell us about the world we really inhabit.