History is all too human. Viewed factually, it is confused, vicious, fragmentary and only occasionally inspiring.

We can mythologize history, and it appears that we must.

If we approach history factually, we still encounter myth. A crucial content of history is past histories, mostly mythologized. Historical figures drunkenly mythologize the actions of myth-drunk heroes and villains, who mythologized their equally myth-drunk ancestors. Ah, sahib, it is myths all the way back.

But lose those myths, and you’ve lost your future.