Political myths work by embodying collective will in a concrete individual.

Evidence

In order to represent the process whereby a given collective will, directed towards a given political objective, is formed, Machiavelli did not have recourse to long-winded arguments, or pedantic classifications of principles and criteria for a method of action. Instead he represented this process in terms of the qualities, characteristics, duties and requirements of a concrete individual. Such a procedure stimulates the artistic imagination of those who have to be convinced, and gives political passions a more concrete form. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 596

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the mechanism by which the myth operates: concrete individual embodiment convinces through artistic imagination rather than argument.
• XREF: connects to: Modern politicians actively map themselves onto mythic warrior-kings to claim legitimacy — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 82