A myth is a story that expresses the collective dreamworld of a culture: its fears, its wishes, its self-conception. Some myths refine themselves over generations. Others spring into consciousness in an instant. A bit of story or news captures the imagination so thoroughly that the entire culture suddenly projects its hope or terror onto a single hero—or, more often, a villain.
Jeffrey Epstein is one of these myths. Since his arrest and jailhouse death, the disgraced financier, socialite, and pedophile has become America’s most famous villain, an archetype who offers virtually all factions something to hate.
