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Hmmmm...... I think what you're starting to talk about is the evolution of storytelling. First there was myth-as-religion. It was about the gods and their effect upon humans (to put things blindingly simplistically) It lost its necessary link to religion and became Story in its own right when interest switched from the gods to the heroes (usually demi-gods). Now we have Adventure and Legend. Then the demi-gods give way to heroes who are humans with special ability, whether related to knighthood or royalty or magic.
In the late 18th century there sprung the novel. The word itself means "new". I imagine it was at first an adjective, modifying "story". A 'novel story'. In it, plot is no longer necessarily the driving force. Now, characters are invested with interest in their own right, and the characters are normal humans, not heroes (necessarily). The novel has continued to evolve since Sir Walter Raleigh, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Hemingway, etc., until we have the modern and still evolving novel in which any aspect of story can be turned on its head, be it plot, character, theme, or setting, etc.
Tolkien didn't like anything written after Chaucer, except fantasy and science fiction, as he is known to have enjoyed William Morris and Isaace Asimov. These two genres are strongly idea- and plot- oriented compared to the modern novel. Surely, characters have to be interesting, but seldom will the story be structured around character. So actually, our rpg's are rather more like the modern novel and less like myth. I wonder about that sometimes.
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