Abstract: This study considers the sources of mythological thinking of the Austrian writer Elias Canetti and the peculiarities connected with the writer’s mythopoetics and mythopoetic system. Such research methods as biographical, cultural and historical, comparative historical and mythological have been used in writing the research. In his works E. Canetti demonstrates the unity of the east and west cultures. The writer’s address to the myths of antiquity, the Chinese culture, the Judaic-Christian tradition is connected first of all with his spiritual Odyssey, search of answers to the questions that disturb him and themes that interest him. The study of the sources of the author’s mythological thinking allows to make conclusions of the reasons of his address to the myth and to understand the originality of the mythopoetic system created by him and in this way to consider the possible variants of manifestation of literary myths in the literary works by E. Canetti. On the basis of mythological sources of various peoples and cultures by means of their transformation Canetti creates a number of author’s symbols and mythologems. Reviewing the classical myths, the literary artist originates his own understanding of a myth (an author’s myth) that reflects in autobiography, literary works, notes and essays. The mythopoetic system developed by him allows to speak on mythological thinking of the author. The writer deliberately borrows plots and motifs from different cultures and mythologies, revises them, transforms and on this basis creates his own author’s myth. The author’s myth and author’s system of mythologems form into a kind of mythopoetic system, the peculiarity of which enables to judge about mythological thinking of the Austrian writer.