I think that the very act (or ritual) of measuring time within the mythic eras created a measurable series of events. The meticulous choreography of the Yelmic court created its own rhythm and subcycle that could be counted.
In an agricultural society, a year is a harvest cycle. In regions and eras of plenty, several harvests may fall into a turn of the sun, but maybe the king's involvement in the harvest cycles is counted rather than some other factor. And if a deity is pluripresent, the number of recurring events within his presence may multiply.
Mythical time is also called cyclical time - I read this as you can insert yourself from the realm of linear time (the mundane world) into the chains of mythic events and experience them in a loose sequence, too.
There is some form of cause and effect - meaning that some actions are prerequisites of others. You cannot perform the Westfaring after Orlanth's atonement without leaving that mythical cycle.
On the other hand, the events during the Westfaring may be interchangeable, there may be optional events, and some of those have no clear position in the narrative.
Occasionally, a myth folds into itself. The Finnish Kalevala - a reconstructed myth - is an example of that, with the Sampo quest repeated. The stations on either may be different, but the mythic core (and the reward) is occurring twice. However, this doubling is outside of the scope of a heroquest.
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