The World of Myth: An AnthologyDavid Adams Leeming Oxford University Press, 1992 M02 27 - 384 pages Hercules, Zeus, Thor, Gilgamesh--these are the figures that leap to mind when we think of myth. But to David Leeming, myths are more than stories of deities and fantastic beings from non-Christian cultures. Myth is at once the most particular and the most universal feature of civilization, representing common concerns that each society voices in its own idiom. Whether an Egyptian story of creation or the big-bang theory of modern physics, myth is metaphor, mirroring our deepest sense of ourselves in relation to existence itself. Now, in The World of Myth, Leeming provides a sweeping anthology of myths, ranging from ancient Egypt and Greece to the Polynesian islands and modern science. We read stories of great floods from the ancient Babylonians, Hebrews, Chinese, and Mayans; tales of apocalypse from India, the Norse, Christianity, and modern science; myths of the mother goddess from Native American Hopi culture and James Lovelock's Gaia. Leeming has culled myths from Aztec, Greek, African, Australian Aboriginal, Japanese, Moslem, Hittite, Celtic, Chinese, and Persian cultures, offering one of the most wide-ranging collections of what he calls the collective dreams of humanity. More important, he has organized these myths according to a number of themes, comparing and contrasting how various societies have addressed similar concerns, or have told similar stories. In the section on dying gods, for example, both Odin and Jesus sacrifice themselves to renew the world, each dying on a tree. Such traditions, he proposes, may have their roots in societies of the distant past, which would ritually sacrifice their kings to renew the tribe. In The World of Myth, David Leeming takes us on a journey "not through a maze of falsehood but through a marvellous world of metaphor," metaphor for "the story of the relationship between the known and the unknown, both around us and within us." Fantastic, tragic, bizarre, sometimes funny, the myths he presents speak of the most fundamental human experience, a part of what Joseph Campbell called "the wonderful song of the soul's high adventure." |
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Æsir ancient Apollo Apsu archetype Baldr beast beautiful behold birth blood Bodhisatta body born Brahman brother Buddha called child creation myth CREON cried Cronus dark daughter dead death Demeter Dionysos divine dream earth Egyptian Enlil Eurystheus evil excerpts eyes face father fire flood gave Gilgamesh girls goddess gods golden Greek ground hand hast hath heart heaven Herakles Hercules Hermes Hermód hero Hiiaka Hopi human Inanna Indra Isis Jesus kachinas killed king land light living looked Lord Mircea Eliade Mithra Mondamin Moses mother motif mountain mouth Mythology nether world night Noah Osiris ritual river Robert Graves sacred serpent spirit stone story sword symbol tell temple thee Theseus things thou shalt Tiamat told took tree underworld universe unto Utnapishtim virgin Vishnu voice Wanjiru wife woman words York young Zeus