Table Of ContentMyth: A Very Short Introduction
This book by Robert A. Segal is a concise, elegant, erudite overview of
the major nineteenth and twentieth century theories of myth, using the
Adonis narrative as a litmus test case for various approaches.
Alan Dundes, Professor of Anthropology and Folklore,
University of California, Berkeley
A delightfully clear, engagingly organized, and remarkably
comprehensive treatment of theories of myth.
Ivan Strenski, Holstein Family and Community Professor, Department of
Religious Studies, University of California at Riverside
This is the most helpful orientation to the field of mythological studies
that I have ever encountered.
John Beebe, M.D., Past President, The C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco
Segal writes to be understood and to instruct ... One learns from the
book much that will encourage and ease further reading.
William M. Calder III, William Abbott Oldfather Professor of the Classics,
University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign
This remarkably clear book is probably the widest-ranging
presentation ever written of the various contemporary
approaches to myth.
Antoine Faivre, Professor Emeritus at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes,
Religious Studies, Sorbonne
The whole discussion is a profound exploration of a subject that
touches on human experience, hopes, and expectations in religion,
philosophy, drama, literature, and psychology.
John Rogerson, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies,
University of Sheffield
Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating
and accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and have
been published in more than 25 languages worldwide.
The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topics
in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next
few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short
Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to
conceptual art and cosmology.
Very Short Introductions available now:
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Continental Philosophy
Julia Annas Simon Critchley
THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE COSMOLOGY Peter Coles
John Blair CRYPTOGRAPHY
ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia Fred Piper and Sean Murphy
ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn DADA AND SURREALISM
ARCHITECTURE David Hopkins
Andrew Ballantyne Darwin Jonathan Howard
ARISTOTLE Jonathan Barnes Democracy Bernard Crick
ART HISTORY Dana Arnold DESCARTES Tom Sorell
ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland DRUGS Leslie Iversen
THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH Martin Redfern
ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin EGYPTIAN MYTH
Atheism Julian Baggini Geraldine Pinch
Augustine Henry Chadwick EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
BARTHES Jonathan Culler BRITAIN Paul Langford
THE BIBLE John Riches THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball
BRITISH POLITICS EMOTION Dylan Evans
Anthony Wright EMPIRE Stephen Howe
Buddha Michael Carrithers ENGELS Terrell Carver
BUDDHISM Damien Keown Ethics Simon Blackburn
CAPITALISM James Fulcher The European Union
THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe John Pinder
CHOICE THEORY EVOLUTION
Michael Allingham Brian and Deborah Charlesworth
CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson FASCISM Kevin Passmore
CLASSICS Mary Beard and THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
John Henderson William Doyle
CLAUSEWITZ Michael Howard Freud Anthony Storr
THE COLD WAR Galileo Stillman Drake
Robert McMahon Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh
GLOBALIZATION Manfred Steger PLATO Julia Annas
HEGEL Peter Singer POLITICS Kenneth Minogue
HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
HINDUISM Kim Knott David Miller
HISTORY John H. Arnold POSTCOLONIALISM
HOBBES Richard Tuck Robert Young
HUME A. J. Ayer POSTMODERNISM
IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden Christopher Butler
Indian Philosophy POSTSTRUCTURALISM
Sue Hamilton Catherine Belsey
Intelligence Ian J. Deary PREHISTORY Chris Gosden
ISLAM Malise Ruthven PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
JUDAISM Norman Solomon Catherine Osborne
Jung Anthony Stevens Psychology Gillian Butler and
KANT Roger Scruton Freda McManus
KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner QUANTUM THEORY
THE KORAN Michael Cook John Polkinghorne
LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway
LITERARY THEORY ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler
Jonathan Culler RUSSELL A. C. Grayling
LOCKE John Dunn RUSSIAN LITERATURE
LOGIC Graham Priest Catriona Kelly
MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
MARX Peter Singer S. A. Smith
MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers SCHIZOPHRENIA
MEDIEVAL BRITAIN Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone
John Gillingham and SCHOPENHAUER
Ralph A. Griffiths Christopher Janaway
MODERN IRELAND Senia Pasˇeta SHAKESPEARE Germaine Greer
MOLECULES Philip Ball SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
MUSIC Nicholas Cook ANTHROPOLOGY
Myth Robert A. Segal John Monaghan and Peter Just
NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce
NINETEENTH-CENTURY Socrates C. C. W. Taylor
BRITAIN Christopher Harvie and SPINOZA Roger Scruton
H. C. G. Matthew STUART BRITAIN John Morrill
NORTHERN IRELAND TERRORISM Charles Townshend
Marc Mulholland THEOLOGY David F. Ford
PARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Close THE TUDORS John Guy
paul E. P. Sanders TWENTIETH-CENTURY
Philosophy Edward Craig BRITAIN Kenneth O. Morgan
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Wittgenstein A. C. Grayling
Samir Okasha WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman
Available soon:
AFRICAN HISTORY HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson
John Parker and Richard Rathbone HIROSHIMA B. R. Tomlinson
ANCIENT EGYPT Ian Shaw HUMAN EVOLUTION
THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea Bernard Wood
BUDDHIST ETHICS INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Damien Keown Paul Wilkinson
CHAOS Leonard Smith JAZZ Brian Morton
CHRISTIANITY MANDELA Tom Lodge
Linda Woodhead MEDICAL ETHICS
CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy Tony Hope
CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE THE MIND Martin Davies
Robert Tavernor NATIONALISM
CLONING Arlene Judith Klotzko Steven Grosby
CONTEMPORARY ART PERCEPTION Richard Gregory
Julian Stallabrass PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
THE CRUSADES Jack Copeland and Diane Proudfoot
Christopher Tyerman PHOTOGRAPHY
Derrida Simon Glendinning Steve Edwards
DESIGN John Heskett THE RAJ Denis Judd
Dinosaurs David Norman THE RENAISSANCE
DREAMING J. Allan Hobson Jerry Brotton
ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta RENAISSANCE ART
EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn Geraldine Johnson
THE FIRST WORLD WAR SARTRE Christina Howells
Michael Howard THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR
FREE WILL Thomas Pink Helen Graham
FUNDAMENTALISM TRAGEDY Adrian Poole
Malise Ruthven THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Habermas Gordon Finlayson Martin Conway
For more information visit our web site
www.oup.co.uk/vsi
Robert A. Segal
MYTH
A Very Short Introduction
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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© Robert A. Segal 2004
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First published as a Very Short Introduction 2004
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ISBN 0–19–280347–6
13579108642
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In memory of Skip, a beloved cat
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Contents
List of illustrations x
Introduction: Theories of myth 1
1
Myth and science 11
2
Myth and philosophy 36
3
Myth and religion 46
4
Myth and ritual 61
5
Myth and literature 79
6
Myth and psychology 91
7
Myth and structure 113
8
Myth and society 126
Conclusion: The future of the study of myth 137
References 143
Index 159
