Myth : a very short introduction PDF
Preview Myth : a very short introduction
Myth: 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 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York AucklandCape TownDar es Salaam Hong Kong KarachiKuala Lumpur MadridMelbourneMexico City NairobiNew DelhiShanghaiTaipeiToronto With offices in ArgentinaAustriaBrazilChileCzech RepublicFranceGreece GuatemalaHungaryItaly Japan South KoreaPolandPortugal Singapore SwitzerlandThailandTurkeyUkraineVietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Robert A. Segal 2004 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published as a Very Short Introduction 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0–19–280347–6 13579108642 Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk Printed in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall In memory of Skip, a beloved cat This page intentionally left blank 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
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