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Parallel Myths Paperback – October 11, 1994
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For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and morality. Now, in Parallel Myths, classical scholar J. F. Bierlein gathers the key myths from all of the world's major traditions and reveals their common themes, images, and meanings.
Parallel Myths introduces us to the star players in the world's great myths—not only the twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, but the stern Norse Pantheon, the mysterious gods of India, the Egyptian Ennead, and the powerful deities of Native Americans, the Chinese, and the various cultures of Africa and Oceania. Juxtaposing the most potent stories and symbols from each tradition, Bierlein explores the parallels in such key topics as creation myths, flood myths, tales of love, morality myths, underworld myths, and visions of the Apocalypse. Drawing on the work of Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, Claude Lévi-Strauss, and others, Bierlein also contemplates what myths mean, how to identify and interpret the parallels in myths, and how mythology has influenced twentieth-century psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and literary studies.
“A first-class introduction to mythology . . . Written with great clarity and sensitivity.”—John G. Selby, Associate Professor, Roanoke College
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBallantine Books
- Publication dateOctober 11, 1994
- Dimensions5.4 x 0.76 x 8.1 inches
- ISBN-100345381467
- ISBN-13978-0345381460
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Gary P. Gillum, Brigham Young Univ., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“A first-class introduction to mythology . . . Written with great clarity and sensitivity.”—John G. Selby, Associate Professor, Roanoke College
From the Inside Flap
From the Back Cover
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
What is myth? Let’s begin by telling one.
Centuries ago in China, a young boy asked his grandfather how the world was created. The grandfather responded in the same way that his own grandfather had many years before:
Once there was only a great chaos, Hundun. There were two emperors: Hu, the Emperor of the Northern Sea, and Shu, the Emperor of the Southern Sea. When they found Hundun, he was an incomplete being, lacking the seven orifices necessary for sight, hearing, eating and speech, breathing, smell, reproduction, and elimination. So, zapping him with thunderbolts, they bored one of these orifices every day for seven days. Finally, Hundun died in the process.
The names Hu and Shu combine to form the word Hu-shu, or “lightning.” Thus the work of creation began when lightning pierced chaos.
Within our own century a strikingly similar view of the creation was presented as a scientific theory. Harold S. Urey, the 1934 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, speculated that the origins of life might have been in the action of some kind of energy, perhaps lightning, on the primordial atmosphere of the earth. Whether or not Urey was familiar with this Chinese myth we do not know, yet his explanation echoed the one told by the Chinese grandfather.
In 1953, a graduate student of Urey named Stanley L. Miller put this theory to the test in an experiment. He prepared two glass globes, one of which contained the gases believed to have composed the early atmosphere of the earth, and the other to collect gases formed as a result of his experiment. He activated the gases with “lightning” in the form of 60,000 volts of electricity. To his surprise, some of the materials that gathered in the second globe included nucleotides, organic components of the amino acids that join together to make DNA, which is the basic building block of all life. This was the first time that nucleotides had been produced in any manner independent of a living organism.
On first reading, the Chinese myth sounds quite primitive. It is anthropomorphic; that is to say, the characters are natural forces personified. The two elements that form lightning are referred to as “emperors,” and chaos is portrayed in human form. This “primitive” myth, however, converges with advanced and sophisticated speculations on the origins of life. This becomes our first clue as to what myth is. It is the earliest form of science: speculation on how the world came into being.
To the man on the street, however, the word myth brings to mind lies, fables, or widely believed falsehoods. On the nightly news, a health expert speaks of the need to “eliminate commonly held myths about AIDS.” In this context, myth is used to mean “a misconception”—in this case, even a dangerous misconception. But myth, in the sense that we use it in this book, often stands for truth. A myth is often something that only begins to work where our own five senses end.
If myth were only a collection of stories, of falsehoods, why then does it continue to fascinate us? Why has myth persisted for centuries? As we shall see, a single definition of myth is never adequate, for it is many things operating at many levels.
As we have seen, myth is the first fumbling attempt to explain how things happen, the ancestor of science. It is also the attempt to explain why things happen, the sphere of religion and philosophy. It is a history of prehistory, telling us what might have happened before written history. It is the earliest form of literature, often an oral literature. It told ancient people who they were and the right way to live. Myth was and still is the basis of morality, governments, and national identity.
Myth is hardly the sole property of the “primitive, prescientific” mind. Our lives today are saturated with myth, its symbols, language, and content, all of which are part of our common heritage as human beings. Fables, fairy tales, literature, epics, tales told around camp-fires, and the scriptures of great religions are all packages of myth that transcend time, place, and culture. Individual myths themselves are strikingly similar between cultures vastly separated by geography. This commonality helps us to recognize the beauty of the unity in human diversity: We share something with all other peoples in all other times.
Now we can begin to make some very general statements about myth.
Myth is a constant among all human beings in all times. The patterns, stories, even details contained in myth are found everywhere and among everyone. This is because myth is a shared heritage of ancestral memories, related consciously from generation to generation. Myth may even be part of the structure of our unconscious mind, possibly encoded in our genes.
Myth is a telling of events that happened before written history, and of a sense of what is to come. Myth is the thread that holds past, present, and future together.
Myth is a unique use of language that describes the realities beyond our five senses. It fills the gap between the images of the unconscious and the language of conscious logic.
Myth is the “glue” that holds societies together; it is the basis of identity for communities, tribes, and nations.
Myth is an essential ingredient in all codes of moral conduct. The rules for living have always derived their legitimacy from their origins in myth and religion.
Myth is a pattern of beliefs that give meaning to life. Myth enables individuals and societies to adapt to their respective environments with dignity and value.
LANGUAGE AND MYTH
Our language is permeated with terms taken from the myths, especially Greek and Roman myths, that we use daily without ever thinking of their origins. To drive into the city, you may have to deal with the chaos (from the Greek myth describing the primordial state of things before creation) of traffic, while listening to the top-40 song “I’m Your Venus” (from the name of the Roman goddess of beauty) or thinking about buying Nike (named for the Greek goddess of victory) athletic shoes or perhaps a Mars bar (named for the Roman god of war). No doubt the tires on your car are made of vulcanized rubber (from Vulcan, the Roman patron god of metalworking). On your journey, you may pass a museum (named in honor of the Muses, patroness spirits of culture in Greek mythology); perhaps next Saturday (named for Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture) you will find some time to stop in.
The news comes over the radio. In Europe (named for Europa, a mortal woman who had a liaison with the Greek god Zeus), preparations are being made for the Olympics (a modern revival of the games held at Olympus, the home of the Greek gods), even as diplomats in London (named for Lugh, a Celtic sun-god) are discussing what will happen to all those Thor (the Norse thunder god), Titan (named for Greek giants), and Jupiter (the Roman name for Zeus) missiles.
When you are at the office, a moody co-worker may be described as mercurial (from Mercury, the Roman messenger of the gods). You may have erotic (from Eros, the Greek god of sexual love) thoughts about someone with whom you work. However, in these harassment-sensitive times, making an amorous advance to a colleague might prove the Achilles’ heel* to your otherwise honorable career. You may even be concerned about venereal disease (from Venus, the Roman love goddess). Oh, what the hell (from Hel, the guardian of the dead in Germanic mythology).
Modern technology allows almost instant communication around the world via fax, phone, and modem. But, whether you live in Lyons, France (named for the Celtic sun-god Lugh); Athens, Georgia; or Gimli, Manitoba (for Gimli, the highest heaven in Norse mythology), you are also linked to centuries past by myth.
Product details
- Publisher : Ballantine Books; First Edition (October 11, 1994)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0345381467
- ISBN-13 : 978-0345381460
- Item Weight : 10 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.4 x 0.76 x 8.1 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #342,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #750 in Folklore & Mythology Studies
- #3,446 in Folklore (Books)
- #4,921 in Mystery Action & Adventure
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biggest con: much of the texts themselves lack basic information - their authors, translators, dating, etc. i had so many background questions about the texts that were never annotated or explained.
biggest pros: the author provides an abundant about of texts throughout the world for comparison. the author arranges them in a logical order and allows the reader to explore them together.
but the biggest pro about this book were the final two chapters, where the author sketches the major theories of Mythology and the history of academic demythologization. fascinating stuff and worth the effort to understand if you’re new to the subject.
this was an excellent read. if the author ever annotated the background information to the primary texts, this thing would be absolute gold. still, it proved to be very valuable for me nonetheless.
The mythologies and pantheon covered in this book range from the Norse to the Polynesian to the Aztecs to the monotheism of the Middle East, and many more in between.
The book begins by exploring what myth is - and what it is not. Myth doesn't mean a story that is inherently untrue; rather, a myth is a story that gives meaning and purpose to man.
Armed with this definition, we plunge into the parallel myths. Here you will find uncannily similar myths relating to such topics as creation, morality, the flood, death, love, and more.
The concluding chapters examine what it is about these topics that have so captured man's imagination since time immemorial. Are these myths part of our collective unconscious, as suggested by C.G. Jung? Or are they merely facets of individual fancy, written and passed down?
Ultimately, it is up to us to decide the measure of myth, having been presented with the parallels and theories regarding them.
I would very highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in religion or anthropology, or merely curious about the wonders of Human imagination (thus this review's title). Very much worth the read.
Top reviews from other countries
Part One: An Invitation to Myth—
1. An Introduction;
2. The Cast of Characters;
Part Two: The Myths—
3. Beginnings— The Creation Myths;
4. The Earliest Times;
5. The Flood Myths;
6. Tales of Love;
7. Morality Tales from the Myths;
8. Four Parallel Stories;
9. Some Brief Myths of the Hero;
10. The Journey to the Underworld and the Path of Death;
11. The End— Visions of the Apocalypse;
Part Three: The Modern Readings of Myth—
12. Views of Myth and Meaning;
13. Parallel Myths and Ways of Interpreting Them;
14. Myth— Yours, Mine, and Ours.
These are followed by Bibliography and Index.
Best thing about this book apart from its encyclopaedic nature? The simplicity of language, lucidity, and brevity in presentation. Most importantly, unlike other celebrity authors Bierlein didn't fall into the trap of over-analysing everything into Jungian archetypes. Instead, he has left the readers to draw their own conclusions and tell their own stories.
Highly Recommended.