Myth: A Biography of Belief - Hardcover

Leeming, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195142888 ISBN 13: 9780195142884

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2001

Synopsis

Joseph Campbell wrote that mythology is "the wonderful song of the soul's high adventure." In Myth, David Leeming considers the role this "wonderful song" has to play in a world increasingly dependent on scientific and technical information.
Exploring classic works such as the Song of Songs, the Tao Te Ching, the Rg Veda, the New Testament, and the Indonesian myth of Hainuwele, Myth reveals the cultural energies that ancient "mythmakers" sought to corral in their creations. Leeming argues that myths are, by definition, evolving creations that live on in the work of modern-day "mythmakers" such as W.B. Yeats, Virginia Woolf, and Albert Einstein. Leeming provides an engaging new outlook on the role of myth in the works of these and other contemporary artists and scientists. The similarities between modern concepts like the "Big Bang" and ancient myths of creation illustrate our continuing need to confront the mysteries of existence by way of metaphor and narrative. Leeming suggests that myth and factual knowledge do not negate, but complement each other.
Whether it is the "American Dream," alien abduction, or belief in virgin birth and resurrection, these "living myths" play a very therapeutic role in the development of a healthy society. In Myth: A Biography of Belief, David Leeming shows that myths are still a fitting way to capture "the soul's high adventure."

About this title

About the Author

David Leeming is Emeritus Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut and author of A Dictionary of Asian Mythology (OUP 2000). He currently resides in Riverdale, New York.

From Library Journal

Elegant contributions to the vast literature on mythology, these well-informed and thoroughly documented studies enhance our understanding of this elusive topic. Originally a series of lectures, Leeming's Myth is divided into four complementary essays covering myths and religious faith, creation stories, gender, and hero stories. The essays investigate the role of ancient beliefs in modern culture, clarifying the relationship between myth and fact and showing how myths evolve and endure in the works of noted authors (Yeats, Woolf), scientists (Einstein), environmentalists (Thomas Berry), and others. Attentive to the subjects' complexities, this book is nonetheless comprehensible to nonspecialists. In Gods, Heroes, and Kings, Leeming teams with Fee to delineate the complex patchwork of belief systems found in the British Isles. The authors, both academic authorities with many previous publications on the topic, offer a thoroughgoing and instructive overview of the isles's many folkloric traditions, including rites, legends, and beliefs drawn from Anglo-Saxon, Judeo-Christian, Germanic, and Celtic traditions. The topics covered include deity types, sacred objects, heroes, gods, and creation and apocalyptic theories, and the work's documentary value is nicely enhanced by the inclusion of excerpts from original sources. This richly illustrated work is destined to become the fundamental history of British mythology. Excellent and solid, these substantial tomes are recommended without pause for all appropriate collections. Richard K. Burns, MSLS, Hatboro, PA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0195142888
• ISBN 13: 9780195142884
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 192