Nervous and mental disease monograph series, no. 18

The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A psychological interpretation of mythology

The prominent civilized nations, such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Hindoos, the inhabitants of Iran and of Persia, the Greeks and the Romans as well as the Teutons and others, all began at an early stage to glorify their heroes, mythical princes and kings, founders of religions, dynasties, empires or cities, in brief their national heroes, in a number of poetic tales and legends. The history of the birth and of the early life of these personalities came to be especially invested with fantastic features, which in different nations even though widely separated by space and entirely independent of each other present a baffling similarity, or in part a literal correspondence. Many investigators have long been impressed with this fact, and one of the chief problems of mythical research still consists in the elucidation of the reason for the extensive analogies in the fundamental outlines of mythical tales, which are rendered still more enigmatical by the unanimity in certain details, and their reappearance in most of the mythical groupings.[1] The mythological theories, aiming at the explanation of these remarkable phenomena, are, in a general way, as follows: (1) The Idea of the People, propounded by Adolf Bastian[2][1868]. This theory assumes the existence of elementary thoughts, so that the unanimity of the myths is a necessary sequence of the uniform disposition of the human mind, and the[Pg 2] manner of its manifestation, which within certain limits is identical at all times and in all places. This interpretation was urgently advocated by Adolf Bauer[3] [1882], as accounting for the wide distribution of the hero myths. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 66192
Author: Rank, Otto
Release Date: Aug 31, 2021
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Jelliffe, Smith Ely, 1866-1945, Robbins, F.