The Myth And Ritual School

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Myth, Ritual, and Religion is a classic mythology studies text by Andrew Lang. When this book first appeared (1886), the philological school of interpretation of religion and myth, being then still powerful in England, was criticised and opposed by the author. In Science, as on the Turkish throne of old, "Amurath to Amurath succeeds"; the philological theories of religion and myth have now yielded to anthropological methods. The centre of the anthropological position was the "ghost theory" of Mr. Herbert Spencer, the "Animistic" theory of Mr. E. R. Tylor, according to whom the propitiation of ancestral and other spirits leads to polytheism, and thence to monotheism. In the second edition (1901) of this work the author argued that the belief in a "relatively supreme being," anthropomorphic was as old as, and might be even older, than animistic religion. When this book first appeared (1886), the philological school of interpretation of religion and myth, being then still powerful in England, was criticised and opposed by the author. In Science, as on the Turkish throne of old, "Amurath to Amurath succeeds"; the philological theories of religion and myth have now yielded to anthropological methods. The centre of the anthropological position was the "ghost theory" of Mr. Herbert Spencer, the "Animistic" theory of Mr. E. R. Tylor, according to whom the propitiation of ancestral and other spirits leads to polytheism, and thence to monotheism. In the second edition (1901) of this work the author argued that the belief in a "relatively supreme being," anthropomorphic was as old as, and might be even older, than animistic religion. This theory he exhibited at greater length, and with a larger collection of evidence, in his Making of Religion. Since 1901, a great deal of fresh testimony as to what Mr. Howitt styles the "All Father" in savage and barbaric religions has accrued. As regards this being in Africa, the reader may consult the volumes of the New Series of the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, which are full of African evidence, not, as yet, discussed, to my knowledge, by any writer on the History of Religion. As late as Man, for July, 1906, No. 66, Mr. Parkinson published interesting Yoruba legends about Oleron, the maker and father of men, and Oro, the Master of the Bull Roarer.

Where do myths come from? What is their function and what do they mean? In this Very Short Introduction Robert Segal introduces the array of approaches used to understand the study of myth. These approaches hail from disciplines as varied as anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, philosophy, science, and religious studies. Including ideas from theorists as varied as Sigmund Freud, Claude Levi-Strauss, Albert Camus, and Roland Barthes, Segal uses the famous ancient myth of Adonis to analyse their individual approaches and theories. In this new edition, he not only considers the future study of myth, but also considers the interactions of myth theory with cognitive science, the implications of the myth of Gaia, and the differences between story-telling and myth. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Drawing from both classic and hard-to-find reading, one of the leading interpreters of theories of myth offers a comprehensive analysis of the myth and ritual theory. The book not only offers a detailed introduction to the theories, but also provides a further introduction to the individual selections. Suggestions for further reading and a comprehensive bibliography are included.

A leading scholar in the United States on Chinese archaeology challenges long-standing conceptions of the rise of political authority in ancient China. Questioning Marx's concept of an "Asiatic" mode of production, Wittfogel's "hydraulic hypothesis," and cultural-materialist theories on the importance of technology, K. C. Chang builds an impressive counterargument, one which ranges widely from recent archaeological discoveries to studies of mythology, ancient Chinese poetry, and the iconography of Shang food vessels.

First published in 1887, this early work of comparative mythology remains a vital resource to students and devotees of ethnography, history, and world legends. Lang's stunningly comprehensive overview of pre-scientific thinking provide In Volume Two, Lang explores the concept the "the divine" as it has manifested itself around the world, examines the importance of ritual, and delves particularly into the mythologies of ancient Egypt, Greece, Mexico, and India to demonstrate Scottish journalist and author ANDREW LANG (1844-1912), the son of the sheriff-clerk of rural Selkirkshire, was educated at Edinburgh Academy, the Universities of St. Andrews and Glasgow, and Balliol College, Oxford. A contemporary and friend of Robert

"Myth, Ritual and Religion" in 2 volumes is one of the best-known works by a Scottish author Andrew Lang first published in 1887, in which he explained the "irrational" elements of mythology as survivals from more primitive forms. This carefully crafted e-artnow ebook is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents._x000D_ Volume 1:_x000D_ Systems of Mythology_x000D_ New System Proposed_x000D_ The Mental Condition of Savages – Confusion With Nature – Totemism_x000D_ The Mental Condition of Savages – Magic – Metamorphosis – Metaphysic – Psychology_x000D_ Nature Myths_x000D_ Non-aryan Myths of the Origin of the World and of Man_x000D_ Indo-aryan Myths – Sources of Evidence_x000D_ Indian Myths of the Origin of the World and of Man_x000D_ Greek Myths of the Origin of the World and Man_x000D_ Greek Cosmogonic Myths_x000D_ Savage Divine Myths_x000D_ Volume 2:_x000D_ Gods of the Lowest Races_x000D_ American Divine Myths_x000D_ Mexican Divine Myths_x000D_ The Mythology of Egypt_x000D_ Gods of the Aryans of India_x000D_ Greek Divine Myths:_x000D_ Apollo_x000D_ Artemis_x000D_ Dionysus_x000D_ Athene_x000D_ Hermes_x000D_ Demeter_x000D_ Heroic and Romantic Myths...