The Myth Of The Birth Of The Hero

The Myth of the Birth of the Hero is a book by German psychoanalyst Otto Rank in which the author puts forth a psychoanalytical interpretation of mythological heroes, specifically with regard to legends about their births. The book comprises three parts. In the first section, Rank introduces his topic of investigation; In the work's second section, Rank closes analyzes myths about the births of Sargon of Akkad, Moses, Karna, Oedipus, Paris, Telephos, Perseus, Dionysus, Gilgamesh, Cyrus the Great, Trakhan, Tristan, Romulus, Hercules, Jesus, Sigurd, Lohengrin, and Sceafa. In the final section, Rank lays out a rough outline that he claims can be applied to almost all mythical birth stories.

Originally published in 1914, this fascinating volume in the Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph Series presents a psychological interpretation of characters from classical mythology, from Oedipus to Perseus, and Hercules to Jesus. Authored by Dr Otto Rank (1884-1939), an associate of Sigmund Freud, it is suited to those interested in the classics, history and mythology, and psychoanalysis alike. Chapters include: introduction - Sargon - Moses - Karna - Oedipus - Paris -Telephos - Perseus - Gilgamos - Kyros - Tristan - Romulus - Hercules - Jesus - Siegfried - Lohengrin. We are republishing this rare, vintage text in a high quality, modern and affordable edition, complete with a specially written concise biography.

First published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's original The Myth of the Birth of the Hero offered psychoanalytical interpretations of mythological stories as a means of understanding the human psyche. Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Rank compared the myths of such figures as Oedipus, Moses, and Sargon with common dreams, seeing in both a symbolic fulfillment of repressed desire. In a new edition published thirteen years after the original, Rank doubled the size of his seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology. This expanded and updated edition has been eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman and includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal as well as Otto Rank's 1914 essay "The Play in Hamlet."

A study of heroism in the myths of the world - an exploration of all the elements common to the great stories that have helped people make sense of their lives from the earliest times. It takes in Greek Apollo, Maori and Jewish rites, the Buddha, Wotan, and the bothers Grimm's Frog-King.