Synopses & Reviews
"The appearance of this monumental work in a beautifully produced and richly illustrated English edition is a publishing event of considerable significance."and#8212;Mark C. Taylor,
New York Times Book Review"The almost 100 contributors combine, with characteristic precision and elan, the arts of science and poetry, of analysis and translation. The result is a treasury of information, brilliant guesswork, witty asides, and revealing digressions. This is a work of genuine and enduring excitement."and#8212;Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor
Synopsis
With 395 original articles written by leading scholars, it is a remarkable encounter with the mythologies of cultures past and present--the web of stories, traditions, rituals, practices, beliefs, divine figures, sacred objects, and great themes that define civilization.
Drawing on a breathtaking array of sources, from the history of religions to anthropology, archaeology, literature, and linguistics, the contributors define a new approach to the understanding of myth in society.
For this first English-language edition, the articles have been rearranged by region or culture. Together they comprise an exceptionally broad, stimulating introduction to the religious and mythical traditions of the world--from the idea of death in Ancient Egypt to the ideology of nationalism in modern Europe. Greeks and Romans are here in force, naturally, but so too are the Bantu, Dinka, and Dogon of Africa and the Armenians, Mongols, and Turks of Asia.
Readers of Mythologies will discover a wealth of fresh primary sources on such little known traditions as those of the Vietnamese--and bold, provocative new interpretations of well-studied traditions, such as those of classical Greece.
Synopsis
This is a comprehensive reference and research source that offers new ways to understand the power of myth and tradition across cultures and centuries.
About the Author
Wendy Doniger is the Mircea Eliade Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School and a professor in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago. She is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was.Yves Bonnefoy is a poet, critic, and professor emeritus of comparative poetics at the Collège de France. In addition to poetry and literary criticism, he has published numerous works of art history and translated into French several of Shakespeare's plays.