Best of
Mythology

1949

The Origins and History of Consciousness


Erich Neumann - 1949
    Neumann, one of Jung's most creative students and a renowned practitioner of analytical psychology in his own right, shows how the stages begin and end with the symbol of the Uroboros, or tail-eating serpent. The intermediate stages are projected in the universal myths of the World Creation, Great Mother, Separation of the World Parents, Birth of the Hero, Slaying of the Dragon, Rescue of the Captive, and Transformation and Deification of the Hero. Throughout the sequence the Hero is the evolving ego consciousness.

The Myth of the Eternal Return or, Cosmos and History


Mircea Eliade - 1949
    Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures & drawing on scholarship published in no less than half a dozen European languages, Eliade's "The Myth of the Eternal Return makes both intelligible & compelling the religious expressions & activities of a wide variety of archaic & "primitive" religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to the "archaic" is no longer possible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding this view in order to enrich our contemporary imagination of what it is to be human.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces


Joseph Campbell - 1949
    Examining heroic myths in the light of modern psychology, it considers not only the patterns and stages of mythology but also its relevance to our lives today--and to the life of any person seeking a fully realized existence.Myth, according to Campbell, is the projection of a culture's dreams onto a large screen; Campbell's book, like Star Wars, the film it helped inspire, is an exploration of the big-picture moments from the stage that is our world. It is a must-have resource for both experienced students of mythology and the explorer just beginning to approach myth as a source of knowledge.

Patterns in Comparative Religion


Mircea Eliade - 1949
    According to Mircea Eliade, they miss the one irreducible element in religious phenomena—the element of the sacred. Eliade abundantly demonstrates universal religious experience and shows how humanity’s effort to live within a sacred sphere has manifested itself in myriad cultures from ancient to modern times; how certain beliefs, rituals, symbols, and myths have, with interesting variations, persisted.

Shri Ramayana Darshanam


Kuvempu - 1949
    A monumental epic penned by Kuvempu. The work is as much a product of individual sadhana as of the profound influence of Indian thought as a whole. This is the most popular work and the magnum opus by Kuvempu in Kannada based on the Hindu epic Ramayana. It earned him many distinctions including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Jnanapeeth award in 1967.

Vachana Bharatha


A.R. Krishnashastri - 1949
    Short book narrating the story of Great Mahabharatha in Simple modern Kannada is simply a must read for every kannadiga.

Hawai'i Island Legends: Pele Pīkoi and Others


Mary Kawena Pukui - 1949
    Collected and edited by noted Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui, and retold for a broad audience by Caroline Curtis, this volume is delightful introduction to Hawai‘i's rich tradition of storytelling for young and old alike."[This] collection...will fascinate all who recognize how often truth is told in the guise of myths and legends."—Honolulu Star-BulletinOther titles available in this series by Pukui and Curtis include Tales of the Menehune and Other Legends of Hawai‘i and The Water of Kāne and Other Legends of the Hawaiian Islands.