Overview

Myth Theorized provides a survey of some key figures and topics in the modern study of myth. The first part of the book discusses the psychoanalysis of myth including a chapter on the extraordinary changes that psychoanalytic theory has undergone, and one on Otto Rank and his break with Freud which helped transform the focus of psychoanalysis, including myth, from the Oedipal stage to the pre-Oedipal one. This section finishes with a chapter which argues that Freud and Jung are more akin than opposed. The next section looks at hero myths including a detailed history of the study of hero myths, and surveys approaches to hero myths by Otto Rank, Joseph Campbell and Lord Raglan. The author then applies Rank and Raglan to the life of the first king of Israel, Saul, showing how their theories transform the figure to whom they are applied. The following part of the book considers the relationship of myth to natural science including a discussion of the range of views that have arisen over the past 150 years - those of EB Tylor, JG Frazer, Claude Levi-Strauss and Karl Popper. The next section covers myth and politics with an assessment of Bruce Lincoln's Theorizing Myth and Robert Ellwood's The Politics of Myth. The final chapter in this section argues that the theories of Frazer, Rene Girard and Walter Burkert all make violence in religion natural rather than unnatural. The final part of the book discusses the Jungian concept of synchronicity, uses DW Winnicott's idea of make-believe to support the argument that Hollywood stars and their treatment as gods can be said to being divinity back to the world, and asks whether James Lovelock has brought myth back to the world through the Gaia theory.

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9781781798638

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Reviews

A lifetime of such dedication to the study of myth bears fruit here in an accessible and useful collection of essays laying out the structure of a nearly complete list of theories of myth. Anyone seeking guidance, at whatever level, to theories of myth would be well-advised to consult Segal's oeuvre, especially the present work, Myth Theorized. A highly-regarded teacher and lecturer, Segal shows his readers why students flock to his courses. His pellucid treatments of often complex and elusive theorizing about myth are models of responsible pedagogy. Ivan Strenski, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside Myth Theorized yet another example of Segal's mastery of theories of myth. Rather than dealing with individual myths, Segal examines several theorists from the nineteenth century onwards and their attempts to account for the origin, function, and subject-matter of myth as a category. Following his extremely successful Myth: A Short Introduction (2nd ed, 2015), as well as two other collections of his numerous essays on the topic, Myth Theorized brings together fourteen essays, some appearing for the first time, that demonstrate the need to continue studying what myth is and how we may account for it. For anyone interested in the study of myth, this is a must read. Nickolas P. Roubekas, editor-in-chief NUMEN: International Review for the History of Religions and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Vienna A wide-ranging collection of essays from a comparativist perspective on myth theory and myth theorists, written with insight and clarity by one of the world's foremost mythologists. William Hansen, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies and Folklore, Indiana University, Bloomington In nine chapters treating the theories of Tylor, Muller, Frazer, Dumézil, Lévi-Strauss, Eliade Campbell, Blumenberg, and Dubuisson and in five chapters, offering his own substantive application to the theories of myth according to the themes of play, gender, synchronicity, rational explanation, and the purported conflict between science and myth, Segal continues to demonstrate his magisterial command of the field. This book is a must read for scholars and graduate students in Religious Studies. Dr. Thomas Ryba, Director of Religious Studies, Purdue University Professor Segal asks us to test such received ideas about the subject against the extent of their actual explanatory force. The cumulative effect of his incisive inquiries is to revitalize a critical engagement with myth studies by the present generation of readers and scholars. John Beebe, author of Integrity in Depth

A lifetime of such dedication to the study of myth bears fruit here in an accessible and useful collection of essays laying out the structure of a nearly complete list of theories of myth. Anyone seeking guidance, at whatever level, to theories of myth would be well-advised to consult Segal's oeuvre, especially the present work, Myth Theorized. A highly-regarded teacher and lecturer, Segal shows his readers why students flock to his courses. His pellucid treatments of often complex and elusive theorizing about myth are models of responsible pedagogy. Ivan Strenski, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside Myth Theorized yet another example of Segal's mastery of theories of myth. Rather than dealing with individual myths, Segal examines several theorists from the nineteenth century onwards and their attempts to account for the origin, function, and subject-matter of myth as a category. Following his extremely successful Myth: A Short Introduction (2nd ed, 2015), as well as two other collections of his numerous essays on the topic, Myth Theorized brings together fourteen essays, some appearing for the first time, that demonstrate the need to continue studying what myth is and how we may account for it. For anyone interested in the study of myth, this is a must read. Nickolas P. Roubekas, editor-in-chief NUMEN: International Review for the History of Religions and Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, University of Vienna A wide-ranging collection of essays from a comparativist perspective on myth theory and myth theorists, written with insight and clarity by one of the world's foremost mythologists. William Hansen, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies and Folklore, Indiana University, Bloomington In nine chapters treating the theories of Tylor, Muller, Frazer, Dumezil, Levi-Strauss, Eliade Campbell, Blumenberg, and Dubuisson and in five chapters, offering his own substantive application to the theories of myth according to the themes of play, gender, synchronicity, rational explanation, and the purported conflict between science and myth, Segal continues to demonstrate his magisterial command of the field. This book is a must read for scholars and graduate students in Religious Studies. Dr. Thomas Ryba, Director of Religious Studies, Purdue University Professor Segal asks us to test such received ideas about the subject against the extent of their actual explanatory force. The cumulative effect of his incisive inquiries is to revitalize a critical engagement with myth studies by the present generation of readers and scholars. John Beebe, author of Integrity in Depth

Author Information

Robert A. Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

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