The Myth of the Birth of the Hero
A Psychological Exploration of Myth
2nd Edition
Published on 1. December 2004
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-0-8018-7883-1 (ISBN)
Description
Originally published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's 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 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. Thirteen years later, Rank substantially revised this seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology, doubling the size of the book. This expanded second edition has never before been available in English. For the second edition, Rank added anthropological considerations of primitive and civilized peoples to those of mythology; extensive discussions of birth dreams, flood legends, and rescue fantasies; and new mythological examples-among them Dionysus, Kullervo (a precursor of Hamlet), Trakhan, and Tristan-as well as fuller treatments of Sargon and Moses. Eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman, this volume also includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal and Rank's 1914 essay, "The Play in Hamlet."
Reviews / Votes
"Nearly all prominent civilized nations, including Babylonians and Egyptians, Hebrews and Indians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, as well as the Germanic peoples and others, have left us literatures in which, early on, they glorify national heroes - mythical princes and kings, and founders of religions, dynasties, empires, and cities - in many poetic tales and legends. The history of the birth and youth of these supermen came to be especially invested with fantastic features, which in different nations, though widely separated by space and entirely independent of each other, present a baffling similarity or, in part, a literal correspondence... The ultimate problem is not whence and how the material reached a certain people. That question is, Where did it come from to begin with?" - from The Myth of the Birth of the Hero"More details
Edition
Expanded and Updated Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Baltimore, MD
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 164 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
445 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8018-7883-1 (9780801878831)
DOI
10.1353/book.98244
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
12/2015
2nd Edition
Johns Hopkins University Press
€36.80
Article not available at the moment
E-Book
12/2015
2nd Edition
Johns Hopkins University Press
€22.49
Available for download
Persons
Otto Rank (1884-1939), one of the most important figures in psychoanalysis, wrote several influential works on the mind, art, literature, and religion, including The Incest Theme in Literature and Legend and Psychology and the Soul, both published by Johns Hopkins. Gregory C. Richter, Ph.D., is a professor of German and linguistics at Truman State University. E. James Lieberman, M.D., is a practicing psychiatrist and a clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University. Richter and Lieberman previously translated Rank's Psychology and the Soul. Robert A. Segal, Ph.D., is a professor of religious studies at Lancaster University, and a renowned authority on mythology.
Content
Introductory Essay by Robert A. Segal, Ph.D.
Translators' Introduction
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
1. Introduction
2. The Cycle of Myths
3. The Interpretation of the Myths
The Play within Hamlet
Understanding of the Work
Notes
References
Index
Translators' Introduction
Preface to the First Edition
Preface to the Second Edition
1. Introduction
2. The Cycle of Myths
3. The Interpretation of the Myths
The Play within Hamlet
Understanding of the Work
Notes
References
Index