Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with
expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire
to form a cultural identity. In The Oxford Companion to World
Mythology, David Leeming explores the role of mythology, or
myth-logic, in history and determines that the dreams of specific
cultures add up to a larger collective story of humanity. Stopping
short of attempting to be all-inclusive, this fascinating volume
will nonetheless be comprehensive, opening with an introduction
exploring the nature and dimensions of myth and proposing a
definition as a universal language. Briefly dipping into the ways
our understanding of myth has changed from Aristotle and Plato to
modern scholars such as Joseph Campbell, the introduction loosely
places the concept in its present context and precedes articles on
influential mythologists and mythological approaches that appear
later in the Companion. The main body of Leeming's work consists of
A-Z entries covering all aspects of mythology, including
substantial essays on the world's major mythological traditions
(Greek, Native American, Indian, Japanese, Sumerian, Egyptian),
mythological types and motifs (Descent to the Underworld, the Hero,
the Trickster, Creation, the Quest), mythological figures
(Odysseus, Zeus, Osiris, Spider Woman, and Inanna) as well as
numerous interrelated subjects such as fairy tales and legends. The
Companion also locates myth in our lives today, relating it to
language patterns, psychology, religion, politics, art, and gender
attitudes. Many of the better-known and more significant myths are
vividly retold in this volume that will be illustrated with maps,
more than 70 black and white images, and eight pages of color
highlighting the central role art has often played in the
transmission and perpetuation of myth. Following the entries, a
rich section of appendices will include family trees of the major
pantheons, equivalency charts for the gods of Greece and Rome,
Babylon and Sumer, as well as other traditions, an extensive
bibliography, and an index.
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