Ancient Mythologies

Ancient Mythologies PDF Author: Charles Kovacs
Publisher: Wynstones Press
ISBN: 9780946206520
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
The meaning of some of the world's great myths and legends springs to life in this collection of stories, retold here for children. Through the epic adventures of colorful characters--from kings and beggars to gods and demons--the reader may glimpse the ancient wisdom of early humankind. Spanning the centuries from Atlantis to the civilizations of India, Persia, Babylonia, and Egypt, the author portrays human development, from primitive hunters to builders of magnificent cities and the great pyramids. Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Zarathustra, Gilgamesh, Isis, and Osiris are just a few of the lively participants in the unfolding historical narrative.

Ancient Mythologies

Ancient Mythologies PDF Author: Charles Kovacs
Publisher: Wynstones Press
ISBN: 9780946206520
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
The meaning of some of the world's great myths and legends springs to life in this collection of stories, retold here for children. Through the epic adventures of colorful characters--from kings and beggars to gods and demons--the reader may glimpse the ancient wisdom of early humankind. Spanning the centuries from Atlantis to the civilizations of India, Persia, Babylonia, and Egypt, the author portrays human development, from primitive hunters to builders of magnificent cities and the great pyramids. Buddha, Krishna, Rama, Zarathustra, Gilgamesh, Isis, and Osiris are just a few of the lively participants in the unfolding historical narrative.

Myth and Mythology

Myth and Mythology PDF Author: Andrew T. Cummings
Publisher: Astrolog
ISBN: 9789654941884
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
The characters and stories of the numerous gods as they appear in ancient writings are explored in this book of ancient mythology. Through the myths and stories, readers are invited to speculate about how people who lived thousands of years ago perceived the world around them. Myths are presented from the principal ancient cultures that affected the lives of Western people, including Sumeria, Mesopotamia, Persia, ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. This book shows how the mythology of the classical world played an essential role in molding the face and nature of the Western world.

The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt

The Penguin Book of Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt PDF Author: Joyce Tyldesley
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 014196376X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description
From Herodotus to The Mummy, Western civilization has long been fascinated with the exotic myths and legends of Ancient Egypt but they have often been misunderstood. Here acclaimed Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley guides us through 3000 years of changing stories and, in retelling them, shows us what they mean. Gathered from pyramid friezes, archaological finds and contemporary documents, these vivid and strange stories explain everything from why the Nile flooded every year to their beliefs about what exactly happened after death and shed fascinating light on what life was like for both rich and poor. Lavishly illustrated with colour pictures, maps and family trees, helpful glossaries explaining all the major gods and timelines of the Pharoahs and most importantly packed with unforgettable stories, this book offers the perfect introduction to Egyptian history and civilization.

Sumerian Mythology

Sumerian Mythology PDF Author: Samuel Noah Kramer
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465517464
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
The Sumerians were a non-Semitic, non-Indo-European people who flourished in southern Babylonia from the beginning of the fourth to the end of the third millennium B. C. During this long stretch of time the Sumerians, whose racial and linguistic affiliations are still unclassifiable, represented the dominant cultural group of the entire Near East. This cultural dominance manifested itself in three directions: 1. It was the Sumerians who developed and probably invented the cuneiform system of writing which was adopted by nearly all the peoples of the Near East and without which the cultural progress of western Asia would have been largely impossible. 2. The Sumerians developed religious and spiritual concepts together with a remarkably well integrated pantheon which influenced profoundly all the peoples of the Near East, including the Hebrews and the Greeks. Moreover, by way of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism, not a few of these spiritual and religious concepts have permeated the modern civilized world. 3. The Sumerians produced a vast and highly developed literature, largely poetic in character, consisting of epics and myths, hymns and lamentations, proverbs and "words of wisdom." These compositions are inscribed in cuneiform script on clay tablets which date largely from approximately 1750 B. C. a In the course of the past hundred years, approximately five b thousand such literary pieces have been excavated in the mounds of ancient Sumer. Of this number, over two thousand, more than two-thirds of our source material, were excavated by the University of Pennsylvania in the mound covering ancient Nippur in the course of four grueling campaigns lasting from 1889 to 1900; these Nippur tablets and fragments represent, therefore, the major source for the reconstruction of the Sumerian compositions. As literary products, these Sumerian compositions rank high among the creations of civilized man. They compare not unfavorably with the ancient Greek and Hebrew masterpieces, and like them mirror the spiritual and intellectual life of an otherwise little known civilization. Their significance for a proper appraisal of the cultural and spiritual development of the Near East can hardly be overestimated. The Assyrians and Babylonians took them over almost in toto. The Hittites translated them into their own language and no doubt imitated them widely. The form and contents of the Hebrew literary creations and to a certain extent even those of the ancient Greeks were profoundly influenced by them. As practically the oldest written literature of any significant amount ever uncovered, it furnishes new, rich, and unexpected source material to the archaeologist and anthropologist, to the ethnologist and student of folklore, to the students of the history of religion and of the history of literature.

Myth

Myth PDF Author: G. S. Kirk
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520342372
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
This book attempts to come to grips with a set of widely ranging but connected problems concerning myths: their relation to folktales on the one hand, to rituals on the other; the validity and scope of the structuralist theory of myth; the range of possible mythical functions; the effects of developed social institutions and literacy; the character and meaning of ancient Near-Eastern myths and their influence on Greece; the special forms taken by Greek myths and their involvement with rational modes of thought; the status of myths as expressions of the unconscious, as allied with dreams, as universal symbols, or as accidents of primarily narrative aims. Almost none of these problems has been convincingly handled, even in a provisional way, up to the present, and this failure has vitiated not only such few general discussions as exist of the nature, meanings and functions of myths but also, in many cases, the detailed assessment of individual myths of different cultures. The need for a coherent treatment of these and related problems, and one that is not concerned simply to propagate a particular universalistic theory, seems undeniable. How far the present book will satisfactorily fill such a need remains to be seen. At least it makes a beginning, even if in doing so it risks the criticism of being neither fish nor fowl. Sociologists and folklorists may find it, from their specialized viewpoints, a little simplistic in places; and a few classical colleagues will not forgive me for straying far beyond Greek myths, even though these can hardly be understood in isolation or solely in the light of studies in cult and ritual. Others may find it less easy than anthropologists, sociologists, historians of thought or students of French and English literature to accept the relevance of Levi-Strauss to some of these matters; but his theory contains the one important new idea in this field since Freud, it is complicated and largely untested, and it demands careful attention from anyone attempting a broad understanding of the subject. The beliefs of Freud and Jung, on the other hand, are a more familiar element in the situation and have given rise to an enormous secondary literature, much of it arbitrary and some of it absurd. The author has tried to isolate the crucial ideas and subject them to a pointed, if too brief, critique; so too with those of Ernst Cassirer.

Gods and Robots

Gods and Robots PDF Author: Adrienne Mayor
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691202265
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.

Ancient Mythology: Captivating Stories, Magic, Mystery & Legendary Myths of The World Throughout History Revealed

Ancient Mythology: Captivating Stories, Magic, Mystery & Legendary Myths of The World Throughout History Revealed PDF Author: Sofia Visconti
Publisher: Thomas William
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
A Treasure Trove of Intrigue, Drama & Passion If you want a huge collection of the best myths & captivating stories Gods, Supernatural Beings & Heroes With Extraordinary Powers then keep reading… Ancient Mythology is the foundation of The World. Every civilization and culture has its own myths, legends and heroic acts that defines them. Myths tell the stories of our ancestors and the origins of The World. Stories that have been formed by people from all over the Earth, throughout all of time. All over the world there are marvelous stories, stories that once upon a time were believed to be true but are today limited to the sphere of ancient myths and legends. Did you know that many consumer products get their names from Greek mythology? Nike sneakers are the namesake of the goddess of victory and the website Amazon is named after the race of mythical female warriors. Many high school, college and professional sports teams (Titans, Spartans and Trojans, for instance) also get their names from mythological sources. Escape from everyday life to the timeless tales of Ancient Mythology. From the earliest known myth, the Epic of Gilgamesh to the Heavenly Journey of Ra, the Mythical Realms of Chinese Mythology and much, much more. Uncover, what we believe, is one of the most important pieces of knowledge we can ever acquire as human beings – our beginnings. In this book you will discover: Mythical Animals, Demons and Monsters Natural Phenomena Inspiring Myths The Major Figures of Greek mythology The Sphinx, A Creature with the Body of a Lion and the Head of a Human Common Elements Across Ancient Mythologies Egyptian Gods, Goddesses and Pharaohs The Epic of Gilgamesh The Most Famous Celtic Myths The Hundred-handed Ones The Most Famous Sumerian Myths Aztec Mythology Chinese Mythology And Much, much more…. Don't miss out on this captivating world of mythology, scroll up and click Buy This Book

Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome

Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome PDF Author: E. M. Berens
Publisher: e-artnow
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 245

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Book Description
"Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome " is a comprehensive mythology collection, presenting all the major and minor gods of Rome and Greece, with descriptions of festivals and retellings of major mythological stories. The author, thoroughly details each Greek and Roman god, goddess, hero, demi-god and creature and gives the reader a clear and succinct idea of the religious beliefs of the ancients. An exceptional book for those interested in Greek or Roman mythology.

Myth

Myth PDF Author: G. S. Kirk
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520023895
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
This book, developed out of the 1969 Sather lectures at Berkeley, California, confronts a wide range of problems concerning the nature, meaning and functions of myths. Professor Kirk's aim is to introduce a degree of coherence and of critical awareness into a subject that arouses profound interest today, but which for too long has been the target of excessive theorizing and interdisciplinary confusion between anthropologists, sociologists, classicists, philosophers and psychologists. Professor Kirk begins by discussing the relation of myths to rituals and folktales, and the weakness of universalist theories of function. He then subjects Lévi-Strauss's structuralist theory to an extended exposition and criticism; he considers the character and meaning of ancient Near Eastern myths, their influence on Greece, and the special forms with rational modes of thought, and finally, he assesses the status of myths as expressions of the unconscious, as elements of dreams, universal symbols, as accidents along the way to some narrative objective. The result is a significant critical venture into the history and philosophy of thought, imagination, symbol and society.--From publisher description.

Women and Weasels

Women and Weasels PDF Author: Maurizio Bettini
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022603996X
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 383

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Book Description
If you told a woman her sex had a shared, long-lived history with weasels, she might deck you. But those familiar with mythology know better: that the connection between women and weasels is an ancient and favorable one, based in the Greek myth of a midwife who tricked the gods to ease Heracles’s birth—and was turned into a weasel by Hera as punishment. Following this story as it is retold over centuries in literature and art, Women and Weasels takes us on a journey through mythology and ancient belief, revising our understanding of myth, heroism, and the status of women and animals in Western culture. Maurizio Bettini recounts and analyzes a variety of key literary and visual moments that highlight the weasel’s many attributes. We learn of its legendary sexual and childbearing habits and symbolic association with witchcraft and midwifery, its role as a domestic pet favored by women, and its ability to slip in and out of tight spaces. The weasel, Bettini reveals, is present at many unexpected moments in human history, assisting women in labor and thwarting enemies who might plot their ruin. With a parade of symbolic associations between weasels and women—witches, prostitutes, midwives, sisters-in-law, brides, mothers, and heroes—Bettini brings to life one of the most venerable and enduring myths of Western culture.