A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong (Book Review)
A Short History of Myth | Karen Armstrong | | A review written by Rajarshi looking into the mythical heroes and their relevance through our history mentioned in the book. Submitted to Mr. Anil Persaud. | | By Rajarshi (S122E0137) | 2/22/2013 | |
A Short History of Myth
Myth has always been a part of our lives, and affected the human mind and thought process in various ways. As Karen Armstrong said, “When Freud and Jung began to chart the modern quest for the soul, they instinctively turned to classical mythology to explain their insights, and gave the old myths a new interpretation.”[] From the age of Neanderthals even till today we speak of a divine realm and a person, a messiah, a hero and person who brings hope not in human but a psychological form. From Jesus to Oedipus and Narcissism to Moses and Gilgamesh every one of them survived their period and brought out a heroic personality of a person. Human beings are unique in retaining the capacity for play. Unless they are living in the artificial conditions of captivity, other animals lose their early sense of fun when they encounter harsh realities of life in the wild.[] To survive that harsh world a person needs someone to look up to, and hence I would like to follow the thought of hero throughout the book.
In the Palaeolithic period mythology was and essential to their survival as the hunting weapons and skills they evolved in order to kill their prey and achieve a degree of control over their environment. [] The very first vision of a hero who achieved the power of ascent was the shaman of the hunting groups; they provided the hunters with a vision and gave it a spiritual meaning. He flew through air and communed with gods for the sake of his people. [] The Shaman was the chief representative of the hunting societies and he travelled through world and cosmic realities to please the lords and to protect his own society. One of the examples of this heroic act can be, in Greenland, the
A Short History of Myth
Myth has always been a part of our lives, and affected the human mind and thought process in various ways. As Karen Armstrong said, “When Freud and Jung began to chart the modern quest for the soul, they instinctively turned to classical mythology to explain their insights, and gave the old myths a new interpretation.”[] From the age of Neanderthals even till today we speak of a divine realm and a person, a messiah, a hero and person who brings hope not in human but a psychological form. From Jesus to Oedipus and Narcissism to Moses and Gilgamesh every one of them survived their period and brought out a heroic personality of a person. Human beings are unique in retaining the capacity for play. Unless they are living in the artificial conditions of captivity, other animals lose their early sense of fun when they encounter harsh realities of life in the wild.[] To survive that harsh world a person needs someone to look up to, and hence I would like to follow the thought of hero throughout the book.
In the Palaeolithic period mythology was and essential to their survival as the hunting weapons and skills they evolved in order to kill their prey and achieve a degree of control over their environment. [] The very first vision of a hero who achieved the power of ascent was the shaman of the hunting groups; they provided the hunters with a vision and gave it a spiritual meaning. He flew through air and communed with gods for the sake of his people. [] The Shaman was the chief representative of the hunting societies and he travelled through world and cosmic realities to please the lords and to protect his own society. One of the examples of this heroic act can be, in Greenland, the