The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate [Paperback]

R. B. Onians (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 26, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0521347947 | ISBN-13: 978-0521347945 | Edition: 2

Onians' remarkable work of scholarship sought to deal with the very roots of European civilization and thought: the fundamental beliefs about life, mind, body, soul, and human destiny that are embodied in the myths and legends of the ancients. The volume is remains a fascinating collection of ideas and explanations of cultures as diverse as the Greeks and the Norse, the Celts and the Jews, and the Chinese and the Romans.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A rich collection of ideas and explanations of cultures as diverse as the Greeks and the Norse, the Celts and the Jews, and the Chinese and the Romans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 602 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (February 26, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521347947
• ISBN-13: 978-0521347945
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #890,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ian Myles Slater on A Grand Panorama, October 3, 2003

By 

Ian M. Slater "aylchanan" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate (Paperback)

In its published form, "The Origins of European Thought" is a wide-ranging cross-cultural survey, It shows how what we consider "common sense" concepts about ourselves and the world around us emerged from a complex of ideas which now seem strange and alien (such as knees as sexual organs). Although many of the examples it offers are debatable, and some of its positions have been repeatedly challenged, nothing quite like it exists, at least in English. It is a mine of odd data, and frequently fascinating.

Originally, however, it was a prize-winning "Contribution to Classical studies." As a result of the competition rules, Greek and Latin passages are quoted without translation, unlike citations from Old Norse, Hebrew, Chinese, etc. Access to a good library containing translations of Homer, Hesiod, the Greek tragedians, Plato, and Aristotle, would be extremely helpful for almost anyone using the book. Fortunately, most of important passages now are available on-line.

Onians' book had an impact on several important British classical scholars while still in draft or galley-proof form in the late 1930s and 1940s, and was cited under earlier working titles. It was finally published in 1951, after many delays, some due to the author, some, including a World War, out of his hands. During this time the original book accumulated massive appendices as supplements to the already type-set main text.

As a fairly expensive hardcover, the book seems to have been cited and consulted more often than absorbed, and it is a pity that it took until 1988 for it to appear as a more reasonably priced paperback. Having had to compete for a reserve copy, I snatched it up as soon as I saw it was in paperback, and I could monopolize it with a clean conscience.

It is still too long and too complicated to for me to imagine it being assigned as an undergraduate textbook, and I would not suggest it as light reading. However, anyone with a serious interest in how modern European-based cultures came to think as they do about the very nature of ourselves and the world we experience should try to take a long look at it. If you are using a library that doesn't have it, suggest it. If you can find a copy, check it over. You may, like me, find that you want it for yourself.

Note: Since this review was originally submitted, the thumbnail of the cover displayed on Amazon has changed from the original blue paperback cover, with a somewhat, and appropriately, enigmatic figurine, to an equally appropriate, and much more "classical," image, which happens to be quite beautiful. Anyone ordering a used copy therefore may find that it looks disappointingly different.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Archeology of the Mind, March 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Origins of European Thought: About the Body, the Mind, the Soul, the World, Time and Fate (Paperback)

A most remarkable and original book, offering a bridge between the Classics and anthropology; a work of reference for those interested in both the origins of the European mind and the early ideas of mankind in general. While some of the material here is misunderstood--the difference between fate and Providence, for example, or the nature of the soul/Soul)--readers can turn to Ananda Coomaraswamy (Time and Eternity, and other works) for a more complete discussion.

One word of warning: the Greeks and Romans, like us, tended to rationalize ideas that no longer made sense to them, like birth from the knee. As the Greeks have it, Semele (or Gaia) gives birth to Dionysius, who is then sewn into the knee of Zeus. This reverses the process. The father was conceived as the source of the child, not the mother-an idea still shared by James Boswell as late as the 18th century. The best source for this complex of ideas is Carl Schuster (Patterns That Connect and other works).

Many of the beliefs touched on here are widely distributed and very ancient. The sutratman (thread-spirit) doctrine for example, which lies behind the manifold symbolism of knotting, weaving, and spinning, can be found worldwide. Onians' work is unique and has been in print in various editions since its publication some half-century ago.