Prometheus: Archetypal Image of Human Existence [Paperback]

Carl Kerényi (Author), Ralph Manheim (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1997 | Series: Prometheus PT. 1 (Book 65)

Prometheus the god stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver, until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate of humankind. Carl Kerényi examines the story of Prometheus and the very process of mythmaking as a reflection of the archetypal function and seeks to discover how this primitive tale was invested with a universal fatality, first in the Greek imagination, and then in the Western tradition of Romantic poetry. Kerényi traces the evolving myth from Hesiod and Aeschylus, and in its epic treatment by Goethe and Shelley; he moves on to consider the myth from the perspective of Jungian psychology, as the archetype of human daring signifying the transformation of suffering into the mystery of the sacrifice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A sterling example of classical scholarship, literary exegesis, and cultural inference. . . . Not only does this book tell us much about man, through his prototypical image, but also much about the Greek civilization which created Prometheus in its image. -- Contemporary Psychology

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (November 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 069101907X
• ISBN-13: 978-0691019079
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #974,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exciting Study of an Important Mythological Figure, October 30, 2000

By 

Timothy Wutrich "wutrich" (Tassin la Demi-Lune, FRANCE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prometheus: Archetypal Image of Human Existence (Paperback)

Kerenyi's book on Prometheus is among the most exciting monographs on a single mythological figure written since the mid-twentieth century. Kerenyi reviews the origins of the myth of Prometheus in early Greek poetry and the visual arts with thought-provoking references to other mythological, artistic, and literary traditions such as the Hittite, the Roman, and the German. Kerenyi worked closely with Carl Jung (see their jointly authored Introduction to a Science of Mythology) and the Jungian interest in archetypes is strongly refelcted in the present volume on Prometheus. This book is well-researched and well-written, worth reading not only for the information that it contains about the firebearer, but also for its method of analysis.