Customer Reviews

The Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore (Dover Books on Anthropology and Folklore)

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this book has been of utmost help to me, since I've been working on my degree essay, which concerns the symbol of the bee in the poetry of Pindar, Theocritus and Callimachus.
The information in this book is very very wide as far as time and peoples are concerned.
the perfect tool for a philologist or an anthropologist (even an archaeologist) who is doing research in the relative field.

This book is chock-full of ancient lore and symbolism, situating the honeybee near or within a wide range of human societies, from the deepest to the recent past. Maybe we are 'co-evolved' -- who knows? First published in 1937, the author already seems to be suggesting the idea that human observation of the bee may have provided early models for complex, layered societies, with specialized occupations and professions. Honey was evidently used in the deep past for medicines and the first known intoxicants, wax for preservation, magic, and metallurgy, and bees have been mentioned in the earliest literature that has survived. Surprisingly early on, beekeeping was a well-established industry. Perhaps the honeybee, like many other symbolically charged animals, is one of the principal "metaphors we live by". Loved this book ...

Looking for more information about honeybees? This paperback book takes a look at the age long history of honey bees and people. I found this book very interesting and informative.

This is a dated reference and misses a considerable amount of folklore. For example try to find the use of a golden bee as a reward in Ancient Egypt.