The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological Exploration of Myth (Hardcover)

by Otto Rank (Author), Gregory C. Richter PhD (Translator), E. James Lieberman MD (Translator), Robert A. Segal (Introduction) "Nearly all prominent civilized nations, including Babylonians and Egyptians, Hebrews and Indians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, as well as the Germanic peoples and others, have..." (more)
Key Phrases: Holy Ghost, King Mark, Mount Elburz (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Nearly all prominent civilized nations, including Babylonians and Egyptians, Hebrews and Indians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, as well as the Germanic peoples and others, have left us literatures in which, early on, they glorify national heroes - mythical princes and kings, and founders of religions, dynasties, empires, and cities - in many poetic tales and legends. The history of the birth and youth of these supermen came to be especially invested with fantastic features, which in different nations, though widely separated by space and entirely independent of each other, present a baffling similarity or, in part, a literal correspondence... The ultimate problem is not whence and how the material reached a certain people. That question is, Where did it come from to begin with?" - from The Myth of the Birth of the Hero"

Product Description

Originally published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's The Myth of the Birth of the Hero offered psychoanalytical interpretations of mythological stories as a means of understanding the human psyche. Like his mentor Freud, Rank compared the myths of such figures as Oedipus, Moses, and Sargon with common dreams, seeing in both a symbolic fulfillment of repressed desire. Thirteen years later, Rank substantially revised this seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology, doubling the size of the book. This expanded second edition has never before been available in English.

For the second edition, Rank added anthropological considerations of primitive and civilized peoples to those of mythology; extensive discussions of birth dreams, flood legends, and rescue fantasies; and new mythological examples -- among them Dionysus, Kullervo (a precursor of Hamlet), Trakhan, and Tristan -- as well as fuller treatments of Sargon and Moses. Eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman, this volume also includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal and Rank's 1914 essay, "The Play in Hamlet."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press; Expanded & updated edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801878837
• ISBN-13: 978-0801878831
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,154,842 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)