Comparative Mythology

by Prof Jaan Puhvel (Author)

32 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0801839382

ISBN-10: 0801839386

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In a magisterial work, Jaan Puhvel unravels the prehistoric Indo-Euopean origins of the traditions of India and Iran, Greece and Rome, of the Celts, Germans, Balts, and Slavs. Utilizing the methodologies of historical linguistics and archaeology, he reconstructs a shared religious, mytholoigcal, and cultural heritage. Separate chapters on individual traditions as well as on recurrent thees - god and warrior, king and virgin, fire and water - give life to Comparative Mythology as both a general introduction and a detaled reference.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A judicious evaluation of what has been written about Indo-European mythology over the past forty years."

(Times Literary Supplement)

Product details

Publisher : JHUP (August 1, 1989)
Language : English
Paperback : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 0801839386
ISBN-13 : 978-0801839382
Item Weight : 15.2 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.73 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #670,547 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #717 in Ancient History (Books)
- #722 in Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism (Books)
- #4,049 in Literature

Customer Reviews:
32 ratings

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5 star		56%
4 star		26%
3 star		7%
2 star		4%
1 star		6%

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thanson02

Actually a 4.5

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2020

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Across the board, the book is full of really good information. I like that the book starts with an overview of the history of comparative mythology and how the approaches have changed over the years. The only thing that I noticed was that some of the info in the book needs a update, but from what I can see, it's just minor stuff. Still highly recommend!

One person found this helpful

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Siobhan Olaoghaire Sannes

Intriguing study of Indo European mythology

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2007

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Comparative Mythology is just what its title suggests. It is an overview and comparison of the mythic and epic stories of Vedic, Iranian, Greek, Roman, Celtic, Germanic, Baltic and Slavic cultures. It begins with an overview of just what the study of mythology is, a history of that study, and approaches to the study.

The overview is interesting as it traces the ups and downs of the study of mythology and details certain ways of studying myth. These include Universal Mythology which seeks to explain mythological accordances and reduce them to basic common levels of human existence, and Diffusionary Mythology which seeks to trace how myths spread over time and geography. The approach of the book itself is explained as monogenesis, "tracing the mythological matter of disparate societies back to a common ancestry, one that includes language, society, and culture alike." The tracing of the cultures mentioned above mean we are trying to reconstruct Indo European myth and perhaps culture with a comparison of myths and epic stories from the cultures spawned from Indo European ethnogenesis.

While I give this book very high marks overall, it is obviously the product of decades of scholarship on the part of the author, its construction and content leave much to be desired from the promise of the title. Of its 290 pages only 50 comprise actual comparative essays on the themes of God and Warrior, King and Virgin, Horse and Ruler, Fire in Water, and Twin and Brother. While the previous bulk of the text separately covers the various myths and epics of the aforementioned named cultures, with a little comparison woven in along the way, there could be more of the "Comparative" versus the "Mythology."

These themed essays are where the book really picks up steam. But, the author seems to me to choose obscure ideas to trace along the comparative lines. I was quite disappointed that there wasn't more, for instance, on cosmogony and anthropogony, the creation of the universe and mankind, and eschatology, the end (and sometime regeneration) of the world, as well as post-death experience. These, after all, are the most basic questions man ponders "Where did I come from?" and "Where am I going after here?". Historically, science has been able to do little to none to answer these questions and they have then fallen under the religious purview. While it can be argued that not every IE culture has left us with creation myths, for instance, even the author argues that epic stories of urban foundations (i.e. Rome) often contain inklings of the original myth if we study them carefully enough.

I also think the author could have chosen some more basic subjects for comparison. While the study and comparison of myths about, for example, the creation and sanctification of kings and the accompanying horse sacrifices, was interesting enough, I would have enjoyed more comparisons on gods and goddesses as they fulfilled specific roles such as water deities, smiths, fertility gods, etc.

In closing, though, I did find this book highly enjoyable, and while a challenge to read, being written at a somewhat advanced level, it was written with clear prose and just enough linguistics to illustrate points without being overly complicated. This book is clearly a must read and one that I highly recommend.

18 people found this helpful

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Christopher R. Travers

Useful introduction to Comparative Myth and IE Mythology

Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2009

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This work is an introductory survey of comparative mythology by noted scholar Jaan Puhvel. In this work, he discusses the comparative method and the definitions of the Indo-European and Indo-Iranian culturo-linguistic groups. This is then followed by a brief survey of the mythological material from a comparative perspective. The final part of the book covers common Indo-European themes.

This work is extremely interesting and provided new avenues for my own comparative studies. Many themes I have been working on studying have new material presented in this work. The work is so comprehensive that my guess would be that others who look at comparative Indo-European mythological traditions will find new material for their own approapches as well.

Highly recommended.

3 people found this helpful

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CRISTI A CAVE

Superb introduction to comparative mythology

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2009

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Puhvel writes this book as I imagine he teaches his classes. He does not cite sources; as he says, there are just too many sources to cite, so to do so would clutter up the book unnecessarily. The result is more of an "Intro" to comparative mythology, which he does very well. Though it is a little too dense to serve as a "popular" book, those interested in the subject matter will enjoy his excellent, though at times somewhat complex, writing style and grammar. I appreciated his scientific (that is to say, objective and methodical) approach to the subject as well.

The book is concise, integrated, and composed well. Without extra words or redundant thoughts, Puhvel makes his points succinctly--and very interesting points they are!

6 people found this helpful

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Dilean McGarey

This book is racist propaganda

Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020

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This book posits the outdated, racist theory that the Hindu caste system was based on skin color, eg, anachronistic ideas about phenotypical expression, aka neo-nazism. Do not read. Not worth the idealized outdated information about basically only European mythology.

One person found this helpful

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Manya

Best text of its subject

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2008

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Dr. Puhvel was one of my university professors nearly 40 years ago. I took his course in Indo-European mythology at UCLA in the late 60s and was delighted to find that he published much of that course material into this text. He was a fascinating lecturer; I've retained a lot of what he taught me to this day. If you have interest in this somewhat arcane subject matter, this definitely is the volume for you.

As an aside, I found Dr. Puhvel and his wife to be wonderful people and my first exposure to the delightful Estonian culture. He was definitely one of my better university experiences.

11 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Great synthesis

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2019

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Magisterial review of indoeuropean mythology

One person found this helpful

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Nsane LiL Munky

Good introduction, but in need of proofreading

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

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This is a very good introduction to comparative mythology for those who already have a good foundation of various European and Indian/Iranian mythologies. I'm subtracting one star for the lack of proofreading, though. Simple mistakes like writing 'he' instead of 'the' and 'bu' instead of 'but' are still in this book.

One person found this helpful

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Cjbevan

gleaming wit in varied strata of knowlege and thought

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 10, 2014

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Jaan Puhvel writes with a terse academic style that would be dry, if it were not for his ironic wit which occasionally gleams in his laconic prose. It makes this book , which to a non-specialist seems dense, an enjoyable and informative excursion into new territory. It has been useful in informing my interests in myth and in Indo-European origins, assisting with the crystallising of ideas about both. I found very interesting and illuminating Puhvel's synthesis of the ideas of Vikings, Celts, Romans, Greeks and Vedas in a way which to my mind I found plausible in illuminating some of the great blanks of ancient Europe. Some ideas I found tending towards generalisations that become just too vague to be really meaningful, but my own knowledge of Welsh and Brythonic culture was startlingly complemented by insights elsewhere. I found it very useful in considering notions of deity in antiquity generally, and how mythology functions in communities, and how cultures interact and change with their shifting priorities . I think it will work well as a primer and introduction to these things in general, and a good source and beginning to further study. It makes the actual hypothetical proto-Indo-European community seem very distant and alien indeed, when one considers that the Vedas are little more ancient than Homer. All very interesting, in an excellent book.

4 people found this helpful

Colin J. Yarnley

clear and straightforward

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2012

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A most useful introduction to a large and complex subject. I only wish its content was properly referenced - the reader has to take things very much on trust.

5 people found this helpful

B. Dickhoff

Sehr lesenswert

Reviewed in Germany on August 9, 2015

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Ein interessantes Buch, dass sich ausführlich mit den verschiedenen indoeuropäischen Kulturen auseinandersetzt. Es hat Spaß gemacht, dieses Buch zu lesen und zu vergleichen, selbst wenn man nicht immer seiner Meinung sein muss.

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Pinault, Georges

mythologie

Reviewed in France on April 25, 2021

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très bien

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