The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama

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Courier Corporation, 2013 M05 27 - 336 páginas
His mother is a virgin and he's reputed to be the son of a god; he loses favor and is driven from his kingdom to a sorrowful death — sound familiar? In The Hero, Lord Raglan contends that the heroic figures from myth and legend are invested with a common pattern that satisfies the human desire for idealization. Raglan outlines 22 characteristic themes or motifs from the heroic tales and illustrates his theory with events from the lives of characters from Oedipus (21 out of a possible 22 points) to Robin Hood (a modest 13).
A fascinating study that relates details from world literature with a lively wit and style, it was acclaimed by literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman as "a bold, speculative, and brilliantly convincing demonstration that myths are never historical but are fictional narratives derived from ritual dramas." This new edition of The Hero (which originally appeared some 13 years before Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces) is assured of a lasting popularity. This book will appeal to scholars of folklore and mythology, history, literature, and general readers as well.

Dentro del libro

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Contenido

TRADITION II The Traditional Pedigree I The Basis of History III Local Tradition
Robin Hood VI King Arthur
The Norse Sagas
Hengist and Horsa
Cuchulainn
The Tale of Troy
Traditions of Other Lands
MYTH XI The Genesis of Myth
Myth and the Historic Hero
DRAMA XX The Basis of Drama
The Language of the Drama
Age and Time
Dress and Setting
Shapeshifting and Talking Animals
The Royal Hero
The Spielman XXVII The Ritual Drama

The Folktale
Myth and Ritual XIV Myth and Ritual continued
Myth and RitualThe Tale of Troy
The Hero XVII The Hero continued XVIII The Hero continued
Bibliography
Index
Derechos de autor

Términos y frases comunes

Información bibliográfica