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A Short History of Myth (Canongate Myths #1)

3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 · rating details · 1,699 ratings · 219 reviews

This brilliant, readable synthesis of the history of mythology and the function it serves to humanity is the launch title of the groundbreaking publishing event, "The Myths." "Human beings have always been mythmakers." So begins Karen Armstrong's concise yet compelling investigation into myth: what it is, how it has evolved, and why we still so desperately need it. She tak...more

Hardcover, 159 pages

Published January 1st 2005 by Canongate Books

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Feb 28, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Karen Armstrong attempts to take us through the story of how myth has evolved in human history, affected its progress, how the contemporary society deals with it and the future direction it might or should take. For such a vast scope, a book that is less than 200 pages was bound to end up with a sketch that is barely an outline, let alone a complete history.

For a student of myth, this cannot even serve as an introduction to the scope and breadth of the study of mythologies, but for the casual re...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ms Armstrong has written a brief summary of myth from the Paleothic period to modern day. I found her inclusion and description of different female deities enlightening. I also thought her summary of how science has underminded myth recently accurate. She argues that art in the 20th century has stepped up to fill some of the vacuum which has been created by the undermining of myth.

I include this lengthy quotation as an example:

We have seen that a myth could never be approached in a purely prof...more

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Aug 29, 2007 Megan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are some who are best at showing, and some that are best at telling. Karen Armstrong is best at telling. I really appreciate her lucid, straightforward narrative here, in such a huge, swimming subject. She rarely ever oversimplifies. It's like a little guidebook to western culture, and it often got me thinking about similarities between the role of myth and the role of art; I was a little surprised to see them converge so smartly at the end. The ending is more determined than I'd like it t...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Pablo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Armstrong declares, unconvincingly, that historically believers haven’t taken their holy texts literally. Her argument is unconvincing because it’s demonstrably false. Islam, for example, has hundreds of millions of adherents who would declare her claim ridiculous and demonstrate their disagreement vehemently. Their mythology is so literal to them that many of them live a life that's more to similar to their religion's 7th century origins than it is to the modern world.

Entire nations live under...more Armstrong declares, unconvincingly, that historically believers haven’t taken their holy texts literally. Her argument is unconvincing because it’s demonstrably false. Islam, for example, has hundreds of millions of adherents who would declare her claim ridiculous and demonstrate their disagreement vehemently. Their mythology is so literal to them that many of them live a life that's more to similar to their religion's 7th century origins than it is to the modern world.

Entire nations live under systems, legal, moral, educational, that are ancient. A tiny percentage, of course, (royalty and oil barons) enjoy the fruits of a modern economic and political system, but the truth, the day-to-day realty, is that the vast majority live in a world that moved on without them centuries ago.

Armstrong claims that myth without liturgy is impotent. I would argue that myth without liturgy is exactly where the world needs to be - where an educated 40% (or so) of American are, where large swathes of Europeans have been for decades, even centuries.

I agree with other parts of her thesis: her realization that most religious figures were myths. She recognizes the historicity of the Buddha and Mohamed, though she inaccurately declares Jesus as an absolutely real historical figure. While many historians may agree that the anecdotal evidence points toward such a person having lived, not one shred of empirical evidence has been unearthed to prove this.

She also fails miserably in her argument when she states (twice) that humans are at the end of their biological evolution. This is not knowable. She’s basically declaring that she can see 10,000 or 20,000 years (or further) into the future. We simply cannot know what she claims to know, but the evidence of life on earth over the last 500 million years or so would demonstrate her claim as unlikely, if not outright ridiculous.

She seems to decry the awfulness of science, as exemplified by her obvious example of the atomic bomb, while completely, utterly and totally ignoring the crimes of religion. Her anti-science argument ignores that for the vast majority of people throughout history science has been lifesaving: vaccines, sanitation, transportation, education and discovery. Religion, while perhaps personally uplifting for some, has been the cause of misery, war and death.

Her affection for faith (which she calls myth, but who does she think she’s kidding?) would be charming, if it wasn’t so appalling in its one-sidedness.
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Dec 12, 2011 Brittany rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history

This book began by making a sweeping, general, unfounded statement, and then irritated the heck out of me.

That's not a great way for a book to start.

In fact, if I'd just been reading it for fun I would have been tempted to stop. But I'm determined to read all the Canongate Myths, and for whatever reason this one is listed first. And it's only 150 pages long so, I figured, how bad can it be?

It starts by stating categorically that humans are the only animals to have language, the think on a meta...more

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Jan 27, 2010 Mike rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Read this brief and lucid treatment of mythology; you won't be disappointed. Armstrong carefully maps the importance of mythology in the lives of humans, from paleolithic man to the present day. In a short 155 pages, Armstrong will leave you pondering. Have the science and technology of the 20th century led us to destroy an essential component of our humanity? Will the hybrid lifestyles we create for ourselves in the 21st century lead us to no longer ponder the mystery of our existence?

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Aug 16, 2012 Gijs rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, philosophy-and-religion, english

Korte geschiedenis van de mythologie van de oertijd tot nu. De eerste hoofdstukken zijn het interessantst, vooral omdat Armstrong een paar prachtige oeroude mythen weet op te dissen.

Het hoofdstuk 'De spiltijd' leest als een korte samenvatting van haar boek 'De grote transformatie'(The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions), zoals het laatste hoofdstuk 'de grote Westerste transformatie' ongetwijfeld een samenvatting is van haar boek 'A History of God: The 4,000-Year Ques ...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Wendy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's pretty boring, and it took me a while since I never really felt like reading it. I was hoping it would tell me what the myths were about, who the deities were, and when/how/where they came into being, but instead it was more like a short history of civilization and how it affected the barest bones of the beliefs of the time. In the beginning, the author wrote about how myth was an art form and that we now sometimes look back on ancient peoples and wonder how they could be so stupid to belie...more

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Dec 14, 2011 Catherine Austen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

If you think of this as an essay and NOT a history, it`s a very likeable book. It is beautifully written and full of interesting stuff that gets you thinking. I`d recommend it to anyone intererested in myth and the "nature of man" and such stuff.

But not so much to people interested in historical facts, as it makes huge sweeping statements based on a very narrow range of evidence. (What is the deal with social scientists? Are they overcompensating for the difficulty of testing their theories? Ph...more

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Sep 12, 2010 Welwyn Katz rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I should have been warned by the title. It is impossible for someone capable of writing 15 books on topics as diverse as the development of sexism, St. Paul, life in the convent, Islam, the English mystics of the 14th century, and so on, to have had time to study the subject of mythology sufficiently well to understand it, let alone put it together in such a way that others can understand it on any but the most superficial (and European biased) level. And to call it a history in the roughly 27,0...more

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Aug 31, 2010 Al Bità rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This short book is an attempt by Armstrong to reinstate a kind of appreciation of selected, mostly Western, myths after what she believes has been their modern discrediting by science. In doing so, Armstrong needs to strip the old myths of any historical relevance to reality to argue that they represent rather a kind of psychological reality and wisdom based on compassion, tolerance and understanding. The book ends with the hope that these virtues will survive through the work of artists, writer...more This short book is an attempt by Armstrong to reinstate a kind of appreciation of selected, mostly Western, myths after what she believes has been their modern discrediting by science. In doing so, Armstrong needs to strip the old myths of any historical relevance to reality to argue that they represent rather a kind of psychological reality and wisdom based on compassion, tolerance and understanding. The book ends with the hope that these virtues will survive through the work of artists, writers and other creators of fictional works.

Unfortunately, Armstrong's approach (presented in clear, simple, easy to read language) requires a reading of myth which may be difficult to justify. It is hard to argue convincingly that the originators of these myths 'knew' that their stories and their characters were not historically real but rather presented a deeper psychological reality. Whether these originators did or did not know this, the hearers of these myths DID take the characters in the stories to be real, and often based their subsequent personal or social actions, for good or ill, on those beliefs. By removing many of the nastier consequences of belief in myths to make them more palatable to certain modern sensibilities, I feel Armstrong distorts their original import. Better, in my opinion to go to the original myths, with all their richness and often disturbing details, and enjoy them as literature only, rather then 'clean them up' as Armstrong seems to want us to do, thereby depriving them of most of their power.

It really is more credible in our time to consider the ancient myths merely as stories, just as today we read about magicians, teenage vampires, vampire killers, Jedi knights, time travel, parallel universes, etc. without feeling the need to believe in their reality, historical or otherwise. Whether they reveal deep psychological 'truths' or not is a moot point. How one 'reads' them is simply a matter of interpretation, not of spiritual, ethical, moral or religious sensibilities. All the great literature of the world deals with aspects of the human condition: none of it warrants worship or veneration as providing sacred insights, and certainly not absolute truth.

Looked at as literature we can also analyse all myths — ancient as well as modern — as representing a basic discontent and dislike of the world, and seeking some kind of relief from this idea by positing 'higher powers' or 'special powers' and 'other worlds'. Analysing the historical evolution of myths has shown us that their subjects, while perhaps describing certain human desires, ultimately personally failed to satisfy those desires. Indeed, they have often contributed to our discontent because of those failures. Any intelligent conclusion would be not to place our faith in them as representing any form of reality.

Further, to persist in believing in gods, spiritual realms, spirits, ghosts, elves, tooth fairies, Santa Claus, etc. is merely to persist in creating unhappiness when we come to realise they are all fantasies. Acknowledging that fact — rather than trying to 'respect' those beliefs simply because, for a short time, they might have made us happy — is part of the process of growing up, in the widest concept of that term. Armstrong's interpretation, alluring as it might appear in her book, does not assist us to grow up.
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May 29, 2010 Jon Stout rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: technocrats and political realists

Recommended to Jon by: Bob Nichols

Shelves: religion

Since myth always plays a big part in the faith-versus-scientific-method discussions, this little book clarifies an important aspect of culture appropriated by both sides. Those favoring scientific method say that religion is nothing but myth, and those defending the role of faith say that myth is an important activity in itself and central to our culture.

Karen Armstrong discusses the role of myth from the hunter-gatherer era (starting 20000 BCE), through the agricultural era (starting 8000 BCE)...more

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Aug 22, 2009 Trevor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, psychology, religion, social-theory

The best of this is where she explains that myths have two lives. There is the myth as it is supposed to have happened once in historical time – Jesus at the last supper sharing his body and blood with his followers – and the myth that is forever present and forever made new – the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (and to many Christians, particularly those who believe in the literal transubstantiation of the bread and wine, this is the literal presence of Jesus today and always) is the forever...more The best of this is where she explains that myths have two lives. There is the myth as it is supposed to have happened once in historical time – Jesus at the last supper sharing his body and blood with his followers – and the myth that is forever present and forever made new – the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (and to many Christians, particularly those who believe in the literal transubstantiation of the bread and wine, this is the literal presence of Jesus today and always) is the forever renewed reliving of that mythic experience. That is, there is the actual experience that only 13 people shared in, and then the ritual deed in which billions have taken part and in a sense these are both the same experience.

I’ve been thinking a lot of about this sort of thing lately, mostly after reading The Happiness Hypothesis Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. If I was to set out my credo I guess one of the things that would have to go onto my list of beliefs would be that I believe in metaphor. I believe that how we structure the world into networks of metaphors structures how we are able to view the world at all. In this sense we are the metaphors which we use to view our world. The man who views women as conquests, the politician who views the war in Iraq as a crusade or the employer who views her workers as human resources – with these metaphors we structure our experiences.

This book implies that myths are a bit like my metaphors, ways to structure the world so that it makes sense, but that myths change with history and in ways that reflect the social concerns of people living in the world and experienced by people at particular developmental stages. AS Hegel says of tradition, myths are not fixed statues, but rather flowing rivers that start as streams and become mighty as they rush to the sea. So that the myths that might have been appropriate to Neanderthals (and I won’t bore you with her speculations here or my reply concerning separate species) would clearly not be appropriate to those living as farmers following the agricultural revolution. Likewise for those living later in city-states and one step removed from the rhythms of nature there needed to be new myths. The interesting thing is that these myths build on each other often growing in significance, rather than being replaced outright. Perhaps harvest myths do not have the life and death meaning to us today in the first world 21st century that they did to an Ancient Greek farmer, but we are still moved by the myth of Persephone and Demeter. The myth still holds significance for us.

With the Enlightenment it became increasingly difficult for people to believe and to be guided by the myths as had been practiced up until then. History is seen in this book as a struggle between mythos and logos (the world as revelation of truth through parable and story and the world as understood through natural laws). With the Enlightenment there was a move away from mythos towards science as the great hope that would explain the human condition without need of ‘stories’. There was, of course, counter moves – Pascal is given as an example here with his horror of an empty universe and of a humanity stuck in a tiny, insignificant corner devoid of meaning and without value or hope. This vision could only be bleak for Pascal and it is not hard to see why.

And so we get Nietzsche, who created the myth of God’s death, the myth of the eternal return, the myth of the will to power of the artist, as his way to again allow humanity to live with the terror of the fundamental meaninglessness of our existence.

At the end of this short history we are more or less in the 1920s. The new myths are seen as manifest in art and the art is that of TS Eliot’s The Waste Land, Joyce’s Ulysses, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness – and all of these deeply symbolic works drawing on the wealth of images from the whole of Western (and at least in Eliot’s case, some Eastern too) myths and traditions. As she quotes herself: These fragments have I shorn against my ruin.

She also refers to Picasso’s Guernica – with its nightmarish references to Christian martyrdom and hideous revisioning of Madonna and Child as a way to ‘make sense’ of the fascist bombing of Guernica in the Spanish Civil War.

The message of this book is that it is very hard for us in the first world, a world dominated by science and reason and ‘logos’ to have a world of myth in quite the same way that the pre-Enlightenment world lived in a world of myth. Nevertheless, science does not provide us with answers to all questions of importance to us. Science is ‘valueless’ in the sense that the same knowledge that can convert the energy of a uranium atom to enable us to power a city can also be use to reduce that city to ashes. To have compassion, understanding and to overcome the solipsistic selfishness of modernity requires some type of mythos, some sort of connection to what I have hesitated to call the spiritual realm. Interestingly, she views this realm as being provided today not by organised religion as much as by art and artists in our all-too-modern world.

Although I would find it hard to accept this thesis without reservations – not the least because I don’t really share Pascal’s terror and so have never felt the need of Nietzsche’s sacrament – I do think there is a need for metaphors by which we can understand the world and that this is an important thing Art can do for us. As someone who has never quite understood the religious experience, the aesthetic experience is the only one I can claim access to and its importance to me is heightened accordingly.

A couple of years ago I sat at the National Gallery and watched a series of films being played on the walls of the contemporary art space on the top floor. I later took various people there to sit with me and watch these films. They were quite simple in execution. A Latin American artist who used water to paint the faces of men and women who had gone missing, never to be seen again with the assistance of their government (and the US government too, of course). The water was applied to what I take to have been warm stone so that the image appeared as dark patches on the stone and started to evaporate as soon as it was applied. This meant that the faces would appear and then slowly melt back to nothing. Then another face was drawn. I was transfixed. Every time I went to see this, perhaps four times, I could hardly contain my emotions. So much pain, but perhaps being confronted by the terrible and universal transience of human existence, so beautifully displayed in this work of art, perhaps this would be enough to show us, as it showed me, our common humanity, our common responsibility, our need to act in common to stop such inhumanity.

If this is the power of myth, then we need myths of this kind, we need ways that allow us to see the world anew – even if anew in all its horror. There were parts of this book where I felt things were tending towards New Age nonsense and perhaps some of the explanations (particularly of the ‘meanings’ of Neolithic art which I took to be a bit of a stretch) didn’t really explain anything – but there was enough here in this very short book to chew over. And I ask for little more.
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Aug 02, 2009 Bob Nichols rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Armstrong clearly lays out the key eras of human history - paleolithic, neolithic, the first civilizations, the Axial Age, the post-Axial Period and then modern history (post 1500)- and shows how myth reflects the dominant worldviews of each of these eras (hunters, agriculture, urban communities, etc.). A common theme to all myths is the human relationship to a trans-human world, including any post-life existence. However that relationship manifested itself, humans were integrated with another w...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, mythology-and-religion

Very readable overview of the history of human mythological development. Of particular interest to me was the final chapter, which talks about the modern era and the death of mythology in the industrialized/industrializing world. I don't know that I agree with all her conclusions 100%, but they're certainly ideas worth thinking about. I do wish there had been footnotes though, simple citations are much less satisfying.

Some quotes from the last chapter that I particularly enjoyed:

"Because most We...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Nikki rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, history

This is interesting, although not exactly revelatory if you're interested in mythology and the like. I couldn't take it seriously after this section, though:

Why should a goddess have become so dominant in an aggressively male society? This may be due to an unconscious resentment of the female. The goddess of Catal Huyuk gives birth eternally, but her partner, the bull, must die. Hunters risked their lives to support their women and children. The guilt and anxiety induced by hunting, combined wit

...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Mark by: Sara Q

Originally posted: http://marklindner.info/blog/2011/01/... [You really should read it at the blog as here you don't get the hyperlinks.]

Sara also read this book recently. I think that helped me as we had already discussed it a fair bit while she was reading it, and I had the benefit of her blog post about it.

Go read Sara’s review, which is excellent; I’ll wait. See. Now perhaps you don’t even need to read mine. Nonetheless, I shall press on.

The help and benefit I am referring to is in regard to...more

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Jul 13, 2009 DeeDee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In and out of this one. Mostly out at the moment, but can't leave it down for long.
Its consice, and so perhaps not for everyone, but I'm finding it a cool 'Cliff Notes' type reference and springboard for other reading or research.
Listened to the audio book format (up to the end of the neolithic age) with my boys in the car. This book would make a great film. Needs some beautiful illustrations to compliment the info. I'd love to edit this into a coffee table book. ; )

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Aug 16, 2010 Mohd Nazmi Yaakub rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: falsafah, sejarah, inggeris

“MITOS,” kata Karen Armstrong, “tidak dicipta sebagai sumber sejarah, sebaliknya untuk membantu dalam menerangkan tingkah-laku kita terhadap persekitaran, manusia dan kebudayaan.”

Barangkali inilah sebahagian jawapan kepada tohmahan untuk menolak sebahagian besar hikayat kita yang memang bercampur-aduk antara fakta sejarah dengan mitos.

A Short History of Myth lebih besar daripada itu menyelongkar perkembangan mitos bermula zaman prasejarah yang tidak mempunyai catatan yang konkrit sehinggalah era...more

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Jan 17, 2010 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Amazing book - explains the dilemma of Christianity in a way that I can grasp it meaningfully without discarding logic. Here is a memorable quote: "Mythology is an art form. Any powerful work of art invades our being and changes it forever...art, like certain kinds of religious and metaphysical experience, is the most transformative summons available to human experiencing. It is an intrusive, invasive indiscretion that 'queries the last privacies of our existence; an Annunciation that 'breaks in...more

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Jun 06, 2009 Nicole Marble added it · review of another edition

We are treated to the standard litany of leftover Victorian 'thinkers' of dopey primitive people (our ancestors) being awestruck by the night sky, weather, seasons, birth, death, and the miracle of farming, which resulted in, ta da, myth and religion. Maybe.What she does not discuss is the manipulation of the tribe/city/group/country by the cult/religious leaders who create fear and lay down the rules that favor themselves.
However, she does make one interesting comment on religion as practiced t...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a Composition Instructor with a rhetorical background, I enjoyed this much. If the subtitle of Armstrong’s 'A Short History of Myth' had been ‘A Rhetorical Approach’, I think that would have been most fitting. The strongest case she makes is her focus of ‘mythos’ vs. ‘logos’ in the Axial Age (with a nod toward Aristotle’s Artistic Proofs as the framework for guiding the whole book’s structure). Specifically, her focus on outer vs. inner rituals (or the interplay between effective speech and w...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Ma Arms rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While much of the factual information presented in this book is solid and informative, all of Karen Armstrong's interpretation is based on a strange and misplaced longing for a past paradisical time when myth exerted solely a good influence on humanity, a myth that never existed. This is well illustrated by her claims that it was a disconnect between myth and the necessity of the people that led to Nazi atrocities. She neglects that the hunter gatherer and early farmer people encountered by earl...more

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May 09, 2010 Sonic rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

O.k. First I should say something about books-on-tape, and that is that sometimes the voice actor can make it or break it. For example, I did not enjoy reading any of the Harry Potter books as much as I enjoyed listening to Jim Dales brilliant performance of it. Michael Pollan is a writer whose book "The Botany of Desire" I loved, but when I tried to listen to his "The Age Of Nutritionism" I found the voice actor's know-it-all tone of voice annoying and intolerable. So instead of reading Pollan'...more

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Apr 17, 2010 Robert Browning rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mythology

A succinct, well-thought out, hell of a good book here. The author takes a logical and reasoned look at how mythology has evolved over time into the modern religions of the past few centuries and how the split in science theory and religious belief may have been formed. The sections focus on major shifts in humanity's worldview, explaining that as we changed from hunter-gatherers to agrarians to city-dwellers, mythology had to adapt and change as well to be relevant.

While Eastern beliefs are to...more

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Dec 17, 2009 Seth rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This short book is NOT an objective or academic exploration (or summary) of mythology. After racing through several millenia, the author decides to focus only on the West and the rise of the 3 monotheistic religions. Ultimately, it is revealed that the author has an agenda - to preach about how humanity has lost its way by abandoning myth (an assertion that I don't agree with and which this book makes very little convincing argument). The author suggests that the only way we regain what we've lo...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-myth-legend-criticism, history-world, folklore-myth, literature-criticism

A rather nice overview. Armstrong tells things clearly and doesn't make the reader feel stupid. There is plently about myth connecting to religion, in particular how the age of Enlighment led to a reading of the Bible as truth, which Armstrong points out does a disservice to reliigon and myth. I found her idea about our age doing away with myth except in terms of literature to be interesting. She has a point, but the writers do carrry it. Perhaps we have just changed the nature of our myths - th...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Milan/zzz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: myths, 2011, nonfiction

Kratka istorija mita je upravo to: kratka. Ali s’obzirom da se Armstrongova (svakako neko ko ima kredibilitet) latila posla nikako nećete ostati uskraćeni ovim kratkim uvodom u pricu o mitu.
Ona kreće od paeolitskog perioda (i mitologije lovaca, 20000 god pne), preko neolita (i mitologije ratara 8000 god pne-4000 god pne), ranih civilizacija sve do naših dana I smrti mitologije (ili bar one kliničke).

Ono š to je bilo posebno zanimljivo je evolucija uloge žene I njenog položaja u društvu kroz ulo...more

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Apr 07, 2011 Fox rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anthropology, history, non-fiction, reference, 2011

While there was little material that I was not already aware of within the text, the book was a very good refresher on... the history of mythology. Having a relatively short book on the evolution of myth was helpful, and the concise writing allowed for it to potentially be a quick read. The book is divided chronologically, beginning with prehistory myth (the hunter-gatherers) and ending in modern myth (which she views as creative expression, music, creative writing, etc.)

My main reason for enjo...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Emm rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-greco-roman

This book is beautifully written and deceptively simple! Armstrong gives a thoughtful and extremely convincing argument in favor of the importance and irreplaceability of myth. She chronicles the evolution and uses of myth in a comprehensive and compelling way. Her final chapter about the dangers and detriments of mythic poverty (the modern and post-modern state in which we now live) is absolutely devastating!

This book is not only easy to read, but enjoyable and breathtaking. I think everyone sh...more

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About Karen Armstrong

British author of numerous works on comparative religion.

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Books by Karen Armstrong

A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness

The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism

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Quotes from A Short History of Myth

“We need myths that will help us to identify with all our fellow-beings, not simply with those who belong to our ethnic, national or ideological tribe. We need myths that help us to realize the importance of compassion, which is not always regarded as sufficiently productive or efficient in our pragmatic, rational world. We need myths that help us to create a spiritual attitude, to see beyond our immediate requirements, and enable us to experience a transcendent value that challenges our solipsistic selfishness. We need myths that help us to venerate the earth as sacred once again, instead of merely using it as a 'resource.' This is crucial, because unless there is some kind of spiritual revolution that is able to keep abreast of our technological genius, we will not save our planet.” — 9 people liked it

“We have seen that a myth could never approached in a purely profane setting. It was only comprehensible in a liturgical context that set it apart from everyday life; it must be experienced as part of a process of personal transformation. None, of this surely applies to the novel, which can be read anywhere at all witout ritual trappings, and must, if it is any good, eschew the overtly didactic. Yet the experience of reading a novel has certain qualities that remind us of the mythology. It can be seen as a form of mediation. Readers have to live with a novel for days or even weeks. It prljects them into another worl, parallel to but apart from their ordinary lives. They know perfectly well that this fictional realm is not 'real' and yet while they are reading it becomes compelling. A powerful novel bcomes part of the backdrop of lives long after we have laid the book aside. It is an excercise of make-believe, that like yoga or a religious festival breaks down barriers of space and time and extends our sympathies to empathise with others lives and sorrows. It teaches compassion, the ability to 'feel with' others. And, like mythology , an important novel is transformative. If we allow it do so, can change us forever.” — 6 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1901882.A_Short_History_of_Myth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328216501l/1901882.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1901882.A_Short_History_of_Myth?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong[/url]

A Short History of Myth (Canongate Myths #1)

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