The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A Psychological Exploration of Myth

by Otto Rank, Gregory C Richter (Translator), E. James Lieberman (Translator)

First published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's original 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 Sigmund 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. In a new edition published thirteen years after the original, Rank doubled the size of his seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology.

This expanded and updated edition has been eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman and includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal as well as Otto Rank's 1914 essay "The Play in Hamlet."

Genres: Psychology, Mythology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Religion, Literature

202 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Born in Vienna as Otto Rosenfeld, he was one of Sigmund Freud's closest colleagues for 20 years, a prolific writer on psychoanalytic themes, an editor of the two most important analytic journals, managing director of Freud's publishing house and a creative theorist and therapist. In 1926, Otto Rank left Vienna for Paris. For the remaining 14 years of his life, Rank had a successful career as a lecturer, writer and therapist in France and the U.S..

Reviews

[Arman · Rating 3 out of 5]

امتیاز: 3.5

[Benjamin Kerstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply an extraordinary work. It's a shame that Rank has been regarded as a "third tier" figure in the history of psychoanalysis, usually ranked below Freud and Jung. Personally, I think Rank's analysis of myth is more interesting than Jung's, and this book is the most cogent expression of it. It's also a shame that much of Rank's preliminary work (as well as that of others) from Imago has not been published in book form.

[Ρένα Λούνα · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο Freud, το cool παιδί της ψυχανάλυσης είχε ένα μυστικό κύκλο έμπιστων ψυχαναλυτών για να του λένε πως έχει πάντα δίκ-.. ε για να ανταλλάζουν απόψεις. And if you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it, κάτι που έγινε και έδωσε στα αγόρια του από ένα χρυσό δαχτυλίδι. Σε αυτό το φοβερό γκρουπάκι ήταν και ο Otto Rosenfeld, κατά κόσμο Otto Rank, ψυχολόγος, ψυχαναλυτής, συγγραφέας και αργότερα καθηγητής, ο οποίος υπήρξε πρώτος γραμματέας της Ψυχαναλυτικής Εταιρείας της Βιέννης και στενότερος συνεργάτης του Freud για κάποια χρόνια. Κάποια στιγμή, ο Rank κατηγορήθ- παρατηρήθηκε πως είχε αρχίσει κάπως να αποκλίνει από την "ορθόδοξη" φροϋδική θεωρία, με αποτέλεσμα να διαγραφεί από την Αμερικανική Ψυχαναλυτική Ένωση και να τα σπάσει με τον Freud. Δεν πειράζει! New year, new me, είπε και έτσι κι έγινε. Ο Rank δεν ταίριαξε τόσο με τους υπόλοιπους, είναι πιο φιλολογικός, έχει ανάγκη περισσότερο την ανάλυση του πολιτισμού και της τέχνης και λιγότερο πάθος για το ψυχαναλυτικό ντιβάνι.

Σε αυτό το ενδιαφέρον ανάγνωσμα, αρχικά γραμμένο το 1909, ο Rank δημιουργεί ένα πλαίσιο γύρω από την γέννηση του ήρωα και κάνει τις ψυχαναλυτικές συνδέσεις. Σύμφωνα με τον ίδιο, όλες οι ηρωικές φιγούρες ταιριάζουν σε ένα συγκεκριμένο θρύλο γέννησης. Off the top of one's head: Υπάρχει κάποιος χρησμός πως ο γιός του Βασιλιά θα γίνει Βασιλιάς και θα τον σκοτώσει, συνεπώς ο Βασιλιάς δίνει το νεογνό προς εκτέλεση, κάποιος βοσκός το αφήνει στο δάσος, εκεί το φροντίζουν τα άγρια ζώα και τα φέρνει έτσι η μοίρα, που όταν μεγαλώσει ο νεαρός ηγέτης, όντως σκοτώνει τον πατέρα και γίνεται Βασιλιάς. Φυσικά δεν θα μπορούσε να λείπει και η ασυνείδητη ψυχοσεξουαλική συμπεριφορά στο ρομάτζο της οικογένειας του ήρωα. Οι περισσότεροι μύθοι που αναλύει είναι οι: τα παραμύθια των αδερφών Γκρίμ, των Λόενγκριν, Κύρου, Ζωροάστρη, Οιδίποδα, Ιησού, Ηρακλή, Πάρη, Γκιλγκαμές, Περσέα, Μωυσή και άλλων.

Εάν υπήρχε κάτι που δεν μου άρεσε τόσο ήταν οι συχνές αναλογίες στα παραδείγματα με τις αναφορές σε Freud (όνειρα – σύμβολα) και Jung (αρχέτυπα).

[Arthur George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a classic work and a must-read for anyone seriously interested in mythology and in particular hero mythology. But it was written about a century ago and so it is seriously out of date in terms of its psychological and mythological theory, and the translations of the texts under discussion are also antiquated and often inaccurate. The book's main service these days is to collect and discuss, albeit briefly, a number of texts concerning the birth of hero figures that have similar motifs. For this I give it 3 stars, but no more because of it being so dated and also lacking in detail and thorough discussion. Were I writing a century ago, it would probably get 4 or 5 because it was groundbreaking at the time.

[Berna Ece Gündüz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mitlerin psikolojik kökenini en temiz ve güzel şekilde açıklayan kaynaklardan biri olsa gerek. Freud'un yöntemlerinden yola çıkarak ta Lacan'ın sistemlerine kadar her türlü alana değinen Otto Rank, bir mit kahramanının gerçek anlamda olduğu kadar metaforik anlamdaki doğuşunu da mükemmel özetliyor.

Girişindeki anlatıyla birlikte "Mitler dinlerden mi gelmiştir, yoksa dinler mi mitlerden gelmiştir?" ikilemini tekrar tekrar düşündürtüyor. Aynı zamanda mitlerin, bu efsanevi her hikayenin temelinde yatan üç temel mitolojik esasın da açıklanmasıyla son derece açıklayıcı bir eser.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps more interesting from the history of anthropology angle. To me the introduction by Robert A. Segal was more informative than the body of work itself.

Still, taking it for what it is: an essay in an academic field that was very much still forming, it was for the most part an interesting read. Gathering and analyzing together different myths sharing the same theme of the hero's birth being actively prevented, followed by exposure to the elements, in my college would be a solid work for a bachelor's degree, but again different times, different standards. In most part it checks out, even though including Jesus in the mix is questionable, and if he's there only to serve as context for Zoroaster, why make him a central figure of the chapter? And that isn't the only time when he casts a net too wide in order to have more material to later illustrate all of the related ideas he wants to write about.

Similarly, the analysis part brings certain good points, though rarely the really interesting part is being followed further. The link between a child being dropped into water and the trauma of actual birth is a good guess, but my first thought was: does that point to the hero's (semi?)immortality if they're in a way born twice? The closest to my answer was calling the act of being born the hero's "first magnificent feat". More space is fortunately dedicated to my favorite thought in the essay: linking the father as the one actively preventing the birth of the son to the "primeval horde" with one male and a harem of females where every male offspring has to be either killed or cast away. An idea that should have been paired with: so how old are these myths actually if they preserve a past that couldn't even be applied to the society at the moment they were codified? But yet again, that wasn't the path taken.
All of this is saved, though, by bringing up actual cultural practices involving symbolic twin or symbolic abandonment.

In general, Otto Rank is the best scholar when he forgets he's a freudist.

[Melek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitap üç kısımdan oluşuyor. İlk kısımda Rank mitlerin ortak/benzer örüntüler çıkarmasını farklı teoriler eşliğinde oldukça sade bir şekilde açıklıyor.
İkinci kısımda dünyanın farklı bölgelerinden farklı kahramanlık mitlerinin ana karakterlerinin doğuş mitlerini okuyoruz. Okurken Rank bize ortak noktaları italik yazarak belirtiyor.
Son bölümde ise Rank, bu mitleri bizlere yorumluyor. Mitleri benzerliklerine göre yorumluyor ve burdan insan psikolojisinin temel noktalarına değiniyor.

Oldukça sade bir dili bulunan kitabın benim açımdan en zor kısmı son bölümdü. Uzun yıllardır psikanalizden ve onun kavramlarından uzak olduğum için belli yerleri anlamak için araştırmalar yapmam gerekti. Kitap temel bir psikanaliz bilgisini son bölümde gerekli kılıyor. İleri düsey psikanaliz bilgim olsaydı son kısımdan daha çok keyif alabilirdim. Bu sebeple kitabı ileride yeniden okumak üzere kitaplığıma yeniden koydum.

Gökçe Yavaş çok başarılı bir çeviri yapmış. Gerekli yerlerde dipnotlar çok başarılıydı. Çevirmene ve yayıncıya teşekkür ederim bu güzel çeviri ve dizgi için.

[Rylan]

Joseph Campbell name drop

[Şilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tarih boyunca anlatılagelen efsaneleri kıyaslayarak inceleyen bir kitap, bu efsanelere dini olanlar da dahil. İşin garip yanı nerdeyse bütün efsanelerin aynı taslak üzerinden oluşması.

Çoğunlukla bir rüya, kehanet ile başlıyor. Kehanette doğacak olan erkek çocuğun yöneticiyi, kralı devireceği söyleniyor. Bundan korkan kral da o yaş grubundaki bütün çocukların öldürülmesini istiyor veya belirli bir çocuk varsa o çocuğun ölmesini, hapsedilmesini istiyor. Çocuk ya sepet içinde nehre bırakılıyor ya da ormana bırakılıyor. Ormanda ya bir hayvan tarafından (bazen inek, bazen kurt hatta kartal) besleniyor ya da alt sınıftan bir kadın tarafından bakılıyor. Sonra çocuk büyüyor, bir şekilde kendi kimliğini öğreniyor ve kehanet gerçekleşiyor hak ettiği tahtı alıyor vesaire.

Farklı çağlardan dünyanın bambaşka yerlerinden anlatılan bu mitlerin hepsinin bu kadar benzer özelliğe sahip olması beni çok düşündürdü. Bu konuda 3 temel teori var ama bence aslında insan dediğimiz canlı birbirinden o kadar da farklı değil. İnsanın temel düşünceleri var ve bu efsaneler de bunlardan oluşuyor. O yüzden coğrafyası, zamanı ne kadar farklı olsa da o terk edilmiş çocuk hep aynı senaryoyu oynuyor.

[melis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.7

[Kadircan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitap iki bölümden oluşuyor. İlk bölümde farklı dönemlerde ve çeşitli coğrafyalarda varolmuş toplumların birbirlerine çarpıcı boyutta benzeyen mitlerine yer verilmiş. Dürüst olmak gerekirse bu benzerlikler başta ilgimi çektiği için ilk 2-3 miti özenle okudum, ancak sonrakileri artık tekrarlardan bunalmış bulunduğum için hızlıca tarayarak geçtim. Yine de söylemeliyim ki burada önemli bir arşivcilik işi mevcut ve kitap bu alana ilgi duyanlar için önemli bir başlangıç noktası konumunda.

İkinci bölüm ise yazarın mitler arasındaki bu benzerliklere ilişkin psikanalitik akıl yürütmelerine ayrılmışıtı. Kitabın yazıldığı 100 sene önceki dönem için devrimci fikirler bunlar şüphesiz, ancak geçen yıllar içinde çokça işlenmiş ve geliştirilmişler. Hal böyle olunca bugünün okuruna pek de yeni şeyler söyleyemez duruma düşmüşler.

Çeviri ve editör yaklaşımını ise oldukça yetersiz buldum. Literatüre uzak, zorlama ve tutarsız terim seçimleri ile sayfalardan fışkıran anlatım bozuklukları bir yana, bariz yazım hatalarının sayısı bile bu seviyede bir yayınevinden beklenmeyecek kadar fazlaydı.

[Ahmed · Rating 2 out of 5]

اسطورة ولادة البطل ترجمة ابراهيم جركس ويارا منصور

اجيت للكتاب بعد قراءة كتاب انكار الموت لارنست بيكر. المشكلة باسطورة البطل ان نص الكتاب هو كلام عن الاساطير وولادة البطل باكثر من اسطورة. والنص الثاني شرح الاساطير ومحاولة ربطها بعلم النفس.

بالنهاية الكتاب هواي اساطير وشوية علم نفس

اذا كنت جاي بمود الاسطورة يمكن يعجبك. اذا بمود علم نفس فشوف غير كتاب احسن

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

the linking of myth to psychoanalysis. how myths may after all be rooted in the unconscious and just an expression of the same. one of my favs.

[moi, k.y.a.]

dürüst olmak gerekirse içerik olarak hâkim olduğum bir konuydu, okurken fark ettim. ama derli toplu bir okuma sunması bakımından güzel bir kaynak

[Somewhat Deep]

wht ddi i jsut read

[Köksal KÖK · Rating 5 out of 5]

harika bir arastirma, harika bir yolculuktu. dilimize cevirenlere binlerce tesekkur.

[Barni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otto Rank observes several recurring themes within hero myths and proposes an analysis focused more on understanding the configurations and functioning of them from a psychoanalytic perspective rather than a geographic or geopolitc one.
The first part of the book is a summary of several myths, while the second one is Rank's placing under psychoanalytic microscope the leitmotifs found in the heroes' birth. Already in the first part the reader can notice the gradual unfolding of the similarities between the myths: the hero-to-be child's attempts from being born, kings/fathers/grandfathers having prophetic dreams regarding their demise, the newborn's abandonment in a basket on a river and its adoption by wild animals or plebeians, etc., which will be the main focus in the second part of the book by Rank. While short, the book doesn't leave the impression of being rushed and lacking in details and interpretation.

(It would've been a 4, but unfortunately I first read it in Romanian (ew)).

[CivilWar · Rating 2 out of 5]

(read in the anthology In Quest of the Hero)

As most examples of Freudians tackling whatever it is they choose to tackle, this is a certifiable disaster in scholarship but nevertheless a bit interesting, where it gets two instead of one star.

Quite simply, before I say anything else about Rank's argument, this has to be said: Otto Rank's entire argument here, namely that heroic mythology is modeled upon the "neurotic family romance", that is, rests on the neurotic, childish desires of "mythmakers" (more on this later) to Kill Their Father And Marry Their Mother, which is shown in the myths where the hero is exposed by their real, noble parents, is brought up by animals and/or lowly parents, and then has revenge on the father/king who ordered him exposed and marry his mother, or more frequently, according to Rank, a representative of his mother, which has replaced the real mother through a mechanism of repression and disavowal, is absolutely obliterated when you look at how selective the hero myths on display are here: Theseus is missing, as is Achilles, and Odysseus, GILGAMESH IS HERE NOT THE SUMERIAN CYCLE/BABYLONIAN EPIC BUT THE FUCKING MEANINGLESS "GILGAMOS" STORY IN AELIAN, WHY, there are no Chinese or Japanese heroes, any of which would've immediately obliterated this entire argument; in fact, all heroes here are of Indo-European origin, alongside the Semitic Sargon, which Rank seems to not notice as if this isn't relevant to why a lot of these myths seem similar.

Achilles alone, from the most famous epic ever, obliterates this entire argument: Achilles loves his mother, who is divine, and his father, who is a king. There is no disavowal mechanism, no repression, possible to argue here, unless you want to unironically argue that Agamemnon is the "father" and Briseis is the "mother", in which case you do nothing but reveal your own pathological obsession with incest in which case any struggle between men for a woman, in any case, is some sort of repressed demonstration of a childish desire to get the mother from the father. Odysseus, even more famous, allows even less space for this interpretation: the suitors are young, Odysseus old and paternalistic, he has a son and wife and wants to return to them, he even reunites happily with his father, all of these absolutely go against the supposed model of Rank's.

And what about heroes of other countries? Chinese heroes like Yu The Great, a flood-controller? What about, for a more Indo-European model, what about the Japanese Yamato-Takeru? Who openly yearns for the affection of his royal father?

Beyond that, how he describes it, he seems to think that myths are created like... novels? Short stories? Instead of stories that permeate an entire culture and are thus of a wholly different character than fiction or the dreams of the individual "mythmaker"? Observe:

Myths are, therefore, created by adults, by means of retrograde childhood fantasies, the hero being credited with the mythmaker’s personal infantile history. Meanwhile, the tendency of this entire process is the excuse of the individual units of the people for their own infantile revolt against the father.

Okay, they are the mythmaker's "retrograde childhood fantasies" - how exactly, then, do they permeate a whole culture? How is kingship modeled upon these neurotic fantasies?

The last stage of this progressive attenuation of the hostile relation to the father is represented by that form of the myth in which the person of the royal persecutor not only appears entirely detached from that of the father, but has even lost the remotest kinship with the hero’s family, which he opposes in the most hostile manner, as its enemy (in Feridun, Abraham, King Herod against Jesus, and others). Although of his original threefold character as the father, the king, and the persecutor, he retains only the part of the royal persecutor or the tyrant, the entire plan of the myth conveys the impression that nothing had been changed—as if the designation “father” had been simply replaced by the term “tyrant.” This interpretation of the father as a “tyrant,” which is typical of the infantile ideation, 24 will be found later on to possess the greatest importance for the interpretation of certain abnormal constellations of this complex.

Well then! If every single towering male-figure is secretly a repressed father, and every woman a mother, then we really have our work cut out for us! Is every shounen fantasy also an Oedipal fantasy, every piece of action fiction? Every romance a secret yearning for Mother since that's all women? Again, what to do in the cases of heroes where this is clearly not the case then? Odysseus, fully adult, Achilles who loves his birth parents and has no adoptive ones?

What about the real Gilgamesh? Is father absent, it's his mother who is a goddess, and in this sense he has a normal relationship with her - he wants no woman that resembles her, or indeed any woman seeing as he rejects Ishtar. Is Ishtar's the repressed sexual desire of a mother for her son as Freud nonsensically claimed because, like Rank, he never actually fucking read the epic because that aligns with literally nothing that happens in it?

Yet, despite all these faults - and they are irredeemable ones - I am nonetheless interested in what Rank has to say to read the whole of his essay. It is interesting that so often the real father dies, that there is a reunion with the mother, etc. The real reason for this is due to the presence of kingship goddesses in the Mediterranean bronze age religions, who suckled kings - Isis, Ishtar, Asherah, Hera, probably the Sun Goddess of Arinna, even the virgin Athena did it - and sometimes did it in animal forms, which eventually became myths still tied to kingship but in an era where this religious background, of Egyptian, Sumerian and Semitic origin, had been mostly supplanted and so relegated to myths which no longer understood this fully, though they certainly did understand them to some degree still. It was a means for kings to cast off their real parentage and claim divine one. But it is still interesting that we see a revolt against the father, a childish collection of brutal, anti-social deeds, like murder of people and animals, sometimes with little provocation, rape, child rape even in Theseus' case with little Helen, etc, and that we hold these characters as prototypical fantasy heroes. It is a bit interesting, even if it is crank entirely wrong bunk, and that is why I read it because it is also true of Freudianism as a whole.

[Kadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mitlerin benzer özellikleri üzerinde durmuş ve konu edinen mitleri kısaca aktarmış. Son bölümde bu benzerlikler üzerine psikanaliz değerlendirmeler yapılmış. Diplotlardan farklı kaynaklara yol almak mümkün.

[Nathan Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

My therapist made me this. Now I am thinking about swan knights and rivers.

[Jovany Agathe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 // What's the makeup of a hero? Tennis legend Arthur Ashe described heroism as something "remarkably sober and very undramatic. Not the urge to surpass all others...but the urge to serve others." That is quite different from Otto Rank's exploration of heroism in myth. According to Rank's summation, "The hero is the child of most distinguished parents; usually the son of a king. His origin is preceded by difficulties, or prolonged barrenness, or secret intercourse of the parents, due to external prohibition or obstacles. During the pregnancy, there is a prophecy, in form of a dream or oracle, cautioning against his birth, and usually threatening danger to the father. As a rule, he is surrendered to the water, in a box. He is then saved by animals, or by lowly people (shepherds) and is suckled by a female animal. After he has grown up, he finds his distinguished parents [and] takes his revenge on his father."

Any of that sound familiar? In The Myth of the Birth of the Hero, Rank explores recurring patterns in myths from different cultures. These patterns include miraculous conceptions and virgin births, exposed babies in baskets, nurturing animals, ocean exiles, and a lot of baby and father murdering (and eating).

Rank's work had major influences on writers such as Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung and though this one was pretty dry (despite the many babies in river baskets), it's no doubt a very interesting examination of common elements found throughout mythological writing. 42b23

Say hello on IG @jux.booksbinge or @nonfictionfervor

[Masoud · Rating 3 out of 5]

در این کتاب به تحلیل و بررسی اسطوره‌های قهرمانی ملل مختلف از قبیل بین النهرین، یونان، ایران، روم از قبیل سارگون، گیلگمش، کوروش، موسی، عیسی، ادیپ، هرکولوس، پاریس، ر��مولوس پرداخته شده است. به طور کلی این اساطیر با اندکی اختلاف، دارای مجموعه ویژگی های مشترک، بنیان و شالوده یکسانی می‌باشند. این تشابه بنیادی رو می‌توان مبنای ساخت اسطوره استانداردی قرار داد و به صورت زیر طرح بندی نمود:

ممتاز بودن والدین قهرمان؛ معمولا پسر پادشاه

آمیخته بودن اصل و نصبش به سختی‌ها ؛ پاکدامنی، نازایی دراز مدت یا آمیزش پنهانی پدر و مادر به دلیل ممانعت‌های خارجی

هشدار در حین بارداری توسط پیشگو یا بر اساس رویا و ایجاد خطر برای پدر یا نماینده او

سپردن او با جعبه‌ای به آب

نجات یافتن بوسیه حیوانات یا چوپانان

شیر خوردن توسط حیوان ماده یا زنی پاک‌دامن

پیدا کردن پدر و مادر واقعی بعد از بزرگ شدن با نمود ویژگی های خارق العاده در او

انتقام از پدر یا پدر بزرگ و رسیدن به جاه و جلال

نکته مهم مورد اشاره معیوب ��ودن رابطه قهرمان با پدر و مادر غیر واقعی به دلیل وجود آشفتگی ذاتی موجود در فکر و ذهن است که می‌تواند به دلیل حسادت و افترایی باشد که افراد هم سن به او می‌زنند و به دلیل نداشتن بن مایه و ریشه خانوادگی اصلی خود باعث سرافکندگی او می گردد.

ترجمه کتاب نیز بسیار روان بود و پانویس‌هایی متعدد و توضیحات جانبی مترجم در حین مطالعه کتاب کمک شایانی به فهم و آشنایی با برخی نمود.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Otto Rank foi por um tempo um dos discípulos mais aguerridos de Freud, até que... como muitos discípulos de Freud... rompeu com ele por pensar diferente de seu pretenso mestre. Rank teve muita influência na psicanálise moderna e, como Jung também se aproximou do inconsciente coletivo, dos mitos, dos arquétipos e do esoterismo para explicar nossas pulsões, atitudes e comportamentos. O Mito do Nascimento do Herói é um destes livros baseados nessa influência. Achei que nele iria encontrar um profundo estudo psicológico sobre o psiquismo do herói, mas não é bem assim. O livro é dividido em três partes. Na primeira e mais curta, Rank fala sobre o herói e os mitos. Na segunda, a mais longa e cansativa, ele elenca diversos heróis mitológicos e suas histórias, do nascimento à morte. Por fim, na terceira parte, ele tenta coadunar as coincidências que existem entre essas narrativas e sua influência na psique humana. Mesmo que ele tenha sido um pioneiro em analisar essa correlação (o que acho que não foi) seu texto é extremamente cansativo e não traz nada de grandioso em sua análise como vendem o livro.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prominent civilized nations, such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, and Hindoos, the inhabitants of Iran and of Persia, the Greeks and the Romans as well as the Teutons and others, all began at an early stage to glorify their heroes, mythical princes and kings, founders of religions, dynasties, empires or cities, in brief their national heroes, in a number of poetic tales and legends. The history of the birth and of the early life of these personalities came to be especially invested with fantastic features, which in different nations even though widely separated by space and entirely independent of each other present a baffling similarity, or in part a literal correspondence. Many investigators have long been impressed with this fact, and one of the chief problems of mythical research still consists in the elucidation of the reason for the extensive, analogies in the fundamental outlines of mythical tales, which are rendered still more enigmatical by the unanimity in certain details, and their reappearance in most of the mythical groupings.

Sargon
Moses
Karna
Œdipus
Paris
Telephos
Perseus
Gilgamos
Kyros
Tristan
Romulus
Hercules
Jesus
Siegfried
Lohengrin

[Sandeep Gautam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book looks at myths from a psychological or rather a psychoanalytical lens. The basic task the author undertakes is explaining commonalities in various hero birth myths: a prophecy/dream that portends ill for the ruler/ father if the child is given birth, the failed attempts by father/ ruler to kill the hero/ all boys his age, the 'exposing' of the infant in a chest to be floated over a water body, discovery by lowly foster parents/ nursing by an animal etc and later the hero either killing the father/ruler or avenging the father's killer.
Much is explained in terms of the Freudian Oedipus Complex and Family Romance. The writing is at times dense, but still, if you put effort you can understand the author's basic premise and lens and some of it does make sense.
This is my first exposure to Otto rank and excited by the way he tries providing psychological explanations for myths...an endeavour that is dear to my heart too.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting essay, especially since it was the first psychological interpretation of a myth that I have read that did not exaggerate the role of sexuality. Rank first shares with the reader the vast literature of birth myths, from Cyrus, Siegfried and Perseus to Moses and Jesus. He then argues for the role of childish view of one’s parents for the explanation of the duplication of these into a noble parentage and a humble one. This duplication is also observed where the role of the father and tyrant is slowly split in some culture’s myths. It is in such common sense explanations that Rank convinced me of the plausibility of his interpretations. Overall, this was an interesting essay definitely worth the read for anyone who has been curious of the surprising similarities in the myths from wildly different cultures.

[Çağatay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto Rank'ın mitlerin ve efsanelerin neden benzer konuları ve benzer olay örgüleri bulunduğunu anlattığı bir kitabı.

Giriş kısmında mitlerin ortak yönlerini açıklamaya çalışan mitolojik teorilerden bahsediliyor.

Birinci bölümde kısaca bazı mitlerden bahsediliyor: Sargon, Gılgamış, Oedipus, Romulus, Kiros...

İkinci bölümde yazar benzerliklerin sebeplerini açıklamaya çalışıyor. Mitlerin benzerliğini genellikle Freud'un görüşlerine dayandırarak açıklamış. Oedipus kompleksini mitlerin benzerliklerini açıklamalarında kullanmış. Bazı mitlerde geçen yeni doğan bebeğin nehre bir sepette bırakılması ve terk edilmesi olayını ise doğumla bağdaştırmış.

Kitabın tek olumsuz tarafı olayları ve örnekleri ayrıntılı açıklamayıp olayın ayrıntılı anlatıldığı kitapları kaynak gösterip geçmesiydi. Kaynak gösterilen kitapların birçoğu Türkçe olarak yayınlanmamış kitaplardı.

[J.A. A Santana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did have to put my brain into overdrive to grasp Otto' essay on the recurring patterns of myths more specifically as it relates to the psychological underpinning of the prophetic child birth that will supersede his father (the father represents someone who not only he looks up to but also exceed expectation in the world they grow into, to no longer remain a child but a man, an adult); also, the sexual tension where the recurring pattern from different cultural hero myths the child towards the mother (metaphor separate himself from his father and court a woman similar to his mother but not necessarily marry in the literal, which back then was probably the case but this is how I interpret the metaphor) and the father he must usurp to earn his ruler-ship (earn his place as a man). Otto and Freud share many views where the second part of it is explored in the book

[M Eren Yasar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read Freud - Moses and Monotheism right after this.

This book shows unbelievable similarities between myhts around the world. And with the help of psychoanalysis it shows how humans channel their wishes to legendary personalities. Think entire humanity as a one person. With same primal experiences and knowledge its normal that our fantasies are so look a like.

Btw every King/Princess fantasy of a child shows a childish dissatisfaction about their parents. And heroic mythology are based on this psychological foundation. Thats why in every story princess saved from mostly a cruel queen(mother)/monster(reflection of parents)/or a rude-vile man(father) by a royal Prince. Cinderella is perfext example for this. A house maid saved by a prince and becomes princess. Sounds like A regular girl's wishfillfullment.

Rank explained male boys fantasies by detal in book.

Must read.