The War of the Gods: The Social Code in Indo-European Mythology

by Jarich G. Oosten

This structural analysis of myth, first published in 1985, focuses on social and political problems of Indo-European mythology. Dr Jarich Oosten tells how the ancient Indo-European gods competed for supreme power and the exclusive possession of the sacred potion of wisdom and immortality. In examining the social code of the wars of the gods, he reveals that there are remarkably consistent patterns in time and space: paternal relatives, equals at first, prove unable to share power, magic goods, etc; while some gods retain their divine status as an exclusive prerogative, their brothers or paternal cousins are transformed into demons; relatives by marriage, however, who are unequal at first, succeed in sharing power and magic goods, and thus become equal partners in the pantheon.

Dr Oosten describes how the ancient mythological cycles were broken down and transformed into heroic sagas and epics, and shows how many traditionally related themes - the severed head, the magic cauldron - were preserved. Gradually the political problems of kingship came to overshadow the social problems of kinship, as in the development of the myths of King Arthur. Dr Oosten argues that the social code remains basically the same, and his analysis of this code gives a fascinating perspective on the development of Indo-European mythology from the oldest written sources to the comparatively recent faitytales.

Genres: Mythology

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Renée]

I was very much amazed that a Leiden professor could have written this book meant as a serious contribution to the field of comparative mythology. First of all the text does not seem to have been proof-read as there are many mistakes. Then he rambles on, getting stuck halfway through his sentences which become barely readible. Names pop up that have not been properly introduced. He seems to cite only from Penguin translations, misspells names of mythological characters (e.g Mallolwch for Matholwch). He appears completely ignorant about historical/comparative linguistics which is a necessity in this field. In short he seems to lack any thorough background in the field of comparative mythology which is a pity as his subject matter of kinship relations and social codes in Indo-European mythology is potentially very interesting.