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Parallel Myths
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"Unusually accessible and useful . . . An eye-opener to readers into the universality and importance of myth in human history and culture."--William E. Paden, Chair, Department of Religion, University of Vermont
For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and mor ...more
For as long as human beings have had language, they have had myths. Mythology is our earliest form of literary expression and the foundation of all history and mor ...more
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Showing 1-30
I was greatly looking forward to re-reading this book for a book club and I was somewhat letdown. I am a bit of a student of mythology so I was quite excited to find a book that purported to draw on the work of Joseph Campbell, C.G. Jung, and Mircea Eliade. I found this book useful as a broad survey of censored myths. It is an easy and enjoyable read. I was disturbed, by some of the sloppiness. Just starting the book I soon found some embarrassing errors.
Page 6
MARS - the Mars bar was not direct ...more
Page 6
MARS - the Mars bar was not direct ...more
May 16, 2010
Ruby Hollyberry
rated it
did not like it
Shelves:
not-owned,
myth-archaeology-ancient-history
This was assigned for a college course on mythology. It is AMAZINGLY bad. There are so many errors in it, I can't tell you. The explanation of the origin of Christmas Trees is completely wrong from beginning to end, for one example. For another, the Finnish goddess Ilmatar is mentioned and her name is assumed to be "something-mother" on the logic that "matar" sounds like mother. It does sound like that, but this is not an Indo-European language, so you can't make those kinds of linguistic assump
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It’s very interesting how mythology, history and religion can be connected and have overlaps.
It is said that myths are the religions that were used to be practiced.
It is said that myths are the religions that were used to be practiced.
Just what I was looking for; something to use for quick referencing. Not for the more advanced student of mythology, it's a pretty light read.
Interesting, but some of the myths were different from how I learned them…
Sep 09, 2017
Edward Galway
rated it
it was ok
Recommends it for:
Newcomers to Mythology
Shelves:
owned
There are a multitude of factual errors, regardless of the version of myth being referred to. I believe that this was not intentional, as there is a blur between storytelling, explanation, and opinion in the presentation of the myths. This blurred change of narrative ruins the flow, and abruptly interrupts the feed of information, becoming either distracting or misguided, leading to the errors.
However, my main complaint is the lack of detail in many of the myths. Certain stories such as the Gree ...more
However, my main complaint is the lack of detail in many of the myths. Certain stories such as the Gree ...more
I read this after reading the books by Immanuel Velikovsky. Definitely worth the read and super interesting!
Not really my thing but I had to read it for work.
Loved the variety of myths and read many I had never heard of before
The eclectic Bierlein crosscuts the myths shared by many of the ancient cultures. To his credit, it's not just the Norse, the Aztecs, the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Romans. You'll find sub-groups like the Hawaiians and various tribes of North American Indians. Further, the pool he draws from to explain this phenomenon is equally diverse.
The first 200 pages of this book are a tsunami of gods and goddesses, floods, falls, monsters and heroes. Loki, Odin, Izanami, Amaterasu, Blue Jay, the Star Girls, Zues, Hera, Bran the Blessed, Angus Og, Ollantay, Hiawatha, Ishtar and Ra... it's overwhelming and wonderful to read these episodic myths, grouped into general theme: creation myths, early man, journey to the underworld, apocalypse and romance.
The organizational themes are both helpful and problematic-- the author makes sometimes arbi ...more
The organizational themes are both helpful and problematic-- the author makes sometimes arbi ...more
Book Summary from my son: Parallel Myths, by J.F Bierlein is a book about ancient myths. The stories come from the Ancient Greeks, Aztecs, Ancient Indians, and from many other people and places. These stories are cultural folktales based on not only religion but on moral stories. So these stories not only introduce you to god and morals and what not, they teach you life lessons that you should follow, not just for the religion but rules that everyone should follow in everyday life.According to a
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This book has a LOT of myths included. Too many, I would say. Not because there are really too many, but the summaries have made them EXTREMELY truncated, which hurts them a little bit, especially when you can see themes beginning to change a little bit. That being said, it also includes a lot of thought about myths from anthropology, philosophy and psychology (however it pretty much stops short at 1960 as far as these field go, despite the fact that it was written in the '90s) which is extremel
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anyone who believes reading will change their fundamental beliefs shouldn't worry about what they are reading, but what they believe. the book was pretty much written to be part of a college class on myths and mythologies. it is dry in places and repetitive in others. it's broke into different sections such as: creation, love, heroes, and underworld to name a few. reading these together is where the repetition comes in. the end of the book goes over some philosophy of why we believe what we beli
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Jul 08, 2012
Shannon
added it
I wish I could choose all three shelves. I've read a good amount of the stories featured in this book and while it is a textbook from class, I have every intention of keeping it. This is a collection of stories about love, life, and death taken from so many different cultures. When I have kids, I would love for some of these stories to be their introduction to the way life is (i.e. how they perceive death).
If you find this on half.com, I highly suggest buying it. The stories and myths in it are ...more
If you find this on half.com, I highly suggest buying it. The stories and myths in it are ...more
Bierlein succeeds in generating a provocative comparison between parallel myths of various civilizations. It was disappointing, however, to see Bierlein pander to a religious (namely Christian) readership in the final chapter, where he argues that myth is not necessarily fiction and that readers' faith should not be questioned given these parallels. Additionally, though he mentions matriarchal theory briefly, he misses an opportunity to explore the sexism inherent in some creation myths he discu
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It was a very textbookish, which I expected, but it did not focus on what I thought it was going to, mainly “Parallel Myths” as the title indicates. Instead, this book should have been called “A Bunch Of Tragically Abridged Myths Followed By Some Varied Explanations As To Why They Have Common Themes, And Then A Protracted Discussion On The Evolution Of Western Religion.” I suspected that this was the original title, but that the editors thought it was too long and might deter some casual readers
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I started reading and lost this book, then refound it a year later.
Having said that, it started off really well - I loved the way the author organized the myths into sections like 'creation myths.' It made really obvious the similarities. The end of the book was less than inspired, however. It started reading like a poorly-written research paper; large quotes by various experts, with little or no explanation or context. However much a quote can stand for itself, it started to feel as though I wa ...more
Having said that, it started off really well - I loved the way the author organized the myths into sections like 'creation myths.' It made really obvious the similarities. The end of the book was less than inspired, however. It started reading like a poorly-written research paper; large quotes by various experts, with little or no explanation or context. However much a quote can stand for itself, it started to feel as though I wa ...more
It's an OKAY introduction to some general ideas found in comparative mythology. It is by no means authoritative, nor would I recommend it as a starting text in mythology studies (Hamilton and Doniger would be two better starts). It is accessible; it is full of retellings of myths which serve as a beginning point of study. My high school students were engaged by its introduction to the work/thinking of Levi-Strauss, Jung, Frazer, et al. It works on those levels, even if rather simplistically.
I found this book interesting and well structured. There was a good variety of myths in the book, particularly of their origins (Greek, Native American, Norway, India, Egypt, Mauri, etc). It's broken up in chapters with themes (Underworld, Love Stories, etc). I'd say this is a good book for anyone wanting to learn more about myths, in other words, a good start. From this book, you can figure out which myths you're more interested in learning more about.
It is fairly clear that this book was written in the 1990s from certain aspects - Bierlein's examples and some of the more religious examples and analysis feel dated. That aside, the actual myths presented and most of the analysis of them holds up and remains interesting and informative. An updated version would be a useful classroom tool; as it stands, it's a good starting point for anyone looking to compare stories from a variety of world cultures with more familiar Judeo-Christian myths.
As an accessible introductory textbook on Mythology, Bierlein's book fulfills the task; it functions more than a collection or anthology--it provides theory as well. For me, the chapters on theory, criticism, and interpretation helped deepen my understanding of the connected myths and I hope to continue my reading on the topic (inspired by Bierlein).
A very good work of comparative mythology, tracing the relationships behind myths of different cultures and religions back to commonalities in the development of human society and psychology. Honestly a little behind the times in regards to modern thought on the development of religion but a fascinating read nonetheless. Definitely gives the reader a lot to consider.
Mar 05, 2009
Trisha Keiman
added it
A wonderful book on myths from different countries around the world and finding parallels with each other and well as various cultures. Draws from Jung, Joseph Campbell, Karl Jaspers, Claude Levi-Strauss etc. It also guides you as to identifying and interpreting the myths. It part-psychology, part-philosophy and part-anthropology. Great read to pick up and read again a week later!
This book has a bunch of myths from around the world, and I like that, but... they are all summarized in a page, sometimes even a paragraph. If you're looking for a more thorough anthology of mythology, you should try something else. DD:
I normally really like books on mythology, but this was just too dry for my liking. Some of the stuff seemed interesting, but I think I can find another book on the subject that's a little more engaging.
I got this at the Smithsonian Museum. I love books about mythology. This book traces the similarities in the myths of all cultures. If you are not a lover of mythology, you might not like this book. If you are , you will find Bierlein's comparisions interesting.
This book was fun to read. I liked reading all the myths from around the world, though I was already familiar with many. I especially liked the discussion of what myth is and its affect on humanity
It was an interesting book with many stories
Excellent source of world mythologies. Author provides interesting commentary and resources for further reading. It's an excellent addition to our library!
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