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A short history of myth / Karen Armstrong.

by Armstrong, Karen, 1944-

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Edinburgh ; New York : Canongate, c2005.

Myth -- History.

1841956449 (hbk.)

159 p. ; 21 cm.

1st American ed.

What is a myth? -- Palaeolithic Period: Mythology of the hunters (c. 20000 to 8000 BCE) -- Neolithic Period: Mythology of the farmers (c. 8000 to 4000 BCD) -- Early civilisations (c. 4000 to 800 BCE) -- Axial Age (c. 800 to 200 BCE) -- Post-Axial Period (c. 200 BCE to c. 1500 CE) -- Great Western Transformation (c. 1500 to 2000).

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 takes us from the Paleolithic period and the myths of the hunters, right up to the Great Western Transformation of the last five hundred years and the discrediting of myth by science. The history of myth is the history of humanity, our stories and beliefs, our curiosity and attempts to understand the world, which link us to our ancestors and each other. Myths help us make sense of the universe. Heralding a major series of retellings of international myths by authors from around the world, Armstrong's characteristically insightful and eloquent book serves as a brilliant and thought-provoking introduction to myth in the broadest sense -- and explains why if we dismiss it, we do so at our peril. The author of The History of God and In the Beginning: A New Reading of Genesis offers a useful, well-written introduction to mythology from the Paleolithic period to the "Great Western Transformation" that used science to discredit myth.

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