Living Myths: How Myth Gives Meaning to Human Experience

by J.F. Bierlein

An intriguing exploration of the enduring significance of the world's great myths--from the dawn of time to the present day As ancient as speech, as essential as law, myths are the stories we tell to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345422074
• ISBN13: 9780345422071
• Release Date: April 1999
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Universalist versus Culture Specific

J.F Bierlein's Living Myths: How Myth Gives Meaning to Human Experience is an engaging and thoughtful introduction to myth. Bierlein's approach is universalist and strongly influenced by Paul Ricoeur's dimensions of myth: for example,1)human finitude (our limitation and mortality; 2) human estrangement from God or the holy (our struggle for reconciliation with divine energy); 3)human becoming and transcendance (our need to grow and become more than we are at any given movment in our lives) and so on. Bierlein is interested in patterns and dimension of myth that resonate across cultures. He looks at five important human concerns that give rise to myth: "Fathers and Sons," "Romantic Love," "Myths of Nature and Human Nature," "Myths of the Hero," and "Foundation Myths." Given the philosophical way he frames myth, it's not surprising that his analyis of myths is universalist. In fact, such an approach makes his introduction more accessible for readers who are starting to take a deeper look at myth. Of course, more culturally specific approaches are possible but perhaps not as useful in an introduction.