Myths and Motifs in Literature

by David J. Burrows

Book Overview

Selections by writers representative of the various literary genres and historical eras reveal the common archetypes found in literature. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0029050308
• ISBN13: 9780029050309
• Release Date: April 1973
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Full of hours of interesting reading

This interesting book presents the archetypal theory, both explaining the theory and providing numerous examples from Classical myth, the Bible, and even modern literature. The cycle of life is presented - the divine family, initiation, fall from innocence, the task, the journey or quest, the search for the father, and death and rebirth, as are many archetypal character - heroes and antiheroes, the wise fool, the devil figure, the outcast, the double, the scapegoat, and the temptress. Overall, I found this to be a pretty interesting book. The theory was interesting, but even more so were the very interesting examples - Circe from the Odyssey, Gimpel the Fool, Prometheus from Aescylus's Prometheus Bound, and so forth. This is an interesting book, full of hours of interesting reading.