Modern Mythology

By: Lang, Andrew

Between 1860 and 1880, roughly speaking, English people interested in early mythsand religions found the mythological theories of Professor Max M?ller inpossession of the field. These brilliant and attractive theories, taking them in thewidest sense, were not, of course, peculiar to the Right Hon. Professor. In France, inGermany, in America, in Italy, many scholars agreed in his opinion that the scienceof language is the most potent spell for opening the secret chamber of mythology.But while these scholars worked on the same general principle as Mr. Max M?ller, while they subjected the names of mythical beings-Zeus, Helen, Achilles, Ath?n?-to philological analysis, and then explained the stories of gods and heroes by theirinterpretations of the meanings of their names, they arrived at all sorts ofdiscordant results. Where Mr. Max M?ller found a myth of the Sun or of the Dawn, these scholars were apt to see a myth of the wind, of the lightning, of the thundercloud, of the cr?puscule, of the upper air, of what each of them pleased. But theseideas-the ideas of Kuhn, Welcker, Curtius (when he appeared in the discussion), ofSchwartz, of Lauer, of Br?al, of many others-were very little known-if known atall-to the English public. Captivated by the graces of Mr. Max M?ller's manner, andby a style so pellucid that it accredited a logic perhaps not so clear, the publichardly knew of the divisions in the philological camp. They were unaware that, asMannhardt says, the philological school had won 'few sure gains, ' and haddiscredited their method by a 'muster-roll of variegated' and discrepant'hypotheses.'

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B092L13JSF
• ISBN13: 9798736660957
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.97 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.0" x 10.0"