When they severed earth from sky : how the human mind shapes myth

When they severed earth from sky : how the human mind shapes myth / Elizabeth Wayland Barber and Paul T. Barber.

Why were Prometheus and Loki envisioned as chained to rocks? What was the Golden Calf? Why are mirrors believed to carry bad luck? How could anyone think that mortals like Perseus, Beowulf, and St. George actually fought dragons, since dragons don't exist? Strange though they sound, however, th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Barber, E. J. W., 1940- (Author), Barber, Paul, 1941- (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Princeton : Princeton University Press, 2004.
Subjects:
Myth.
Mythology.
myths.
mythology (literary genre)
Myth
Mythology
Online Access:Click for online access
Table of Contents:
  • Time capsules
  • The memory crunch: how long a pipeline?
  • The silence principle: of Lethe and the golden calf
  • More silence: movie reels from snapshots
  • Analogy: our brain's best talent
  • Willfulness: the atom or thou
  • Multiple aspects: the more the merrier
  • Multiple viewpoints: ear, trunk, or tail
  • Views through biased lenses
  • Metaphoric reality: magic and dreams
  • Compression: Methuselah and the Eponymous heroes
  • Post hocus ergo pocus: space aliens mutilate cows!
  • Restructuring: new patterns for old
  • Mnemonics: behind the silliness
  • The spirit world: a realm reversed
  • Of sky and time
  • Prometheus
  • Fire-breathing dragons.

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