The Anatomy of Myth is a comprehensive study of the methods of interpreting authoritative myths from the Presocratic philosophers to the Neoplatonists and their adoption by the Church Fathers.

A collection of myths from many cultures.

This Very Short Introduction explores different approaches to myth from several disciplines, including science, religion, philosophy, literature, and psychology. In this new edition, Robert Segal considers both the future study of myth as well as the impact of areas such as cognitive science and the latest approaches to narrative theory.

"Michael McLeod doesn't simply debunk hoaxes; he critically, but sympathetically, explores the motivations that have driven the 'Bigfoot community' to build an enormous and intricate, if ramshackle, edifice of lore. McLeod has written an anatomy of mythology with implications that go beyond the Bigfoot phenomenon. The Bigfoot mythologists' strange, colorful, and sometimes comical, personalities play a big part of this compulsively readable story."—David Rains Wallace, author of The Klamath Knot: Explorations of Myth and Evolution "In the same way that dinosaurs and other exotic beasts from Earth's distant and hazy past inspire and fascinate many of us, Bigfoot has captured the imagination of generations of Americans. Here, Michael McLeod approaches the 'Bigfoot phenomenon' in the same way that a detective would follow leads at a crime scene. The result is a delicious case study of human obsession and the fuzzy border between science and pseudoscience."—Chris Beard, author of The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey: Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans

A “well-reasoned and timely” (Booklist) essay collection interrogates the Lost Cause myth in Civil War historiography. Was the Confederacy doomed from the start in its struggle against the superior might of the Union? Did its forces fight heroically against all odds for the cause of states’ rights? In reality, these suggestions are an elaborate and intentional effort on the part of Southerners to rationalize the secession and the war itself. Unfortunately, skillful propagandists have been so successful in promoting this romanticized view that the Lost Cause has assumed a life of its own. Misrepresenting the war’s true origins and its actual course, the myth of the Lost Cause distorts our national memory. In The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History, nine historians describe and analyze the Lost Cause, identifying ways in which it falsifies history—creating a volume that makes a significant contribution to Civil War historiography. “The Lost Cause . . . is a tangible and influential phenomenon in American culture and this book provides an excellent source for anyone seeking to explore its various dimensions.” —Southern Historian

Traces the story of how ancient cultures envisioned artificial life, automata, self-moving devices and human enhancements, sharing insights into how the mythologies of the past related to and shaped ancient machine innovations.

First major biography of this true revolutionary thinker. A masterful work offering remarkable scholarship, insight, and humor.

In this much-anticipated follow-up to his first book, Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy, Gregor Maehle offers a detailed and multifaceted guide to Ashtanga Yoga’s Intermediate Series. An expert yogi and teacher, Maehle will guide you to your next level with an unprecedented depth of anatomical explanation and unparalleled attention to the practice’s philosophical and mythological heritage. You will learn: • The background and applications of each of the three forms of yoga: Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana • How to use Indian myth and cosmology to deepen your practice • The importance of the Sanskrit language to the yogic tradition • The mythology behind the names of the Intermediate Series postures • The functions and limitations of body parts integral to the Intermediate Series, including the spine, the sacroiliac joint, the shoulder joint, and the hip joint • How to reap the full benefits of practicing the Intermediate Series Maehle meticulously explores all twenty-seven postures of the Intermediate Series through photos, anatomical line drawings, and practical, informative sidebars. He also discusses the philosophical and spiritual background of Ashtanga Yoga and places the practice within the context of Indian cultural history. With passionate erudition, Maehle will prepare you to reap physical, spiritual, and mental fulfillment from your evolving practice.

A Jungian exploration of the figures of Greek mythology, revealing what the stories and their continued significance represent about our modern lives Zeus, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athena—do the gods and goddesses of Greece have anything to say to us that we haven't already heard? In this book, based on a series of his lectures, the eminent Jungian analyst and writer Edward F. Edinger revisits all the major figures, myths, oracles, and legends of the ancient Greek religion to discover what they can still reveal—representing, as they do, one of the religious and mythic foundations of Western culture. Building on C. G. Jung's assertion that mythology is an expression of the deepest layers of mind and soul, Dr. Edinger follows the mythic images into their persistent manifestations in literature and on into our modern lives. He finds that the gods indeed continue to speak as we grow in our capacity to listen and that the myths express the inner energies within all of us as much as ever. Heracles is eternally performing his labors, Perseus is still confronting Medusa, Theseus is forever stalking the Minotaur, and Persephone is still being carried off to life in a new realm.