History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

A treasure of knowledge and inquiry
Marvelous
Our own, and the world's, divine ground
A new mythology
Captivating

Myths to Live By
Joseph Campbell , and Johnson E. Fairchild
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Comparative Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Mythos Books)
Power Of Myth : Programs 1-6 (Power of Myth)
Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
Transformations of Myth Through Time

ASIN: 0140194614

Customer Reviews:

A treasure of knowledge and inquiry.......2007-06-03

This book is based on a series of lectures, and as such, has more of a direct, conversational tone than the author's more academic works, which though no less forceful, contain numerous allusions to artwork, artifacts, and other specifics that make it harder to follow. It helps to have familiarity with these prior works - like the MASKS OF GOD - or prior experience with the study of myth. Such background gives the reader a depth of perspective that would make the concepts more difficult to grasp otherwise; and gives the vantage point of a summary or review.

From my point of view, a special appeal of the book concerns comparing and contrasting the mythology of East and West. The author notes how mythical elements such the serpent, the tree, and the garden of immortality have a common, deeply rooted past. In the Biblical myth of the Garden of Eden, the serpent is the enticer, the one who leads Adam and Eve astray with the knowledge of good and evil from the tree, the cause of all the trouble. In the Buddhist myth, on the other hand, rather than being cursed, the serpent is accepted as being the protector of the Buddha; and the tree of immortality is not out of reach in the same way that it is in the Bible. Rather than being banished from the Garden or Paradise because of disobedience, what is keeping mankind alienated from the original source is ignorance, a mistaken attachment to the impermanent.

Also, reaching into the past, the author notes that the first ever cities were based on a astronomical order that was applied by priests, who wielded a special religious authority, to all of social life. The East, he maintains, has never really strayed very far from holding onto the necessity of a cosmically based order. Everyone has a pre-ordained role to fill, and it is folly for anyone to step out of his or her role. The West, on the other hand, although it has had long spells of religious suppression, has valued the individual as being worthy of development and expression. This humanism can certainly be seen in the Greeks in their laying a foundation for modern science; and finds it's most extreme expression in the myth of Prometheus. It can also be seen in the Tristan and Isolt myth, and the remarkable daring which the poet Gottfried expressed in "challenging hell", in defying the imposed religious order of the Middle Ages.

A chapter of special interest, especially in the unfolding of world events, is the "Mythologies of War and Peace". As revealed in myths of primitive planting and hunting cultures, humankind does not extend itself in this world in any appreciable way without killing. One would think that planting cultures would be the most life-revering, but throughout the tropics and in the ancient world, the most horrific sacrifices have been made in the interest of extending fertility. Even kings have been sacrificed. A comparison is made between the war mythology of the Greeks and Hebrews, who were roughly contemporaries. The Hebrews had no consideration for their opponents, thinking that their way was the only sanctified way and even worth slaughtering for (the author quotes passages from Deuteronomy and Joshua). Zoroastrianism, a cosmic conception of the forces of light against the forces of darkness, became the basis for the Jewish and Christian apocalyptic traditions, providing further justification for fighting and killing an enemy. With Jesus Christ, however, there is a clear break with the traditions of war and the drive to eradicate the evils of an enemy. "Love thine enemy as thyself" represents a very different approach from much of history. The author compares Jesus with Buddha and the ascetic tradition of the East.

Picking out some of the salient myths gives me a sense of how much depth and breadth is involved here. In this attempt not to over-generalize, I have barely scratched the surface.

Marvelous.......2005-10-24

Everything by Joseph Campbell is wonderful, but these transcribed talks are the most approachable.

Our own, and the world's, divine ground.......2005-04-15

I am glad that I finally got around to reading this collection of Campbell's lectures delivered between 1958 and 1971. Since they deal with eternal subject matter there is little chance of them being "dated." The common theme running through them all is the deep power of myth on the inner, spiritual lives of human beings throughout the ages. This includes our own age, whether we personally want to admit or recognize it.

The Lectures include:
1) The Impact of Science on Myth (1961),
2) The Emergence of Mankind (1966),
3) The Importance of Rites (1964),
4) The Separation of East and West (1961),
5) The Confrontation of East and West in Religion (1970)
6) The Inspiration of Oriental Art (1958),
7) Zen (1969),
8) The Mythology of Love (1967),
9) Mythologies of War and Peace (1967),
10) Schizophrenia- the Inward Journey (1970),
11) The Moon Walk- The Outer Journey (1970),
12) Envoy: No More Horizons (1971),

The reader will recognize much of the subject matter from the later talks with Bill Moyers in the "Power of Myth" series. All in all there is enough material covered to make this an excellent introduction to myth, true spirituality, and depth psychology.

One of the topics that stuck with me was the fundamental difference in the nature of religion in the East, the Near East, and the West. Traditional Eastern societies were seen as governed by one great cosmic law through which all members were seen to draw their purpose, their worth, their meaning. God was in all things and the divine spark was in all individuals. Union with the divine was possible to those that transcended their ego. In the Near-East human beings (including the King) were seen as the groveling "tenant-farmers" of God. Men were the slaves of the Gods and could only beg and sacrifice to obtain boons. Man was in no way a part of God- matter and spirit were artificially split (mythic dissociation.) Finally, there was the Greek model- mankind as the rivals and competitors of the Gods. The Greek had turned ego into God, laying the foundation for the total denial of the very existence of spirit. That is, except for the initiates of the Mysteries....

There is a section of reference notes citing sources in the back of the book, as well as, a full index for quick reference.

A new mythology.......2005-02-09

What is a mythology? What role does it play in modern society? Does it have any positive effects in our culture? Campbell's book explores these questions, by giving a clear account of the different mythologies around the world and throughout the ages. This comparative study of our ancestral and modern beliefs and views of the universe not only enlighten us as to how our forefathers confronted reality but it, as well, teaches us how we can deal with the world of experience around us.

To state it bluntly: our adventures in the world teach us about ourselves, just as going into ourselves we learn about the world. By going into one you simultaneously explore the other.

Please enjoy this delightful book as it will engage you in a journey of over 10,000 years and the voyage of inner discovery.

Captivating.......2004-02-19

Joseph Campbell was among the sharpest of human minds in the 20th century, and his unique style and wisdom can be found throughout this magnificent book. In Myths to Live By, he concentrates on the myths of various global traditions which apply to our day to day life. The stories set forth in myth truly encapsulate the human experience; the way we both see the world as well as respond to it are all there in these ancient stories. Campbell explores Christianity, Buddhism, Sufism, and Zoroastrianism - all within the contents of this deceivingly thin book. This is a must have for any Joe Campbell fan, as well as anyone looking to unearth the rich meaning of this thing we call life. Get pleasure from this book, and have fun on your mythic journey!

Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After

Average customer rating:

A great consciousness-raiser
Somewhat disappointing
"Don't worry, honey, your turn to divorce will come...."
Singe Edition
The Last Socially Accepted Prejudice

Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After
Bella DePaulo
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Workplace | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Solo Travel | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books

Pop Culture | Note Cards | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas
Similar Items:

Living Alone and Loving It: A Guide to Relishing the Solo Life
Flying Solo: Single Women in Midlife
Single: The Art of Being Satisfied, Fulfilled and Independent
The Single Girl's Manifesta: Living in a Stupendously Superior Single State of Mind
The New Single Woman

ASIN: 0312340818
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Book Description

People who are single are changing the face of America. Did you know that:

* More than 40 percent of the nation’s adults---over 87 million people---are divorced, widowed, or have always been single.
* There are more households comprised of single people living alone than of married parents and their children.
* Americans now spend more of their adult years single than married.

Many of today’s single people have engaging jobs, homes that they own, and a network of friends. This is not the 1950s---singles can have sex without marrying, and they can raise smart, successful, and happy children. It should be a great time to be single. Yet too often single people are still asked to defend their single status by an onslaught of judgmental peers and fretful relatives.

Prominent people in politics, the popular press, and the intelligentsia have all taken turns peddling myths about marriage and singlehood. Marry, they promise, and you will live a long, happy, and healthy life, and you will never be lonely again.

Drawing from decades of scientific research and stacks of stories from the front lines of singlehood, Bella DePaulo debunks the myths of singledom---and shows that just about everything you’ve heard about the benefits of getting married and the perils of staying single are grossly exaggerated or just plain wrong. Although singles are singled out for unfair treatment by the workplace, the marketplace, and the federal tax structure, they are not simply victims of this singlism. Single people really are living happily ever after.

Filled with bracing bursts of truth and dazzling dashes of humor, Singled Out is a spirited and provocative read for the single, the married, and everyone in between.

You will never think about singlehood or marriage the same way again.

Singled Out debunks the Ten Myths of Singlehood, including:

Myth #1: The Wonder of Couples: Marrieds know best.

Myth #3: The Dark Aura of Singlehood: You are miserable and lonely and your life is tragic.

Myth #5: Attention, Single Women: Your work won’t love you back and your eggs will dry up. Also, you don’t get any and you’re promiscuous.

Myth #6: Attention, Single Men: You are horny, slovenly, and irresponsible, and you are the scary criminals. Or you are sexy, fastidious, frivolous, and gay.

Myth #7: Attention, Single Parents: Your kids are doomed.

Myth #9: Poor Soul: You will grow old alone and you will die in a room by yourself where no one will find you for weeks.

Myth #10: Family Values: Let’s give all of the perks, benefits, gifts, and cash to couples and call it family values.

“With elegant analysis, wonderfully detailed examples, and clear and witty prose, DePaulo lays out the many, often subtle denigrations and discriminations faced by single adults in the U.S. She addresses, too, the resilience of single women and men in the face of such singlism. A must-read for all single adults, their friends and families, as well as social scientists and policy advocates.”
---E. Kay Trimberger, author of The New Single Woman

Customer Reviews:

A great consciousness-raiser.......2007-10-05

I just finished this book (which I had checked out from the library) and plan to purchase a copy for re-reading. Recently and very unexpectedly divorced after nearly 30 years of marriage, this book came into my life at the perfect time. I (embarrassingly) recognized myself within the pages as one of those who had unknowingly had the cultural advantages and self-satisfied attitudes of couplehood/marriage.

This book has taken me to a new level of awareness and understanding of society's subtle (and not so subtle) messages about people who are single by choice or by circumstance. Ms. DePaulo's writing is clear, insightful, and humorous. (I found her humor in turns wry, sly, and playful, not at all sarcastic or bitter.) She is right-on in her analysis of cultural views of both singlehood and coupledom.

Aided by the perspective of this book, I am no longer simply accepting life as a single, but looking forward to creating a future as rich, fulfilling, and compassionate as possible. I now view my unexpected singlehood as a blessing that allows me to direct my love and energies into new avenues, including deepening my friendships and providing community service. This book has dramatically redirected my outlook.

Somewhat disappointing.......2007-08-01

A friend sent me DePaulo's chapter headings and they are hilarious! I looked forward to reading her book as an interesting exploration of the devaluation of singlehood. The book's concept is thought provoking. The writing, however, is sarcastic (to the detriment of DePaulo's message), at times embittered, and sometimes tedious (e.g., she'll describe at length another writer's work and then pick it apart bit by bit; she could have instead made her point more clearly and persuasively if she wasn't just reacting to other material). All in all, I was disappointed.

"Don't worry, honey, your turn to divorce will come....".......2007-06-23

DePaulo's book is brilliant, but it made me so angry. Angry at how many couples (from here on, "marrieds") stereotype, stigmatize, and ignore singles, of course! I already knew that marrieds feel sorry for singles because they're "incomplete," "lonely," and "unfulfilled." But not everyone wants the same thing, not everyone wants the conventional, predictable married life. I enjoy solitute tremendously, and marriage has never been my life goal. I'd rather focus on my career, which is more fulfilling than any relationship I've had. I also enjoy traveling on the weekends whenever I want, spending my money how I want, hanging out with single friends (fortunately I still have several of them). Most marrieds don't plan a weekend to go visit a good college friend (well, maybe they will if it's a couple and not merely a single person) and spend money "selfishly" on food, entertainment, and going to take photographs of old nuclear power plants or other unique trips. Does this mean I'm not grown up? no! It means I know what I like to do, so I do it. It's that simple. I feel like I have to put so much energy into defending my contented state, while marrieds are assumed to be content (although I know that isn't always the case, especially since marriage ends in divorce half the time).

I am almost 26 so it's still "acceptable" for me to be single, but people still ask why I don't have a boyfriend. "Don't you want to get married one day?" "Are you dating anyone?" "Don't you want to have children?" "You're attractive, why aren't you with anyone?" (there must be something wrong with you!) I used to feel inferior when asked those kinds of questions, especially in college when people were frantically getting engaged, much like a Baskin Robbins gets raided on the day they sell ice cream for 31 cents per scoop. Better get some before it runs out, ya know. But gradually, I became confident in my singleness by my junior year. This book really reinforced my feelings and it was as if DePaulo was reading my mind for most of it. Especially the chapter about why anybody should CARE if we're single of not? Get a life, marrieds..perhaps you should worry about decreasing your divorce rate instead.

I also liked the part criticizing how society gives a hard time to singles who still live with their parents. I still live with mine but am not "mooching" off them. I pay rent, my car payments, my car insurance, my phone bill, my college loans, and other expenses. I am saving up for my own condo (not because it screams "Single person!" but because it's the only thing I can afford in my area). I have a good relationship with my parents and I give a lot back to the economy, much like the Japanese women. I know that I go out and have a social life more than a lot of marrieds I know. And I'm not going out just to look for a husband either, grrrrr!

I have a good male friend in his late 30s. Some people have asked me if he's ever been married. When I answer No, one of them remarked, "There must be something wrong with him." Actually, there isn't. He just doesn't believe that marriage would improve his life. It's overrated and not a "fix-all" solution. He likes being single! He's happy being single. Is that so difficult to understand? Apparently, it is.

Sure, sometimes I think it would be nice to be married, to have that one person who is supposed to be your best friend, lover, etc. But I'm not going to go around actively looking for it because it's not worth it. If it happens, it happens, but I know I wouldn't mind being single for the rest of my life. I don't need another person to make me feel complete. I'm not going to waste time obsessively searching for the right person (dating is much more of a waste than being contentedly single). Ooh, I must be bitter with this attitude! Sometimes I am, but usually I just think, why try to change my life when I love how it is right now? And marriage could also make my life much worse - you never know if it will work out or not, and you could end up devastated by infidelity, abuse, etc (also true in serious unmarried relationships, i know, but people generally have higher expectations of a fairytale perfect marriage, especially with all that commitment). I know a few married men at work who are cheating on their spouses. Obviously, not all marrieds even respect marriage. How then, can this type of person look down on singles as inferior?

I was especially disgusted with Chris Matthews' treatment of Nader. How dare he imply that because Nader did not consume as much as the marrieds (such as no house, no car), that he was less of a person, less responsible? He is really a thousand more times responsible than Newt Gingrich or Bill Clinton, who have made a mess of their marital relationships. Nader is responsible enough to never embarrass a wife (or any other woman, for that matter) on international television. HE never made a mockery of the all-important marriage as others have done. And he is environmentally responsible for not owning a car because, wow!, he doesn't need one, which makes perfect sense (although not to Matthews). Singles rarely get credit for their accomplishments. I admire him and politicians like Condi Rice all the more because of their singleness.

How are people more "grown up" just because they're married? Nineteen year olds get married and are no more grown up than 19 year old singles. In fact, I argue that 19 years old marrieds are much more stupid and insecure than singles their age.

Have to mention one more thing. Once I was invited on a weekend trip where I would be set up with some guy. But I immediately turned it down because I was buying my new car that weekend. An organizer of the trip then asked me, "Which would you rather have, a new boyfriend or a new car?"

"A new car." Of course. I needed a car, but I didn't need a boyfriend...and still don't.

Singe Edition.......2007-06-13

I had been anticipating the arrival of Bella DePaulo's book for months and read it within a day upon receiving it. Ms. Depaulo could not have said it better when she indicates that not all singles are desperately waiting to be rescued by a mate. In fact many are completely satisfied in their solo state while those who are married may not necessarily be fulfilled. Increasingly individuals are choosing to remain single and Ms. Depaulo helps shatter the stereotypical portrait that has been painted. Bookstores today are replete with kitschy chic lit tales, dating propaganda or stories that glorify mommies but Singled Out is a power piece that raises the individual to the positive and realistic rank they merit. I am thankful for the contribution Ms. Depaulo has made and applaud the sincere and courageous stance she has made in putting forth her writings.

Sherri Langburt

The Last Socially Accepted Prejudice.......2007-06-11

This book is about one of the last forms of prejudice that is still socially acceptable, the stigmatization of people who are single. Contrary to some of the comments made, the author makes it clear from the start that this is not a book about putting down people who are married. The criticism is of married people and others who portray marriage as the only valid lifestyle choice for a mature adult and stereotype single people in such a way that they are portrayed as lesser human beings. I have observed that often, pioneers in exposing stigma of an out group get personally attacked for their "tone", especially if they present compelling arguments that are difficult to reasonably refute.

This is not a book about victims, but rather, a book about the resiliency of single people who have managed to prosper in spite of the negative stereotypes and discrimmination. In each chapter, DePaulo exposes and systematically refutes myths about singles that many in our culture have taken for granted. One of the most prevalent myths is that singles don't "have anybody" when research shows that always single people, especially women have the strongest social support networks. She illustrates how our culture has belittled any relationships other than marriage as unimportant when in fact, friendships and relationships with siblings are just as important and often longer lasting.

The book also exposes how legitimate research can be misinterpreted in the popular media, especially when the data violate cherished beliefs and assumptions. The truth is that singles comprise a higher percentage of households than the traditional married couple with children. While the traditional household is a fulfulling choice for some people, when it comes to marriage, given the high divorce rate and the growing percentage of people who choose to be single and remain happy, clearly one size does not fit all. It is time to stop blaming and pathologizing people for failure to conform to the expectations of society that we all must marry and begin to recognize that differences in civil status are often due to normal, healthy differences in personality and temperament. I have written a lengthier review of this book on my blog:

[...]

Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story

Average customer rating:

Hooray for Story!
Awarded Best Motivational Book of 2006 by Books for a Better Life Awards
Make sense of life and purpose
Magnificent! A real gem of a book...
Storycatcher Spreads Hope

Storycatcher: Making Sense of Our Lives through the Power and Practice of Story
Christina Baldwin
Manufacturer: New World Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Creativity | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

Historical | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Seven Whispers: A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These
Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice
Calling the Circle: The First and Future Culture
Writing to Change the World
Writing the Sacred Journey: Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir

ASIN: 1577314913

Book Description

Story is the heart of language. Story moves us to love and hate and can motivate us to change the whole course of our lives. Story can lift us beyond our individual borders to imagine the realities of other people, times, and places. Storytelling -- both oral tradition and written word -- is the foundation of being human.

In this powerful book, Christina Baldwin, one of the visionaries who started the personal writing movement, explores the vital necessity of re-creating a sacred common ground for each other's stories. Each chapter in Storycatcher is carried by a fascinating narrative -- about people, family, or community -- intertwined with practical instruction about the nature of story, how it works, and how we can practice it in our lives. Whether exploring the personal stories revealed in our private journals, the stories of family legacy, the underlying stories that drive our organizations, or the stories that define our personal identity, Christina's book encourages us all to become storycatchers -- and shows us how new stories lay the framework for a new world.

Customer Reviews:

Hooray for Story!.......2006-03-27

This wonderful book explores the many uses of story telling not just for the listeners but for the tellers as well. Whether or not you ever publish your own stories, Storycatcher will convince you of the value of telling them. Christina Baldwin is at her best. Through her own stories and those of others, she shows how our stories can open the path to understanding each other and ourselves. Storycatcher will inspire and help you to catch as many as you can.

Awarded Best Motivational Book of 2006 by Books for a Better Life Awards.......2006-03-10

On February 27, 2006, this book won the motivational category in the 10th annual Books for a Better Life Awards sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

In her acceptance speech Christina Baldwin said, "The people struggling with MS have important, brave, and heart-opening stories to share. Looking at the Multiple Sclerosis website and other sources, I was so glad to see the emphasis on people sharing their journeys with this disease and the ways you are already honoring story."

Books for a Better Life started ten years ago with the intention of giving credit to the group of authors who have impacted the last half of the 20th century more than any other genre of writers. Profits from the awards go towards funding national research and local chapter services for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Make sense of life and purpose.......2006-03-08

Using story to make sense of our lives and our purpose. Christina will be my guest on my radio show and you'll be able to hear a bit of it in on my podcast!

Jennifer Louden
http://www.comfortqueen.com

Magnificent! A real gem of a book..........2005-10-18

Christina Baldwin's work on Story...the art, the practice, the importance of telling and re-telling stories in our lives is a stunning masterpiece. Woven beautifully with fragments and selections of her own stories, Baldwin once again instructs, enchants and inspires the reader about the critical nature and importance of the individual stories of all of us. Whether it's to build community, heal generational wounds, create stronger organizations, leave a legacy, or simply to pass on information, Baldwin's narrative builds a compelling case for the power of "storycatching." A magnificent read...and a wonderful gift to give. What will be the questions you carry to ask of yourself and others? A must-have!!

Storycatcher Spreads Hope.......2005-10-04

Christina Baldwin's Storycatcher tells stories of hope. She articulates beautifully the power and necessity of sharing story with those around us to build webs of connection, to build community, to provide a bridge to understanding. We all have a story. Baldwin's genius shines through showing us how to bring story into the center of our lives through telling her own story. This book is a work of love and brilliance that brings light into the world.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

German | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Russian | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Mythology & Folklore | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Controversial Knowledge | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Celtic | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
The Medieval Empire of the Israelites
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored

ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths that Shape Women's Lives

Average customer rating:

Powerful read
Unbalanced pop psychology
Interesting approach
This book really gave me new insights
Lyrically written, perceptive & worthwhile read

Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths that Shape Women's Lives
Roger J. Woolger , and Jennifer Barker Woolger
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Feminist Theory | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

New Thought | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women's Lives
Gods In Everyman
Goddesses in Older Women: Archetypes in Women Over Fifty
Discoveries: Fifty Stories of the Quest
Crossing to Avalon: A Woman's Midlife Quest for the Sacred Feminine

ASIN: 0449902870
Release Date: 1989-10-07

Book Description

Gestalt and Jungian psychologists Jennifer and Roger Woolger have written a fascinating guide to the goddess qualities that live within us all. Learn how to navigate the turning points in your life by understanding which goddess type is coming to the fore. Wonderfully affirming, profound in its implications, THE GODDESS WITHIN helps restore the feminine to its rightful place in the modern consciousness and offers every woman the unique opportunity to learn more about her own power to transform herself.

Customer Reviews:

Powerful read.......2006-06-04

The book is about women but not a read for women only. There are sections for men. The book breaks down the personalities of six different Greek Goddess and how all six are in women today. I found the book tremendously healing. You do not have to read from cover to cover you can skip around the book and not miss anything. There is a quiz in the back of it to see which Goddesses influences you and yes everyone feels the influence of these six wonderful female archetypes.

Unbalanced pop psychology.......2005-02-06

The Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths that Shape Women's Lives by Jennifer Barker Woolger and Roger J. Woolger. Not recommended.

The Goddess Within is an attempt to explore and explain contemporary psychological issues and social trends through the ancient Greek goddesses Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera, Persephone, and Demeter. The premise is based on the idea that the whole goddess of more matriarchal times has been divided and wounded, that patriarchal society suffers due to the resulting imbalance, and that we need to restore the balance and the multiple roles and energies of the goddess (and women).

One problem with The Goddess Within is reflected in the subtitle. There are no goddesses that shape women's lives; rather, humans shaped the goddesses-including their splintering. At times, the authors seem to forget that distinction, especially when they make such statements as: ". . . the two goddesses who are, so to speak, expressing their larger grievance through the two women." Perhaps it is simply the two women expressing their own grievances, which they have in common with other women.

The most basic problem, however, is the division of everything into the masculine and feminine. Is the earth really female? The moon? Why is the sun male? The authors talk at length about the moon, but never acknowledge that, without the "male" sun, there would be no nurturing of life on earth. Why is intellect a male attribute? Emotion female? Are these the kind of labels that reveal human psychology or repress a deeper exploration? Since each goddess is held to represent certain traits, are they necessary at all? Can six goddesses represent the "feminine" in its entirety? Essentially, psychology can be made to fit into any system desired.

What is more troubling, however, is the authors' claim that "balance" is missing in our patriarchal world and their insistence that a matriarchy should replace it. The amount of gratuitous male bashing leaves no doubt about how they truly feel about "balance." For example: "Growing Athena soon learns to curb her frustration at male stupidity and ineptitude, however" and "All men have in them heroes, lovers, fathers, leaders, listeners, protectors of one kind or another and it is never too asking too much to make the long overdue sacrifice of the whining little boy that prevents their emergence." The message throughout is that everything wrong with the world, from war to pollution, is due to masculine thinking.

The authors also bring a great deal of personal bias to their discussion. They believe that Demeter (motherhood) is undervalued and suggest that mothers be allowed to return to their jobs after being granted five-year leaves-a greater privilege than National Guardsmen have. They don't point out that someone must fill Demeter's shoes involuntarily-perhaps even a type who doesn't want to work extra hours and who would like to experience life, too. (I've done my share of working late so mothers can get to daycare and events on time-my own admitted bias.) They say that families with children are relegated to fast-food restaurants and blue-collar diners, another phenomenon that doesn't fit in with my observations.

That leads to another problem-The Goddess Within seems dated. Writing in 1989, the authors discuss "movements" that the average American today has not heard of-suggesting they are not so much movements as the typical handful of people from each generation who deviate from societal norms. There has been no growing return to rural living; if anything, suburbs continue to expand. There is no growing sensitivity toward the "earth goddess" among the masses. What the authors label "patriarchal values"-war, conquest, corporate power, degradation of the earth-are even stronger today. If the question is one of balance of matriarchal and patriarchal values, as the Woolgers define them, the world is as or more out of balance than ever.

The Woolgers, however, do not seem to propose balance, but a return to the matriarchy, where patriarchal Christianity as practiced and rational science (which they tuck in together as odd bedfellows) are subject to the goddess-ignoring the benefits that Christianity and science have given western society and focusing only on the harm they have done. For example, science has brought us nuclear weapons, but it has also contributed cures, treatments, and surgeries for ailments that would have killed millions of us early in life.

Rarely do the Woolgers mention the gods-and then it is primarily as consorts to the goddesses (or, in Zeus's case, as the ultimate patriarch). If balance of these values should be the goal of the individual and society, why not The Gods and Goddesses Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths That Shape Men's and Women's Lives? In their slavish devotion to the feminine (and feminist), the Woolgers devalue the masculine. To them, "no matter how much a doting father adores and is adored by his daughter, he is still far from a mother's love of her little girl. He did not bear her in his body; he cannot experience that great mystery." Is this really true? Does every woman who bears children experience it as a "great mystery"? And what of the great mysteries that men can and do experience? It is this lack of balance and wholeness that undermines the Woolgers' claims.

Some women (and men) may find the goddess portraits very useful in assessing themselves and the women in their lives (for example, the Hera mother is easily identifiable) as well as their relationships. The goddess portraits and sidebars are also somewhat useful in the study of Greek and Roman mythology. Beyond that, however, The Goddess Within is little more than trendy, empty, male-bashing feminism of the worst kind.

My goddess scores:

Athena (goddess of wisdom)-17
Artemis (goddess of the wilds)-29
Aphrodite (goddess of love)-22
Hera (queen of heaven)-9
Persephone (goddess of the underworld)-23
Demeter (goddess of life)-1

Diane L. Schirf, 5 February 2005.

Interesting approach.......2003-09-09

This was a new spin on looking inside for me. It uses the Greek goddess architypes to look at our preferences/tendencies - recognizing that we're probably a mix of the different goddess atributes. There's a chapter each on the following godesses: Athena, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hera, Persephone, Demeter - lots of legends, stories, some poetry. Then there is a quiz you can take to see what mix of godesses you are then it goes into discussing the various mixes that you fall into. Its interesting - not a quick read by any means - but quite interesting. Hadn't seen another book quite like it. Did come across the quiz on the internet before reading the book.

This book really gave me new insights.......2002-10-13

A wonderfully well-written, amazingly informative book on women's psyches. I recommend it to everyone - man and woman. You will be glad you read it.

Lyrically written, perceptive & worthwhile read.......2001-11-14

I think this book contains a wonderful mix of legends and folklore, along with articles, poetry and of course, a Jungian analysis that is multi-dimensional. If you're interested in mythology and analyzing the characteristics or relationships of the Roman/Greek goddesses, this is the book to read.

A Mythic Life: Learning to Live Our Greater Story

Average customer rating:

One of My All-Time Favorite Books!
What Script Do You Want to Live Out?
What better way to describe Sister Jean Houston? Revised!
A Mythic Life Is A Wild Ride
Follow the Leader into the 21st Century

A Mythic Life: Learning to Live Our Greater Story
Jean Houston
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Comparative Religion | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Psychology | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Passion for the Possible: A Guide to Realizing Your True Potential
The Search For the Beloved
The Possible Human : A Course in Enhancing Your Physical, Mental, and Creative Abilities
Jump Time: Shaping Your Future in a World of Radical Change
Mystical Dogs: Animals as Guides to Our Inner Life

ASIN: 0062502816

Book Description

Bob Woodward made Jean Houston national news in the summer of 1996 when he revealed her working friendship with Hillary Clinton. Mrs. Clinton, Woodward reported, connected most enthusiastically with Dr. Houston and anthropologist Mary Catherine Bateson when they met with the Clintons at a Camp David retreat that also included presentations by Marianne Williamson, Anthony Robbins, and Stephen Covey. Dr. Houston subsequently consultedregularly at the White House, especially helping Mrs. Clinton with herbestselling book It Takes a Village.

The tabloid press had a field day, but the sensationalistic coverage onlyrevealed how out of touch the popular media are with the profound role that advanced psychology and spirituality play in people's lives today. Jean Houston is at the cutting edge of the work on realizing the fullness of our human potential, which is as mainstream and pervasive in our culture ascomputer technology.

A Mythic Life presents Jean Houston's real story and her true teaching. Here draws on her personal history and vast cultural knowledge to show how we can experience in our own lives the greater human story that is revealed myths and discover our real potential.

Customer Reviews:

One of My All-Time Favorite Books!.......2006-11-25

This book is an absolute gem. A mind-blowing, fascinating autobiography written by a master storyteller and teacher, conveyed with great intelligence, detail, passion, and humor. Highly recommended.

What Script Do You Want to Live Out?.......2006-06-24

Profound as always is Dr. Jean Houston! Your life can be as mythic as the triumph of Jason of the Argonauts OR as tragic as the Greek fall of Icarus ... you decide. Life deals you cards at birth that you can't change. But you can play them to the best of your ability in each moment ... towards a Royal Flush. You decide.

What better way to describe Sister Jean Houston? Revised!.......2005-10-03

After hearing the esteemed, distinguished artist, poet, preacher personality as narrator and inter-locature for Deepak Chopra and James Hillman, I've read or listened to her everyday for months! Their tour of "Mythical Journey" came to Glen Memorial the EMORY Campus Church with packed house. There was a stage full of video cameras++ beautiful backdrops for a future TV show on NPR!

Listening to her dialogue with Deepak from "The Evolving Human," becomes obvious how Houston is continually evolving in her naive talents: "for writing limericks, cooking gourmet meals or being able to talk to dogs." In fact, one of her many books is The Use of Spiritual Theraphy with Animals! Her epic-autobiog, A MYTHIC Journey has exceeded any possible evaluations in hearing her at Glen Memorial.

The high-light Chapter of Altered States lifted me thru her own experience under LSD in Greenwich Village with a guide, Michael Corner, empowering her to use a dramatic exchange as part of her practise of pschotherapy! Those pages carried me smack into the request of help from eminent Gestalt psychologist, Fritz Perls to visit him in his Central Park Apartment. All these incidents were encouraged by Margaret Mead.

Her Mentors from age 12 included awesome, Tielhard de Chardin, she knew only as, "Mr. Tayer," Joseph Campbell, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niehbuhr, Margaret Mead, Martin Buber. Then I read that she conversed with Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Mother Teresa, the Aldous Huxley Family.

It strikes me, she just as well included: The OT Prophets, Major Poets of England, even Jesus' disciples in the NT!

What an awesome, brilliant, encouraging, inspiring, genius of one single-minded personality! Semi-retired Chap. Fred W. Hood

A Mythic Life Is A Wild Ride.......2001-03-13

Readers of this book will have sharply diverging reactions to it, and I myself am of two minds. At her worst, Jean Houston can come across like a precocious and hyperactive college kid: flip, full of herself, flaunting exuberance, self-promoting, greedy for catharsis, disorderly ideas sprouting everywhere like psychedelic mushrooms. On the other hand, at her best, she's brilliant, scholarly, profoundly creative, wise, kind, and funny. On the balance, happily, I found the latter set of characteristics predominant here, although the less attractive side of her nature will be readily apparent to anyone unsympathetic to her style and her philosophy. This is an autobiography of sorts, although one in a style that only Jean Houston could conceive: utterly non-linear. What she actually gives us is series of anecdotes from all stages of her life, interspersed chaotically with a fireworks display of philosophical musing, human potential pep talks, New Age proselytizing, scientific speculation, and lectures on her original brand of mystical anthropology. Interestingly, she's the daughter of neither a scholar nor a mystic, but of an itinerant Hollywood gag writer, whom she loved dearly and who ran the family like an overbearing-but-lovable gypsy king. Numerous accounts of his lautish stunts pepper his daughter's book and bring comic relief. He was a direct descendent of Sam Houston, the flamboyant Texan general and politician, laying down a genetic strain that seems not at all improbable once you begin getting a sense of what Jean Houston is about. Of her retiring Sicilian-American mother, we learn very little. Dr. Houston's central animating idea, like that of her teacher and colleague Joseph Campbell, is that certain myths are universal among all peoples and all times, including our own, and they are the main drivers of psychological and spiritual essence of human existence. Exploring ourselves in light of these myths is key to fulfilling life - hence the book's title. Jean Houston takes this idea much further than Campbell did, and makes it the centerpiece of the teaching, lecturing, and mystical psychotherapy which has become both her life's calling and her business. This is compelling material and she presents it with eloquence and passion, despite the interference which her manic style at times brings to the narrative. I recommend "A Mythic Life", although it's not for everyone, and readers should be prepared for what they're getting.

Follow the Leader into the 21st Century.......1999-11-26

Through sharing fascinating details of her entire life and family, as well as people she has known and worked with, such as Margaret Mead, Jean Houston demonstrates vividly how we can all be more fully awake to our lives and the myths we all live by, whether we consciously know them or not. Reading her stimulates the reader to want more of her writings, which are plentiful and available.She also has a website worth pursing, at Jean Houston.org. An enjoyable read.

The Stories We Live by: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self

Average customer rating:

Time for Dan McAdams
A Seminal Work

The Stories We Live by: Personal Myths and the Making of the Self
Dan P. McAdams
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Inner Child | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Developmental Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Personality | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Identity And Story: Creating Self in Narrative (The Narrative Study of Lives)
The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By
Narrative Analysis (Qualitative Research Methods)
The Reciprocating Self: Human Development In Theological Perspective
How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves

ASIN: 0688108660

Customer Reviews:

Time for Dan McAdams.......2007-06-05

A dear friend and life long student of Psych, who is about to become a doctor of Psych gave me this book several years ago. She'd written so many notes in it, which to me translates into value and reverance for what one reads. I always meant to read it, life just kept getting in the way. Finally it was time for me to meet the mind of Dan McAdams, at least as it was when he wrote this book, I think perhaps, slightly before it's time, maybe. It helped me to foster insights that have been like donning good reading glasses in a life with some patches of fog.

It's always so refreshing to relearn something we already knew at a deep unconcious level and be able to resonate with that on a higher level. This is what this book does for me. I highly suggest it to those who are interested in writing (anything) or learning more about them selves and how we all effect each other as well. No man is an island we are simutaneosly land and water to each other. Thank you Dr. McAdams and Dr. Sunshine my friend for giving me this ray of light.

A Seminal Work.......2005-09-27

If you want to understand narrative psychology in a developmental framework here is where to start. It is not overly technical, which is actually a bit of a drawback for those of us who would like more background and theory. But, it is an excellent intruduction to the field, very readable, and many people cite McAdams in their subsequent reserach (which I certainly will be doing).

Average customer rating:

A Tedious Read
Intriguing but incomplete
Has Potential...But Largely Forgettable
Translated into Spanish/Hay traducción en español
Excellent Discussion of American Myths

Myths America Lives By
Richard T. Hughs
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Democracy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Ethics | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Captain America And The Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma Of Zealous Nationalism
Mere Discipleship: Radical Christianity in a Rebellious World
The Myth of the American Superhero
The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church

ASIN: 0252072200

Book Description

In this book Richard T. Hughes identifies the five key myths that lie at the heart of the American experience--the myths of the Chosen Nation, of Nature's Nation, of the Christian Nation, of the Millennial Nation, and of the Innocent Nation.

Drawing on a range of dissenting voices, Hughes shows that by canonizing these seemingly harmless myths of national identity as absolute truths, America risks undermining the sweepingly egalitarian promise of the Declaration of Independence.

The Chosen Nation myth led to the wholesale slaughter of indigenous peoples during the pioneer era. More recently the Innocent Nation myth prevented many Americans from understanding, or even discussing, the complex motivations of the 9/11 terrorists. Myths America Lives By demonstrates that Americans must rethink these myths in the spirit of extraordinary humility if the United States is to fulfil its true promise as a nation.

Hughes locates the roots of each myth in a different period of America's development, and from each of these periods he finds stirring critiques offered by marginalized commentators--especially African Americans and Native Americans--who question the predominant myth of their age.

Myths America Lives By is a dialog between the mainstream mythmakers and the many critics--including Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Black Elk, Anna J. Cooper, and Booker T. Washington, Malcom X, Angela Davis, and W. E. B. DuBois--whose dissent, rather than being un-American, was often grounded in a patriotic belief in the "self-evident" equality of America's fundamental creed.

Customer Reviews:

A Tedious Read.......2007-04-30

In the footsteps of Robert Bellah's The Broken Covenant, once again a book exploring the American Civil Religion surfaces at a time of "crisis" in American affairs. Bellah's book, written in the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, expounded upon the subject of the American Civil Religion and lamented its corruption throughout American history. However, Richard T. Hughes' Myths America Lives By proposes an explanation for the American reaction to the 9/11 terrorist attacks embodied in the question "Why do they hate us?" Hughes focuses not on the general topic of civil religion but illuminates certain "American Myths" that have defined America's narrow perception of its own identity and its role in global affairs in the past. By doing so he hopes to inform future generations of Americans of both the positive and negative influences of these myths on the national and global perception of the American identity.

In Myths America Lives By, Hughes delves into the relationship between the "American Creed" and five specific myths that characterize America: the Chosen Nation, Nature's Nation, the Christian Nation, the Millennial Nation and the Innocent Nation. Hughes argues that these myths, except for the fallacious Myth of the Innocent Nation, are based on sound virtues that bolster the "American Creed." He proposes that these myths have been "absolutized," or corrupted from their original intentions, undermining the very virtues they upheld. Hughes defines the "American Creed" as the assertion in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Using the writings and experiences of disenfranchised African Americans and Native Americans throughout American history, Hughes endeavors to illustrate how the privileged classes have "absolutized" these myths and the "American Creed" and thereby have undermined the original virtues. He declares that America must steer a middle course between the fundamentalist Left that cynically denies any truth in the "American Creed" and the absolutist Right that believes in the complete righteousness of America. He advises that America humbly name and accept these myths, maintaining the beneficial parts that uphold and expand the "American Creed," discarding the harmful parts that undercut the essential right to dissent.

Although Hughes states that he writes this book as a Christian influenced by the insights of Menno Simmons, Conrad Grebel, and Reinhold Niebuhr, there is nothing particularly Christian in his assessment of the "Myths of America." He claims that he is motivated by his compassion for the poor and disenfranchised but his rhetoric concerning these groups is mostly secular. Since he touts his concern for the minority voices of America as a major facet of his thesis, it is perplexing why he limits these select voices to relatively small and seemingly incidental sections at the end of each chapter instead of integrating them throughout his discussion. These minority voices and the other sources he utilizes represent a narrow interpretation of the "American Creed" and the "American Myths" while ignoring any dissenting opinions on these subjects. His main arguments rely heavily on secondary sources, often losing texture and subtlety with his reinterpretations of interpretations. Hughes, himself, might be guilty of the same crime with which he denounces the privileged classes of America: absolutizing his own opinion while rejecting and suppressing any contrary views.

Intriguing but incomplete.......2007-04-17

Richard Hughes' book, Myths America Lives By, explores the corruption of America's founding myths, giving a voice to the minorities who suffer when America "absolutizes" the myths and begins to believe in her own infallible righteousness. Hughes examines five of America's founding myths: the myth of the Chosen Nation, the myth of Nature's Nation, the myth of the Christian Nation, the myth of the Millennial Nation, and the myth of the Innocent Nation. Hughes contends that the first four of these myths can be used for good and that Americans need the myths to explain their identity and purpose. He argues, however, that the myths become corrupt and dangerous when America forgets the American Creed enshrined in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and "confuses the ideals of the creed with the realities of the present moment, eliminating dissent." Hughes argues that America corrupted the myth of the Chosen Nation when it forgot the accompanying notion of covenant responsibilities to other human beings. The myth of Nature's Nation became corrupt when Americans assumed that their own cultural traditions were "fundamentally natural," oppressing other cultures as unnatural and inferior. Americans absolutized the myth of the Christian Nation when they tried to Americanize Christianity, creating an "explicitly Christian nation" and excluding other American religious voices. Americans absolutized the myth of the Millennial Nation when they embraced the doctrine of manifest destiny. Finally, Hughes contends that the myth of the Innocent Nation is wholly false and without redemptive value. Hughes draws on both historical and modern primary sources to show how Americans absolutize the myths, and he uses dissenting African-American and Native-American voices to demonstrate the destructive effects of the myths' corruption.

One of Hughes' stated purposes is to give voice to "those whose voices are seldom heard ... the poor and the dispossessed," and Hughes' book may be classified as a social commentary on the source of America's moral transgressions. Hughes' strength lies in the fact that his criticism of the myths does not lead him to discard the myths entirely. He accurately distinguishes between the good and the corrupt forms of the myths. His weakness lies in the fact that he often fails to notice that the myths have been redeemed from their corruption, and often by the good forms of the myths themselves. For instance, Hughes fails to explore adequately the cultural forces that led to the end of slavery and manifest destiny, which seems relevant given Hughes' interest in embracing the higher and nobler forms of the myths. Hughes' use of dissenting voices also tends to be somewhat narrow, and he often fails to acknowledge dissenting voices that do not fit his paradigm of "the poor, the disenfranchised, and the dispossessed" African-American.

Hughes' book is an intriguing but incomplete analysis of America's founding myths. Hughes accurately identifies the source of many of America's sins, but he fails to show America how to adequately atone for her sin.

Has Potential...But Largely Forgettable.......2007-04-05

Myths America Lives By is a social commentary by Richard Hughes. The book claims to show how five American myths, stories which shape our purpose and identity, have lost their original constructive meaning and become "absolutized" for selfish purposes. Hughes sometimes offers interesting perspectives on American social developments, but his accounts lack vigor and depth.
Hughes gives a simplistic version of history, painting it as a straight line with few digressions. He generalizes the decline of American society, and he rarely includes positive examples of the five myths in action. Hughes focuses on cultural trends without examining the exceptions, and in fact, he fails to consider whether people have ever acted apart from the myths he attacks. He simply assumes that everyone--or at least everyone who "matters"--has always thought the same way about America.
Hughes does include some digressions from the WASP mainstream, but only those which corroborate his thesis. Certainly, the shameful treatment of blacks will forever mar our history, and Hughes' vivid examples of racism are often shocking and sobering. But his exclusivity damages his credibility, for he disregards the minorities who have benefited from American myths and the whites who have opposed the bigotry of their times.
Hughes also fails to explain why social changes started in the first place; a look at motives and causes would be far more helpful than merely observing the trends' existence. By neglecting to explain why the myths were absolutized, Hughes cripples our ability to reverse our mistakes. In fact, he never explains how we should redeem the myths. He simply tells us to return to their original meaning, assuming that they will support the "American Creed" of universal and equal rights. In their purest forms, he thinks, all the myths (except the Innocent Nation) support the Creed as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately for this theory, some myths (such as chosenness and millennialism) appeared long before 1776, making the supposed connection obscure. Hughes says that he wants to assist minorities in defending themselves from bigotry, but his vague complaints do little but make people feel guilty.
Finally, though Hughes claims to write as a Christian, his book contains no definite religious doctrine. It does not promote specifically Christian values, only basic decency. While there is nothing wrong with a secular book per se, it is misleading for Hughes to call his book a Christian critique, then offer no specific theology to support his points.
Again and again, Hughes offers good insights but obscures them with factual errors and a limited viewpoint. Hughes absolutizes his own statements, and in doing so, loses much of his effectiveness. The truths he puts forward are made absurd by their simplicity.

Translated into Spanish/Hay traducción en español.......2006-06-10

There is an excellent translation into Spanish of this book. Hay una muy buena traducción de este libro al español: «Mitos de los Estados Unidos de América» Grand Rapids: Libros Desafío, 2005. Se puede leer una reseña en la Bitácora «Libros Cristianos».

Excellent Discussion of American Myths.......2005-08-10

In this scintillating study of the development of the American epic, historian of religion Richard T. Hughes focuses on five major myths--and two lesser spin-off conceptions, manifest destiny and American capitalism--that gained currency with the earliest days of the nation and have grown, in some cases morphed, and in all instances still remain powerful statements of national belief.

Myths, Hughes reminds us, is not so much a fable or falsehood, as it is a story, a kind of poetry, about events and situations that have great significance both for those involved and those that follow. Myths are, in fact, essential truths for the members of a cultural group who hold them, enact them, or perceive them. They are sometimes expressed in diffuse ideologies, but in literate societies like the United States they are also embedded in historical stories about our past.

First, Hughes explores the myth of the United States as a chosen nation. It is no secret that the Puritan immigrants to America from England viewed themselves as God's elect favored above all others. It is less well known that a sense of "chosen-ness" motivated others who came to America and this sense of exceptionalism has found expression throughout the nation's history. The United States is a new "land of Canaan," to use a religious conception, but this sense need not be solely expressed in religious tones. While Hughes focuses on religious conceptions, he notes that America as a land of opportunity where all may achieve their proper rewards through diligence and hard work is a part of this belief as well.

Central to this sense of "chosen-ness" is the idea of a national covenant in which the inhabitants live justly and are rewarded as a result. At it's best, this myth calls on Americans to shoulder responsibilities that reflect what Hughes calls our national creed: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Sometimes, perhaps even many times, in our national history, the American civilization has reflected this creed well and in so doing earned the respect and admiration of the world. At other times, and perhaps increasingly as time has passed, Americans have absolutized the myth of the chosen nation and used it to justify the wealth, privilege, and power of the nation as appropriate despite the disparities with other cultures.

The second myth that Hughes discusses is America as Nature's Nation. The result of Enlightenment thinking in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this myth suggests that the natural order of things is for all humans to be free and have liberty to do as they wish. At its most idealistic this myth affirms the American creed better than any other concept held by inhabitants of the United States. Absolutized, in Hughes' parlance, it "might suggest that whatever foreign policies America might put in place are by definition just and right, regardless of their impact on marginalized people, and that the rectitude of those policies should be self-evident to all the people of the world" (p. 193).

Third, Hughes explores the myth of America as a Christian nation. He affirms that it was the avowed intention of the founders to create a fully secular government without Christian overtones. He expends considerable effort to demonstrate this position, yet over time the myth has become almost de rigueur. This is not an entirely bad development, Hughes believes, for at its best it calls Americans to adhere to Judeo-Christian virtues. At its worst, it could allow Americans to view any policy the nation implemented as somehow righteous and just, fully reflective of Christian teachings.

Fourth, the author considers the myth of a millennial nation. This sense of creating a perfect society, anticipating the return of Christ in glory, has been present in American society from the very first. It also suggests that it is incumbent on those a part of this nation to further justice, equality, and liberty both inside and outside the confines of the United States. In many instances this is a positive set of attributes, as Hughes notes, but it might also be used to justify efforts "to export and impose its cultural and economics values throughout the world, regardless of the impact those policies might have on poor and dispossessed people in other parts of the world" (p. 193).

Finally, the author comments on the myth of the innocent nation. Completely without justification, the United States has come to believe that whatever it does is just and righteous, and that it is locked in a desperate struggle with evil. This may be seen in virtually all periods of American history but it is especially present in the great struggles of the twentieth century. World Wars I and II especially led Americans to believe they were fighting for the survival of all that was good against forces of evil. But it also may be seen in the cold war against the Soviet Union, and in the aftermath of 9/11 in the global war on terrorism. This is an unfortunate development, according to the author. He notes, "the world does not, in fact, divide as neatly between good and evil as the myth of America as the Innocent Nation might suggest. Just how difficult it is for Americans to realize this truth became apparent in the days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as Americans once again divided the world into rigid categories of good and evil, with America standing clearly and unambiguously on the side of the right..." (p. 186).

There is much to praise and little to criticize in this important book. It is highly recommended as a statement of American values, conceived at the birth of the nation and extending to the present. The work also presents critiques of these myths from a variety of perspectives. It offers a useful analysis of how Americans view the world and why they tend to see it as they do.

The Greek Myths (Lives & Letters: the Millennium Graves)

Average customer rating:

Outdated But Has Merit
The Definitive Edition of the Greek Myths
Procrustes and Rorschach's Myths
This is no guide to Greek Myth!
Very Important Resource in English on Greek Myths

The Greek Myths (Lives & Letters: the Millennium Graves)
Robert Graves
Manufacturer: Carcanet Press Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Fairy Tales | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Greek Gods and Heroes
The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)
The Dictionary of Classical Mythology
The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth
The Complete World of Greek Mythology

ASIN: 1857544803

Book Description

Endymion, Pelops, Daedalus, Pygmalion -- we recognize the names, but what are the stories behind these and other familiar gods from the Greek pantheon -- names that recur throughout the history of European culture?

Drawing on an enormous range of sources, Robert Graves has brought together elements of these myths in simple narrative form. He retells the adventures of the most important gods and heroes of the ancient Greeks. His work has become the reference for the serious scholar as well as the casual inquirer.

Customer Reviews:

Outdated But Has Merit.......2007-03-04

This book was a revolutionary work in it's time. It examined the Goddess religion and pre-Greek beliefs in an objective and interesting way. The fundamental problem with it is that Graves was not an anthropologist. He links practically every Greek myth with Pelasgian/Minoan king sacrifice rituals. This is really irksome in that while the Pelasgian/Minoan model was neglected by chauvinist academics for years and years (and still is), he makes some statements about pre-Greek Aegean culture which is pure conjecture and presents them as fact. Also, he states that Orphism came about because of Egyptian refugees fleeing from the Amonist backlash against Ahkenaton. Never mind that the dating does not work and he presents absolutely no material proof for this. He does this type of thing through the whole work. The bottom line is that sometimes he is dead on the money and other times he could be talking about "Star Wars!" The basic problem is that Graves approached the subject inductively, rather than deductively. So, one MUST read this book with a critical mind.

The Definitive Edition of the Greek Myths.......2007-02-17

Robert Graves is known for his eccentricities and eclectic readings of the classic Greek myths. But this is the definitive edition because it gives the literary sources, from Homer to Pausanias and many others. I also own the Folio Society's slipcased, handsomely illustrated edition of the same work. For reasons that I cannot even guess at, its editors decided to omit the sources, an omission that I believe destroys its value. The only problem with the paperback edition is that it wears out sooner rather than later, but the price is such that replacing it is affordable.

Procrustes and Rorschach's Myths.......2005-10-18

Procrustes was a gentleman who made travel upon the byways of ancient Greece interestingly hazardous. He had an iron bed onto which he placed any traveler who fell into his hands. If the traveler was too long for the bed, jolly old Procrustes lopped off the excess. It the traveler was too short, Procrustes stretched him to fit. One day Theseus appeared before Procrustes' door and allowed the old bandit the opportunity to measure himself on his bed.

Robert Graves wrote with the intention of expounding and explaining Greek myths. Unstated but implicit in this intention were two ideas: that there is a more or less self-consistent thing called the Greek myths and that they have a more or less consistent meaning. Neither of these things is necessarily true.

The influence of Thomas Bullfinch is so all-pervasive that we are almost blind to it. He provided the English-speaking world with a convenient handbook of myths that made it appear that the Greek (and derivative Roman) world had a central core of beliefs as definable as the Bible, the Qur'an or, for that matter, the Book of Mormon. Admittedly, Graves offers some variant versions, but then, so does Genesis. Years later, Edith Hamilton, with more scholarship and a lot less charm, re-emphasized the lesson.

Was it Bullfinch's intention to assemble a handbook of Greek myths? Not really. In his preface, he makes his intention clear. He was a teacher whose students were unable to understand allusions made by great poets of the English language, Shelley, Byron, Wordsworth and their ilk. His handbook is not of Greek myths but of English poetical allusions to Greek myths.

In Bullfinch's time and for many generations before, classical learning consisted of a great deal of Latin and a few snatches of Greek, as demonstrated by the fact that Pope's great translation of Homer has Jupiter, Minerva and Neptune rather than Zeus, Athena and Poseidon. It followed, then, that the two primary sources of mythology for those boasting classical education were Ovid's Metamorphoses and Virgil's Aeneid, both of which were entirely artificial constructs assembled during the time of Augustus Caesar. By and large, that's where the poets found their allusions and, by and large, that's what Bullfinch gave us.

Even in Bullfinch's time, the amount of mythological material from ancient Greece was greater in scope, even though it was only a tiny fraction of what once had existed. That material had a characteristic that Bullfinch suppressed: it was wildly inconsistent and self-contradictory to the point of anarchy. What two sources could be more authoritative than the poets of the earliest dawn of classical culture, Hesiod and Homer? Hesiod unequivocally states that when the children of the Titan Cronus were born, he swallowed up all but the youngest of them, Zeus. Homer, with equal authority, says that the eldest of the children of Cronus was Zeus, and that it is because he is the eldest that he is king of the gods. Then there is Pausanias. He was a born tourist who traveled up and down the Greek speaking lands, putting in at every tourist trap that he could find while writing a popular guidebook. He was perfectly happy to accept that this hero or that as buried here, there, in another place or in as many places as you want. Sightings of the gods and the rituals associated with them were even more varied. Sometimes he heard a local story that is familiar to us from Homer, but almost invariably the local story is grimmer and bloodier than Homer's version. Clearly, Homer edited out the less respectable bits in exactly the same way that Disney edited the Brothers Grimm.

If there is not necessarily a consistent corpus of myths, what about their meanings? About 2000 BC, tribes of tallish, fair-haired people (see the physical descriptions in Homer of almost every Greek hero except Odysseus) who some generations earlier had bid farewell to their cousins who spoke a variant of their shared language that would evolve into Latin, moved southwest toward the Greek peninsula. They carried with them a god whose name was Zeus who undoubtedly had a consort or two or three (dozen) and a set of stories attached to him and his family. Around 1200 BC, their descendants who lived at a place called Pylos were overwhelmed by sea-borne raiders. In the burning of their palace, clay tablets bearing their routine administrative records were miraculously preserved. Their gods included Zeus, Potnia ("Our Lady") and Enyalios. Eight hundred years later, Socrates talked about "the god," presumably Zeus, as a moral figure, using words very like those Christians might choose for their God. In Roman times, the indefatigable Pausanias jotted down that Enyalios was a title of Ares and made references to Athena Potnia ("Our Lady Athena.") Is the truth of a tale of the Zeus of a proto-Greek speaker who has never even set foot in Greece the truth of Socrates' Zeus? Are the blood-soaked superstitions recorded by Pausanias more true than the rationalized heroic lays of Homer? Would Our Lady of Pylos even recognize Our Lady of Athens?

Procrustes had a number of Twentieth Century descendants. One was Robert Graves, who lopped and stretched the Greek myths onto the bed of his own imaginings. Scan down through these reviews until you come to "Green Melusine," who very cleverly applies Graves' technique to Cinderella with predictable result. (While you're at it, look up the tale of Melusine and wonder with me why anyone would adopt that particular moniker.)

The Greek myths are an intellectual and scholarly Rorschach test. In the Nineteenth Century whole universities of bearded German professors elaborately proved to their own complete satisfaction that the tale of Troy was nothing but an allegorical weather myth. They were much put out when Schliemann started digging up gold, not allegories. In the Twentieth Century Sir James Fraser, Edith Hamilton, Robert Graves and Joseph Campbell have all seen wonderful things in the Rorschach myths and have fitted them perfectly onto their Procrustean beds.

But Theseus always comes knocking at the door.

This is no guide to Greek Myth!.......2005-08-09

Graves confirms that the only way to learn of the Greek myths is to read what the Greeks themselves wrote. If the desire is to understand what the Greek myths actually mean then Graves should be avoided. Robin Hard, in his translation to Apollodorus' Library of Greek Mythology, published by OUP, writes "the interpretive notes [to Graves' Greek Myths] are of value only as a guide to the author's personal mythology." (p.xxxiii). I cannot agree more.

Graves' immediate failure is that he remains oblivious to the ouranographic nature of Greek myth: their myths were related to the heavens. Further, Graves fails to understand the relationship of Greek myth to the development of Greek philosophy; that the key to understanding Greek philosophy, science (& hence mathematics & engineering), is the mythology. If you read Graves you will understand neither Greek myth or philosophy.

In Timaeus Plato wrote that when the creator "had compounded the whole he divided it up into as many souls as there were stars, and allotted each soul to a star." (Timaeus, 42).

In Apollonius' Argonautica we read of the argonaughts who paused as "the goddess Persephone sent up to them the mourning ghost of Aktor's son, who craved to see some men of his own kind ...[and having done so, he] Then sank down again into the great abyss." Book 2, lines 920.

In Homer's Odyssey we read that "Rose-fingered Dawn fell in love with Orion... outraged at her conduct... chaste Artemis rose from her golden throne, attacked him in Ortygia with her gentle darts and left him dead." Book 5, lines 121-124. When given directions for sailing, Odysseus kept his eyes "on the Pleiads...or the Great Bear [who] looks across at Orion the Hunter with a wary eye." Book 5, 272-274; and once in the Halls of Hades, which lie beyond the horizon, Odysseus' "eyes fell on the giant hunter Orion, ... armed with a club of solid bronze..." Book 11, 571-575

Aristotle explains to us what all this means: "From old - and indeed extremely ancient times there has been handed down to our later age intimations of a mythical character to the effect that the stars are gods... further details were added in the manner of myth." Metaphysics, Book Lambda, 1074b.

If you read Graves you will not encounter any understanding of the heavens, the basis of Greek myth, in which the planets and constellations were the detritus of times past, rendered immortal and writ large in the heavens. This absence is explained by Graves, when he extols his belief that even "the 13th century Excidium Troiae is, in parts mythically sounder than the Iliad." p. 13. What Graves claims is that an author who commented on the myths over 2000 years after Homer actually wrote down the myths, understood them better than the person who expounded them.

Instead of looking to the sky to understand these myths, Graves claims that the only way to properly understand them is when "archaeologists can provide a more exact tabulation of tribal movements in Greece and the dates." p.20; and that consequently "A large part of Greek myth is politico-religious history."(p.17). This is seriously misguided!

Graves as becomes evident has an agenda which he lays bare when he claims Greek & Jewish myth is a product of:
"The Jews as inheritors of the 'Pelasgian', or Canaanitish, creation myth.." p. 35; that is that the people of Greece, before the arrival of Greeks were the same people as those who peopled Canaan (Palestine, which is utterly unsupported by any archaeology). What Graves attempts with this ridiculous tome, is to provide a syncretist misinterpretation of Greek myth to reconcile it with the irreconcilable Biblical beliefs and he imagines he achieves this when he weaves into this his "matrilineal v patrilineal" theory as some sort of corroboration. This explains why Graves claimed that a later, Greek Christian from Byzantium, wrote a sounder mythology than Homer: the Byzantine, being Christian, had the same disposition to reinterpret Greek myths to make them more acceptable to a Christian viewpoint, as does Graves.

Greek myths are beautiful if they can be understood. Graves omits the ouranographic dimension of Greek belief because, as he makes clear, he is actually attempting to reconcile it with Jewish (hence Christian) belief. No such reconciliation can work if the author is honest. The Greeks studied the heavens; the Jews were forbidden to do so on pain of death, eg. Deuteronomy 17.2-5 & Jeremiah 10.2. Graves' book is embarrassingly silly.

(...)

Very Important Resource in English on Greek Myths.......2005-04-22

`The Greek Myths' by Robert Graves is a perfect example of what poets do to pay the rent when they are not writing poetry. This is, of course, a gross simplification, as Graves was also a professor of poetry at Oxford University and the author of several relatively successful novels about the ancient world, the most successful of which was `I, Claudius', the semi-fictional story of the fourth emperor of Rome.

Robert Graves was also a great student of mythology and in addition to this great survey of myths, he has written volumes on the nature of myths, in much the same genre as the great work `The Golden Bough'. While these other works, such as `The Golden Ass' are pretty opaque to the non-specialist, his work on Greek myths is a great presentation of the material for the layman and a great antidote to famously popular works such as `Bullfinch's Mythology' and `Mythology' by Edith Hamilton. I read both of these works when I was in Junior High School and was initially enamored with the Greek myths. What these popular works failed to do was to give any connection to the sources of the myths. One gets the highly illusory sense of the myths' existing in some kind of Jungian collective consciousness, with no thought given to the documents where these were first written down and to variations in the myths' narrative from different sources.

One may ask why it is important to study myths, and therefore be careful about understanding the myth's documentary sources. Probably the most important reason for studying myths is that understanding them is simply necessary to understand a great body of world literature, including much of English literature beginning in the Middle Ages and continuing to the present day. I don't even need to cite Shakespeare, as there are two recent episodes of CSI which make reference to the Chimera, Icarus, and the Furies, three lesser figures from the Greek Myths. Just to include at least three more modern sources, there is a reference in a Woody Allen' film to both Narcissus and to Zeus, a major recent science fiction trilogy by John Varley is based on the names and characteristics of the twelve Titans, and a retelling of the Trojan War in `Troy' with Brad Pitt as the great Achilles himself.

Reference to myths is great cultural shorthand. Ezra Pound, a wealth of obscure literary references if there ever was one, stated that the value of writing could be measured by how much meaning can be packed into the fewest words. This, a reference to Achilles can evoke images of invulnerability, great prowess in combat, revenge, eventual graciousness to enemies, and being wronged by allies. All that from a reference to the legendary Achilles. Talk about a name to be conjured with. Don't get me started on Odysseus, especially since James Joyce already pretty well covered that subject in `Ulysses'.

One could write volumes on the definition of myths. In simple terms, they are stories of larger than life figures who may or may not be based on actual historical people. Some, but not all, myths arise out of religion and prescientific cosmology, as in the Greek creation myths. One sure sign of mythic quality is an intermixing of the human and the divine, as in the case of Achilles of the Iliad, who is a son of a mortal man and an immortal nymph, daughter of Zeus, Thetis. Some famous characters from Greek myths such as Theseus, Jason, Oedipus, and Odysseus may not have had divine parents, but they certainly had larger than live adventures with both assistance and interference from the Olympian gods or their surrogates.

The book is divided into 171 stories, although many of these individual sections may be part of a larger story such as the tale of the Trojan War that takes up fourteen (14) of these sections. This division is partly due to the fact that the full story of the figures in the Trojan war may include references to sources outside the Iliad, which was not a novel written by Homer like Hemingway's `For Whom the Bell Tolls'. It is much more like the New Testament gospels, written several hundred years after the historical events and based on oral tradition and documents since lost to history.

In addition to the Trojan war, which concludes the book, and the creation myths which open the book, there are stories covering the genealogy and carryings on of the Olympian gods, a flood legend, the story of Prometheus (see the stature in Rockafeller Center), Sisyphus, Perseus, Bellerophon, Midas, Narcissus, Minos, Daedalus, Theseus, Medea, Oedipus, Orestes, Heracles (Hercules) and his 12 Labors, and Jason and the Argonauts. A perfect example of an important function of some myths is the story of Orestes and Agamemnon, where a cycle of revenge comes to an end only after the intervention of divine authority.

If you are interested in this book and you happen to be looking at the two volume edition, it is essential that you buy both volumes at the same time, as the index to both volumes is at the end of volume 2. It is also important that all the scholarly trappings of footnotes, references, and alternate versions do not put you off. The stories are entirely readable without them, and you can go through them secure in the knowledge that this is how the Greeks, Chaucer, Spencer, and Shakespeare saw these stories. And, if by chance a reading takes you beyond the simple stories, there is more than enough to connect you to the original sources in Greek and Roman literature. And, as another reviewer notes, if there are questions about Graves' version, you have everything you need to check it out. You cannot say that about most other texts on these myths.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books