Comments on: Book identifying mythical archetypes?

Question: Book identifying mythical archetypes?

Andrhia — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:24:21 -0800

BookFilter: Looking for a book a friend once found containing every myth, fable, and legend the author could find from multiple cultures, with analysis breaking them down into (I believe) a hundred or so archetypes.

Other information: The book is on the older side, and doesn't appear to be any of the books suggested in this thread.

By: ISeemToBeAVerb

ISeemToBeAVerb — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:32:29 -0800

I believe you are talking about Joseph Campbell. He wrote quite a few books discussing archetypes. The book titled "Hero With A Thousand Faces" is one of his more popular works.

By: LionIndex

LionIndex — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:32:51 -0800

Sounds like the Golden Bough. I'd, um, recommend the one-volume version rather than the fifteen.

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:33:30 -0800

Was it Sacred Narrative by Alan Dundes or Giants Monsters and Dragons by Carol Rose?

By: ISeemToBeAVerb

ISeemToBeAVerb — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:33:35 -0800

Sorry, didn't check your link. Looks like my suggestion was already mentioned.

By: iconomy

iconomy — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:33:39 -0800

Could it be The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology?

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:34:00 -0800

It is called The Morphology of the Folk Tale, by Vladimir Propp. Here is a summary of his approach. Here is an excerpt.

By: BitterOldPunk

BitterOldPunk — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:34:24 -0800

Was it perhaps Sir James George Frazer's The Golden Bough?

By: MsMolly

MsMolly — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:55:31 -0800

Following up on what nasreddin said, it could also be Aarne-Thompson motif analysis. This site uses the Aarne-Thomspson classification.

By: Hogshead

Hogshead — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:55:53 -0800

My bet's on the Golden Bough, as mentioned above, but it's just possible you might be thinking of the Larousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology.

By: Andrhia

Andrhia — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:57:18 -0800

It was along the lines of Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale, but that's not precisely it...

By: cgs06

cgs06 — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:57:58 -0800

Perhaps it could be one of the works by Mircea Eliade?

By: Andrhia

Andrhia — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:59:55 -0800

Bingo, MsMolly has it with Aarne-Thompson. Thanks so much, everybody!

By: Herr Fahrstuhl

Herr Fahrstuhl — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:02:36 -0800

Is it Mythologiques by anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss?

By: shothotbot

shothotbot — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:47:54 -0800

Casaubon's Key to all Mythologies?