Myth, Cosmos, and Society: Indo-European Themes of Creation and Destruction

by Bruce Lincoln

Book by Lincoln, Bruce

Genres: Mythology, Religion, History, Theology, Nonfiction

294 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 1986

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was bored by the first chapter, an account of IE creation myths in which primordial beings' bodies served as the raw materials for the cosmos, or vice versa, with an emphasis on the superficial similarities between body parts and features of the natural world (bones/rocks, hair/plants, etc.) Sat up during the next few chapters, which show how hese seemingly simple correspondences were at the heart of IE thought and practice on birth, death, sacrifice, the afterlife and the ordering of society. Annoyed by the final chapter, in which Lincoln, offering a taste of his move away from Indo-European studies, belabors the well-known three-part division of IE society in the language of a college student who's recently discovered political philosophy ("If the priestly class may be considered as the ideological apparatus of society, the warrior class must be seen as its coercive apparatus," and so forth, including the news that the masses suffered from "false consciousness" of their proper status.

Still an impressive show of Lincoln's knowledge, from Indian to Irish myths and rituals, and some juicy discussions of human sacrifice among the Germans as well as the Celtic Wickerman of movie fame. It would be nice to find out more about the connections between all this and non-IE religion and ideology, along the lines of M.L. West's The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth or even Michael Witzel's The Origins of the World's Mythologies, looking at where and when Semitic notions of creation, the universes's organizing principles and sacrifice influenced or were influenced by, say, Mittani, the Hittites, the Greeks or the Persians.

[Ryan Schaller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written academic book that is accessible to laypersons, but I'm not sure entirely how useful it would be for the lay reader. "Themes of Creation" invokes more than just "world creation"/cosmology. The book is more concerned with myths that explain the creation of food, social institutions, kingship, and healing.

Lincoln draws in a number of Indo-European texts: Indo-Iranian, Greek, Latin, Germanic, Celtic, and Russian folktales.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful book for anyone studying Indo-European pre-Christian topics. It basically explains the relationship between myths of creation and how the ideological tradition contained within them upholds a social structure that was stable and solid.

[Mariah]

Mpls Central: BL660.L45 1986
(Doesn't have Death, War & Sacrifice)