Read Online The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books

Read Online The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books



Download As PDF : The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books

Download PDF The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books

First published in English in 1954, this founding work of the history of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade. Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no fewer than half a dozen European languages, The Myth of the Eternal Return illuminates the religious beliefs and rituals of a wide variety of archaic religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to their practices is impossible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding their views to enrich the contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. This book includes an introduction from Jonathan Z. Smith that provides essential context and encourages readers to engage in an informed way with this classic text.

Read Online The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books


"So far, my favourite of Eliade's works! I tore through it in two days. Everything he writes is genius, but this one just makes me happy on so many levels!"

Product details

  • Series Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology (Book 122)
  • Paperback 232 pages
  • Publisher Princeton University Press; Reprint edition (November 20, 2018)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10 0691182973

Read The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books

Tags : The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History (Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology) [Mircea Eliade, Willard R. Trask, Jonathan Z. Smith] on . First published in English in 1954, this founding work of the history of religions secured the North American reputation of the Romanian émigré-scholar Mircea Eliade. Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no fewer than half a dozen European languages,Mircea Eliade, Willard R. Trask, Jonathan Z. Smith,The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History (Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology),Princeton University Press,0691182973,General Adult,History,History of religion,Non-Fiction,Philosophy/General,RELIGION / History,Religion/Ethics,Religion/History,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General,Science/Cosmology,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States

The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books Reviews :


The Myth of the Eternal Return Cosmos and History Mythos The Princeton/Bollingen Series in World Mythology Mircea Eliade Willard R Trask Jonathan Z Smith 9780691182971 Books Reviews


  • Eliade's fascist leanings deserve condemnation, but his studies in anthropology deserve to be considered. He hits on elements of human nature that are not spoken of in the field today; these will be discounted under the assumed qualification of anthropology as an empirical science. As an application of empiricism, his ideas work well when they are bracketed from his politics. It seems a shame to lose so much insight into life and human nature for the sake of a personal error.
  • This book is a classic must read and is easy to understand even for novice students of religion and culture. The book sent to me by must have been a misprint copy that should have been destroyed by the publisher. It contains many fun little printing mistakes where letters are often replaced by symbols. For example, the phrase "history of religions" is printed "history of relig2ns". They charged $22 for this copy that was likely meant to be sent to a recycling facility.
  • Great book, BUT... I have the same issue as another reviewer - typos/errors all over the front and back cover every instance of 'io' (as in 'religion' or 'nation') is replaced by a superscript numeral '2', including the front cover subtitle. And there's more. See photo. The interior is fine because it's just a scan from a previous edition, but as with the other reviewer, and Princeton shouldn't be selling these faulty copies. Ordered via Prime, not third-party.
  • So far, my favourite of Eliade's works! I tore through it in two days. Everything he writes is genius, but this one just makes me happy on so many levels!
  • The book was in decent shape. It still is. That's good. )

    It's not a cakewalk read for me. A respected friend with a lot of crossover interests recommended. It holds my interest. In a world of strange books, and where I prefer proof, and proof, and proof.....and demonstrations I do not feel "two rows behind the audience." It is not alienating, but it is a highlight making/note taking read.

    My interest, and back ground is Heathen. I do NOT believe in esoteric things. I want to, why not? Many wish to believe, and choose strange things to believe in.

    II purchased used. like that it had a bit of notes written by someone else. I think it's fun to see what caught someone else's eye. I have my own views, but to be privy to an unexpected pop in of a line here it there.... This is more rare than a brand new book. To me I like.
  • Great Read. Enjoys Eliade's writings.
  • I read Eliade in college and wrote papers on him. And now I can't comprehend a single paragraph.

    I was pretty smart back then. Or, maybe I'm just kind of dumb now. I don't know.

    Read him while you're young.
  • I am a newcomer to the scholarship of Eliade, being referred to him, through lecture, only recently by the late Terence McKenna (who explicitly mentions the universally respected academic cornerstone "Shamanism") and Stephan Hoeller. In my initial interest for finding his works I was concerned with where to enter the massive corpus, having already a keen insight into the subjects of cultural and religious psychology (that is to say, their history). By reading a fair amount of reviews on the highly rated tomes, I came across one that mentions Eliade himself recommending this particular offering as a starting place to his brand of information; this a result of Eliade being asked--as he often was, apparently--basically, `Where would one begin with you?' Having that come straight from the source, it was simply a matter of placing my order (along with "Shamanism"), and embarking upon my studies in his stream of thought.

    I could regale the reader with a long and involved report, but would rather say something more to the point I cannot praise this book too much. It comes highly recommended to anyone interested in the main differences, psychologically speaking, between our distant "ahistorical" ancestors' (from across the globe) and our own "historicistic" modes of religious worship, social activity, and spiritual reconciliation to "time". Eliade touches upon the non-Jungian archetypes that comprise the tribal structure, and how actual events became interpreted mythologically (thus meaning nothing in themselves); how archaic man was clearly freer than we, his time-bound successors--freer to approach the deity, to appease the deity, to co-create with the deity, et cetera. He concludes with how and why such a disposition, such a world is no longer available to us, being culturally resigned to the temporal realms (via clocks, and other mundane, "profane" scheduling systems). Do not be fooled by the short length--these are considerably deep waters, if one is not well-versed in the material. Eliade is damn thorough, making an astounding number of references to groups and cultures, authors and works, that might not be at the forefront of your brain or tip of your tongue (his acumen is found to be quite impressive). Aside from reasonably sober expositions, Eliade lends himself to an immensely enjoyable and accessible reading--even inspiring in certain spots. Here is the perfect balance of scholarship and entertainment; for some this will reveal itself to be another piece of "the big puzzle", for others it will be a catalyst to starting that puzzle. Read it for fun, homework, inner-work, re-read it for clarification--whatever--the value is immeasurable.

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