Name: The Golden Bough: Abridged Edition (Dover Thrift Editions)
Price: 28.68 NZD
Availability: InStock
Author: James George Frazer
ISBN: 9780486836102

portada The Golden Bough: Abridged Edition (Dover Thrift Editions)

The Golden Bough: Abridged Edition (Dover Thrift Editions)

Type

Physical Book

Author

James George Frazer

Publisher

Dover Publications

Year

2019

Language

English

Pages

768

Format

Paperback

ISBN13

9780486836102

Synopsis "The Golden Bough: Abridged Edition (Dover Thrift Editions) "

According to legend, runaway slaves could attain a sort of freedom by breaking off a branch -- the Golden Bough -- from a sacred tree. If the runaway could kill the tree's attendant priest, he would become King of the Wood until his defeat by a new challenger. This 1890 work by Sir James George Frazer, an expert in myth and religion, was inspired by the legend. An extensive study of the cults, rites, and myths of antiquity, The Golden Bough explores ancient customs and their parallels with early Christianity. Frazer's definitions of such terms as "magic," "religion," and "science" proved highly useful to his successors, and his explications of the legends profoundly influenced generations of prominent psychologists, writers, and poets. This abridgment of his multivolume magnum opus omits footnotes and occasionally condenses text; nevertheless, as the author himself observed, all of the original work's main principles remain intact, along with ample illustrative examples.

James George Frazer

(Author)

View Author's Page

James George Frazer (1854–1941) was an influential Scottish anthropologist and folklorist, a pioneer in the comparative studies of mythology and religion. He was born in Glasgow and studied at the universities of Glasgow and Cambridge. His most notable work, The Golden Bough, initially published in 1890 and expanded into twelve volumes between 1906 and 1915, analyzes the similarities between myths, rites, and beliefs from various cultures, proposing an evolution from magic to religion and, finally, to science.

Frazer was a professor at the University of Liverpool and a member of the Royal Society. Despite his partial blindness from 1930, he continued his academic work. His methodological approach was based on the collection of historical data and testimonies, without conducting direct fieldwork, which has been subject to criticism.

His legacy endures in the influence that The Golden Bough had on literature and modern thought, inspiring writers like T.S. Eliot. Although his evolutionary theory has been questioned, his ability to identify common patterns across different cultures remains a significant contribution to the study of comparative religions.

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