Best products from r/mythology

We found 43 comments on r/mythology discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 106 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

Top comments mentioning products on r/mythology:

u/itsallfolklore · 5 pointsr/mythology

First, you should also be aware of Otto Rank, The Myth and Birth of the Hero (1932) who was a pioneer with this approach. Jung was an amazing scholar, and Campbell did an excellent job at synthesizing Jung's work for the general public (although he also made his own contribution). As a trained folklorist, I have problems with them both, but it is important to know what they are saying, even if it is to turn away from them.

I studied Jung for two years, reading many of his volumes under the direction of one of Jung's students. I would not have traded that time for the world. When I met my mentor, Sven S. Liljeblad (1899-2000), he told me to abandon Jung, but I was too young and uneducated to understand that sense of direction fully. Jung remains a secret, guilty pleasure of mine because he is simply so damn much fun, but while his work is fun to consider, it is not something that cannot be built upon. It must be taken, really, more on faith, and like all things taken on faith, one either accepts it or rejects it. If accepted, all one can do is ponder it. It is impossible to take it further, really.

Best of luck with all of this! I agree with the others: it won't hurt to stay in the class, but put everything in perspective! Let me know if I can help - feel free to PM me.

The following is an excerpt on Jung and Campbell (and Freud), taken from my Introduction to Folklore, which I used in my classes when I taught folklore before retiring; this may help:

>The popularity of one approach among non-folklorists warrants a digression. In the last part of the twentieth century, Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) created a great deal of interest in mythology and folklore with a series of publications on the subject. This was followed by a 1980s series of television interviews, which propelled Campbell to popularity, but not necessarily with all folklorists. To a certain extent, Campbell was relying on an older approach that Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) developed. Jung was a Swiss psychologist who studied with Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) but later broke with his mentor’s teachings to form his own approach to the study of the human mind. Jung developed the idea of the collective unconscious, maintaining in almost spiritual terms that all of humanity is linked by archetypes that existed in an unconscious common denominator. Ultimately, Jung implied that certain themes are woven into the fabric of the universe. According to Jung, all of humanity shared a symbolic vocabulary which manifests in dreams, mythology, folklore, and literature.

>Jungian psychology was extremely popular during the upheavals of the 1960s when people looked for mystical explanations of life to unify all existence. Despite the faddish qualities of the late twentieth-century consumption of Jungian ideas, it is easy to regard Jung as an exceptional thinker with an extraordinary background of diverse reading. Campbell borrowed heavily from Jung, presenting many of these ideas in an easily consumable package that, in its turn, became something of a fad during the 1980s. Campbell drew not only on Jung, but also on Otto Rank’s 1932 publication, The Myth of the Birth of the Hero.

>There are clearly many good ideas in this literature, but there are problems with the approach of Campbell, Jung, and Rank from the point of view of folklore studies. The first is that they tend to present the concept of tale types in mythology and folklore as though it were a new discovery. In other words, they ignore the highly developed bibliography that the discipline of folklore offers. The second, more serious problem is that this line scholarship makes no distinction between the core of a story and its culturally specific or narrator-specific variants and variations. The Jungian-Campbell approach treats any variant of a story as an expression of the collective unconscious, regardless of whether its form is the product of an individual storyteller’s idiosyncrasies or of the cultural predilections of a region made irrelevant by traveling to the next valley. And with this process, all the other variants are ignored, including ones that may contradict the initial observation. This does not mean that there are no valuable insights in the work of Jung and Campbell. There are, of course, but folklorists regard their approach as removed from their own discipline and flawed, to a certain extent.

>Dundes presented a similar critique of Freudian-based psychoanalysis of folktales. In his The Study of Folklore (1965), he wrote that “the analysis is usually based upon only one version…To comparative folklorists who are accustomed to examining hundreds of versions of a folktale or folksong before arriving at even a tentative conclusion, this apparent cavalier approach to folklore goes very much against the grain. How does the analyst know, for example, whether or not the particular version he is using is typical and representative.” (107) Dundes also pointed out that often the “variant” presented by the psychological analysis is from “a children’s literature anthology, rather than directly from oral tradition.”

u/Nocodeyv · 4 pointsr/mythology

Mesopotamian mythology (including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians) is actually one of the better documented mythologies of the ancient world. Despite the preponderance of "ancient alien" nonsense out there, a plethora of scholarly books exist on the subject, as well as websites curated by academic groups.

  • ORACC

    ORACC is an excellent place to start if you're interested in the major deities of Mesopotamia. Each entry contains historical information (cult centers, earliest attestation, etymology, etc), and well as mythology (genealogical, function in pantheon, etc). The entries are sourced, so you can follow up any queries you may have.

  • ETCSL

    The ETCSL is a collection of Mesopotamian mythology in easy-to-digest format. Most of the material on here was written during the Old Babylonian period (c. 1800 BCE) but is based on earlier traditions found in the Akkadian and Ur-III periods (c. 2300-2000 BCE). A print-version of many of the myths contained on the webpage can be found on Amazon here.

  • SEAL

    SEAL operates much the same as the ETCSL, only it is focused exclusively on literature from the Akkadian empire (c. 2350 BCE). If you follow the "corpus" link you'll be taken to the entire collection of texts SEAL has available for browsing.

    There are other such collections, similar to ETCSL and SEAL that are available online, but these are good starting points if you don't yet have your feet wet regarding the subject matter. You should also, if you're interested, explore print-material as well. Much of Mesopotamia's core research is published in book format, by professors and archaeologists who're still working on dig-sites or in universities.

    A few names and texts to consider:

  • History Begins at Sumer
  • The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character

    Samuel Noah Kramer, who published the above, provides an excellent introduction to Sumerian culture and mythology. His books are easily readable and often times serve as most people's introductions to Mesopotamia.

  • Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

    Jean Bottéro's masterwork has been translated, but is approachable and easy to read. This volume explores the emotional and psychological connection of the Mesopotamian people to their religion.

  • The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion
  • The Harps That Once: Sumerian Poetry in Translation

    Thorkild Jacobsen is one of the best translators of Mesopotamian material. These two books present dozens of myths, cult songs, and other works for the reader, while also exploring the patterns and motifs present in Mesopotamian religion across its 3000+ year history.

    There are other works I could recommend, but I don't want to overwhelm you with options. If you're interested, I also run the subreddit /r/Sumer, which is dedicated to reconstructing the religious beliefs and practices of the Mesopotamian people. It isn't the most active of places, but I'm still trying to get it off the ground. Feel free to join us over there if you wish.
u/theredknight · 7 pointsr/mythology

It depends on what you're drawn to. Are you more interested in interpretation of story for your own personal growth? Or interpretation of films? Or are you looking to create stories?

The best books I know on this subject at least on interpretive myth include:

  • Women who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes (sure it's about women's stories which can dissuade some younger men learning about this subject but it's seriously one of the best books on how to interpret a myth out there)
  • The Hero Within by Carol S. Pearson. This is more if you're trying to find your own personal mythology for instance.
  • The Water of Life by Michael Meade is tremendous. He does amazing events around the United States and gives good performances as well as talks and storytelling online via his non-profit Mosaic Voices.
  • To learn more about interpretation and ways to interact with your unconscious, I'd recommend many of Robert A. Johnson's books specifically Inner Work however Transformations of Masculine Consciousness, He, She, We and Living with the Heavenly Goddess are good too depending on what topic you're interested in.
  • For storytelling, I'd recommend the book Healing Hearts Communities which consists of a collection of stories which are appropriate to use for a variety of modern requirements. So you have stories talking about addiction or violence etc.

    In my experience, after Campbell people usually begin to drift toward what their personal myths are. So you have some people who get really into film and get caught on Vogler or Bonnet's work, others who want to go help returning veterans and end up getting really into Odysseus in America. Or people begin focusing on different cultures and religions and move from there.
u/senchae · 6 pointsr/mythology

Beginning initially with Celtic Studies, I tracked into Early Irish Literature and Language (involving what might be popularly thought of as mythology, primarily study of Otherworld motifs in early Irish-language narratives) before later also side-tracking into a degree in Folklore within the auspices of the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin, also with a focus in diachronic study of Otherworld motifs in modern and medieval contexts. Though I am a lapsed Celticist-stroke-Folklorist at this stage.

While there are a number of programs available throughout the world, depending on what areas of study are of interest, if you are American I would suggest looking into the Folklore Institute at Indiana University Bloomington, which has numerous folklore luminaries amongst her alumnae and emeriti. /u/itsallfolklore would be better able to offer suggestions and guidance regarding options within the American domain, though I would pre-emptively recommend his ready-on-hand and excellent, Introduction to Folklore. Richard Dorson's Folklore and Folklife (University of Chicago Press, 1972) is another classic, if somewhat more aged, general introduction.

If you are European, or have European-contexted interests, I can offer some further suggestions for programs and institutions.

Folklore and/or Ethnology are relatively small fields, and have a disproportionate number of independent scholars in their ranks in part due to the comparative lack of avenues for formal training or professional support. It can be an expensive and challenging area, depending on the resources available, to pursue purely within the academy. Study of folklore or mythology, to some measure or definition, within the context of other disciplines, is not uncommon, though I couldn't comment with experience in that regard.

If your particular interests lay outside the American- or Anglo-spheres, I would strongly recommend developing your language skills immediately in regards to your preferred area. In addition to your preferred L2s, German and Swedish would also be exceptionally valuable in terms of Folkloristic scholarship.

Within my means to do so, I would be happy to assist you if you have any particular questions.

Also please see this comment by /u/itsallfolklore (at the time of writing further below). He is your best resource to consult in this regard.

u/Nymeria2015 · 2 pointsr/mythology

You might have better luck if you expand your search to Ancient Persian Mythology and include terms like "God Of Light" or "Ahura Mazda"

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Here are a few links about Ancient Persian Mythology.

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http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Mythology/gods_goddesses.htm

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https://www.amazon.com/Persian-Mythology-Library-Worlds-Legends/dp/0872260178

https://www.amazon.com/Persian-Myths-Vesta-Sarkhosh-Curtis/dp/0292711581

http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.com/2012/02/persian-myth.html

http://rbedrosian.com/Imyth.htm

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u/RubyRedSea · 3 pointsr/mythology

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths was the one I grew up on that made me love mythology. A copy ended up in my classroom when I taught 6th grade and they loved it too. Highly recommended!

u/storysearch · 2 pointsr/mythology

If you like Greek and Norse, I'd recommend D'Auliere's Greek and Norse.

Also, I'd recommend fairly tales from the Pantheon Library, which do not have images but will help him to learn to picture them in his mind and pay attention as well. I should give you a warning though: some of them can still be a bit intense and inappropriate to modern listeners, depending on which culture the stories come from.

You're going to especially want to proof-read the European ones for strange acts of violence as well as many other cultures for potential moments of sexuality or bathroom humor. Though the potty humor might be very amusing to your son depending which age he is.

u/iknowofabrownstar · 1 pointr/mythology

Táin Bó Cúailnge is amazing. https://www.amazon.com/Tain-Translated-Irish-Epic-Cuailnge/dp/0192803735/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=ulster+cycle&qid=1554669328&s=gateway&sr=8-2

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Anything published from Oxford's World Classics is always great quality too, although I haven't read any of their Irish mythology books.

u/Young-frisky · 1 pointr/mythology

Like i said: a good comparison to what I'm looking for would be the "Fanes" epos, by the Ladin culture. It was collected by the austrian journalist and writer Karl Felix Wolff at the beginning of 1900 and can be read in the "myths and legends of the dolomites"

Link to the book for the interested: https://www.amazon.com/Dolomites-their-legends-Felix-Wolff-ebook/dp/B00BHIXA8S

u/InsideOutsider · 1 pointr/mythology

Not analytical, but [The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0679733485/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_WeFzyb8P38Y07) and [Trickster Makes This World] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0374532559/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_rgFzybHSHHMHP) are both pleasurable reads.

u/jerichojak · 3 pointsr/mythology

http://www.amazon.com/Trickster-Makes-This-World-Mischief/dp/0374532559

This one's a great book for trickster gods across cultures: the Raven, Coyote, Odysseus, Hermes, Krishna, etc.

u/spirithound · 2 pointsr/mythology

I own this book. Has a lot of obscure gods from all over the world. Hard cover looks good on a shelf. There is also Manual of Mythology. If you can find a hard cover it is a simple but classic design.

u/trysca · 3 pointsr/mythology

Read the Tàin translation by Thomas Kinsella The Tain: Translated from the Irish Epic Tain Bo Cuailnge https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0192803735/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_GHNtDbYX3YTFF