The myth of the eternal return : or, Cosmos and history / Mircea Eliade ; translated from the French by Willard R. Trask.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eliade, Mircea, 1907-1986.

Contributor:

Trask, Willard R. (Willard Ropes), 1900-1980.

The Library of Chaim Potok (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Bollingen series ; 46.

Bollingen series ; 46

Standardized Title:

Mythe de l'éternel retour. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Religion.

Myth.

History--Religious aspects.

History.

Cosmology.

Penn Provenance:

Potok, Adena (donor) (Potok Collection copy)

Physical Description:

xv pages, 1 unnumbered page, 195 pages, 1 unnumbered page ; 22 cm.

regular print

Other Title:

Cosmos and history

Place of Publication:

[Princeton, N.J.] : Princeton University Press, [1971, 1965]

Summary:

This founding work of the history of religions, first published in English in 1954, secured the North American reputation of the Romanian emigre-scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-1986). Making reference to an astonishing number of cultures and drawing on scholarship published in no less than half a dozen European languages, Eliade's "The Myth of the Eternal Return makes both intelligible and compelling the religious expressions and activities of a wide variety of archaic and "primitive" religious cultures. While acknowledging that a return to the "archaic" is no longer possible, Eliade passionately insists on the value of understanding this view in order to enrich our contemporary imagination of what it is to be human. Jonathan Z. Smith's new introduction provides the contextual background to the book and presents a critical outline of Eliade's argument in a way that encourages readers to engage in an informed conversation with this classic text.

Contents:

Archetypes and Repetition: The problem; Celestial archetypes of territories, temples, and cities; The symbolism of the center; Repetition of the cosmogony; Divine models of rituals; Archetypes of profane activities; Myths and history

The Regeneration of Time: Year, new year, cosmogony; Periodicity of the creation; continuous regeneration of time

Misfortune and History: Normality of suffering; History regarded as theophany; Cosmic cycles and history; Destiny and history

The Terror of History: Survival of the myth of eternal return; The difficulties of historicism; Freedom and history; Despair or faith.

Notes:

Originally published under title Le Mythe de l'éternel retour: archétypes et répétition by Librairie Gallimard, NRF, Paris, 1949."

"Second printing with correction, 1965; first Princeton/Bollingen paperback printing, 1971"--Title page verso.

"Published in Harper torchbooks paperback edition (New York, 1959) under the title Cosmos and history"--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 165-174) and index.

Local Notes:

Potok Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Adena Potok.

Potok Collection copy has numerous underlines, marginal marks and ms. annotations.

Potok Collection copy is "Second paperback printing, 1974".

ISBN:

0691017778

9780691017778

9780691097985

0691097984

OCLC:

963954