The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frazer, James George, 1854-1941

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion" by James George Frazer is a scholarly work that explores the connections between magic, religion, and the mythology surrounding agricultural practices, written in the early 20th century. The book intricately examines the figure of the Dying and Reviving God in various cultures, focusing particularly on the ancient Greek pantheon and the significance of deities like Dionysus and Persephone. Its themes delve into how these figures reflect the cycles of nature, especially in relation to agricultural fertility. At the start of the work, the author sets the stage for a comparative study of religious beliefs and practices regarding the life cycles of crops and their symbolic representations in myth. Frazer introduces the concept of the Dying and Reviving God, starting with Dionysus, and draws connections to other deities like Demeter and Persephone. He presents the case that these gods symbolize the cyclical nature of agriculture, where death and rebirth mirror the processes of planting and harvesting. The opening chapters outline the relationships between these gods, the rituals associated with them, and the underlying significance of these practices for understanding the human experience of nature and society as a whole. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 65.3 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.

Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough

Release date is 2013-02-10