Book Description: A survey of the past 300 years of theorizing
on myth, this book takes into account the work of such prominent
thinkers as Albert Camus, Claude Lévi-Strauss, C. G. Jung, and
Sigmund Freud. It focuses on different approaches to myth, from
all of the major disciplines--including science, religion,
philosophy, literature, and psychology. Robert Segal considers
the future study of myth, and the possible function of myth in
the world as the adult equivalent of play.In order to analyze
the different theories of myth, Segal focuses on the fable
concerning the fate of the preternaturally beautiful Adonis.
Where one theory does not work, he substitutes another myth,
showing that, for all their claims to all-inclusiveness, certain
theories, in fact, only apply to specific kinds of myths. A
uniform set of questions is provided to elucidate both the
strengths and the weaknesses of the conjectures.