The World of Myth: An Anthology

In "The World of Myth" David Adams Leeming provides a sweeping anthology of myths. There are fascinating stories of great floods from the ancient Babylonians, Hebrews, Chinese, and Mayans; tales of apocalypse from India, the Norse, Christianity, and modern science; myths of the mother goddess from Native American Hopi culture and James Lovelock's "Gaia." Leeming has culled myths from Aztec to Persian cultures, offering one of the most wide-ranging collections of what he calls "the collective dream of humanity." Organizing these myths according to theme, Leeming compares and contrasts how various societies have addressed similar concerns, or have told similar stories. Fantastic, tragic, bizarre, and sometimes funny, the myths presented speak of the most fundamental human experience, a part of what Joseph Campbell called "the wonderful song of the soul's high adventure."