Myth of the Eternal Return: Or, Cosmos And History (Arkana S.) - Softcover

Eliade, Mircea

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140191771 ISBN 13: 9780140191776

Publisher: Penguin, 1989

Synopsis

The author's thesis is that ancient man envisaged events not as constituting a linear, progressive history, but simply as so many creative responses to primordial archetypes. The renowned author has also written "Shamanism" and "Yoga".

About this title

Review

"A luminous, profound, and extremely stimulating work. . . . This is an essay which anyone interested in the history of religion and the mentality of ancient man will have to read."--Review of Religion

"Profound and pregnant research in the psychology of time and the intuitive forms of the mind as revealed by the early cultures' attitude toward history."--Nation

About the Author

Eliade was educated as a philosopher. He published extensively in the history of religions and acted as editor-in-chief of Macmillan's Encyclopedia of Religion. The influence of his thought, through these works and through thirty years as director of History of Religions department at the University of Chicago, is considerable. Eliade's analysis of religion assumes the existence of "the sacred" as the object of worship of religious humanity. It appears as the source of power, significance, and value. Humanity apprehends "hierophanies"--physical manifestations or revelations of the sacred--often, but not only, in the form of symbols, myths, and ritual. Any phenomenal entity is a potential hierophany and can give access to non-historical time: what Eliade calls illud tempus (Latin for 'that time,' I tend to think of it as 'yon time'). The apprehension of this sacred time is a constitutive feature of the religious aspect of humanity.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0140191771
• ISBN 13: 9780140191776
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208