God: Myths of the Male Divine - Hardcover

Leeming, David Adams; Page, Jake

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195093062 ISBN 13: 9780195093063

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Gods is a "biography" of the god archetype from Palaeolithic times to the present. As a sequel to Goddess, this collection speaks to myth and gender issues in relation to the use of the male as a metaphor for the great mystery of existence. The authors retell myths from North and South America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa, tracing evolution of the male god from servant of the goddess to seed-bearer, to war god, to the patriarchal god of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

About this title

Review:

"For an overview of the major themes in a male God's life there is nothing comparable. Even the classic works of Joseph Campbell lack the clarity and organization of these works to bring out the salient features of the deity's life."--The Reader's Review "In a companion work to their previous volume Goddess, the authors present the concept of god through the ages. Illustrated by myths of many different times and lands, the continuous mystery of life seems always transformed into human forms. Whether shaman, trickster, creator, or consort of the goddess, the male principle pervades all religions.... A fresh and readable account."--Library Journal "Building upon the market impact created by their Goddesses: Myths of the Female Divine, Leeming and Page continue their exploration of evolving divine archetypes from prehistory to the present by focusing with an equal effectiveness on masculine metaphors."--Publishers Weekly "The kind of insight these two old Princeton boys derived from their magnificent book Goddess has been profitably used to look at God: Myths of the Male Divine. The result is more entertaining, a lot more profitable than screeds on the masculine mystique. Men want to be gods as much as women want to be goddesses. Here's how."--Paul Bohannan, author of We, the Alien: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

From the Back Cover:

Illustrating their points with materials ranging from the prehistoric cave paintings to the mystic Jewish Kabbalah, from the ancient Indian Vedas to tales of the North American Indians and other myths from around the world, Leeming and Page reveal the changing mask of the male divine. We see how that divinity emerged in some areas from cults involving "animal masters" (as in the Bear Man of the Cherokee Indians), sorcerers, and shamans who embarked on spirit journeys. God sometimes appeared as the trickster - as Loki of the Norse people, Legba of Africa's Yoruba, Raven and Coyote of North America, and Krishna of India - both creative and bedeviling.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0195093062
• ISBN 13: 9780195093063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 212