Libro complesso, ampio, ricco, labirintico, stratificato e sicuramente imperdibile per gli amanti del mito, che viene eviscerato nel suo significato intrinseco, negli aspetti reconditi per portare un'analisi completa che permette una visione ampia e una rivoluzione nell'approccio. Anche se c'è una predominanza classica troviamo anche mitologie extraeuropee, che non rimangano ancillari o semplici confronti ma sono protagonisti tridimensionali.
Parlare di questo libro è più difficile che leggerlo, anche se risulta quasi più un manuale di studio eppure è intrigante e in grado di non lasciare impantanare il lettore nemmeno nei passaggi più filosofici.

An academic perspective on myths and legends and their sources. After reading you will no longer see Shakespeare as the primary source of some of his plays. A great book interested in deep patterns of myth and archetypes.

This one took me about two years to read. Was it worth it? I'm not sure. Some very interesting ideas in there though.

The fundamental thesis of this dense book is that the myths of human cultures are not quite what they seem and relate to movements in the sky of astronomical bodies over enormous periods. This also explains the reasons why there are such vivid similarities in the myths across cultures divided by vast geographies. This view is far more accepted now, it wasn't when this book was written, but it definitely underlies the fact that prehistoric cultures were far more advanced than we are willing to give them credit for, and reinforces the notion in the Hindu texts (also highlighted in the documentary 'The Great Year') that time is circular, and not linear and therefore our current civilization is not the most advanced in history.
It is a fascinating though difficult read, as the authors take the story-lines of myths and cut across cultures to delve into their real meaning. They are convincing to the very bones, especially if you are exposed to the logic of these alternate explanations, long expounded in the ancient Hindu texts. A must read, especially for those bemused by the vast failings of the classical theories.

Amazing scholarship combined with exceptional thought and analysis make this an essential work. The book is marred however by the lack of an hypothesis as to the reasons why our ancestors went to so much pain to pass on the knowledge encoded in the myths. It uncovers many mysteries but it does not offer any answers.

In essence, Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend, the authors, have complied a dazzling analysis of many of the myths from many cultures around the world. The purpose of such an endeavor was to show a common link between many myths from diverse cultures, such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh and the Biblical flood story. The former pre-dates the latter.
There are many examples given and explored within this book, which appears to support the authors' premise: the origins of human knowledge has been transmitted through myth for many thousands of years. It is peculiar that widely diverse cultures would have myths that are often almost identical.
I certainly am not educated enough in these areas to give my opinion one way or another, but I am impressed with the presentation and depth of the material. Furthermore, much of it does corroborate other evidence I have read by other researchers.
See for yourself. But beware this is a difficult read.

Since this book is literally full of allegory metaphor simile and broken interpretation of past civilization poetry and mythology... let me use my own metaphor to critique this book!

The author serves what they obviously consider an epicurean delight made from male bovine excrement. With abundance of content and significant amount of aromatic seasons and scents to cover the stench and distaste. Since the content is more than plentiful for the reader with hearty appetite with a strong stomach! If a reader finds a chewy morsal of crap, the book is very well referenced to find out where that reader can get more of that tasty bit.

Back to being serious. I was told this book actually demonstrated that past/early civilization mythology actually provide proof of some very complex cosmology/astronomical theory And explained the connect of that content in the context of precise scientific analysis.... Not even close.

If you are looking for a Science book, avoid this one unless you love disappointment!

This book was interesting, but the authors went a bit further than evidence permits in theorizing astrological underpinnings for numerous world myths. I would certainly be willing to acknowledge an astrological influence in some of the myths they explore, just not in all of them.

The discussion of the myths themselves was certainly engaging. I was not aware that Shakespeare had been influenced by an earlier Scandinavian myth revolving around a person named Amleth. Other discussions like that on the legendary primeval Persian king Yima were equally interesting. I had noted the parallels between the fall of Yima and that of Lucifer before, but the writers show convincingly that Yima parallels the Roman god Saturn as well. Both Saturn and Yima (also known as Jamshid) ruled over a primordial golden age. Both also were superseded by another ruler and another age. Philosophy that utilized myth is also referred to. Ancient philosophers such as Plato, Plutarch, Macrobius, Proclus, etc, are great sources for myth and astrology.

The myths and literature that they explore is rather wide, spanning different continents and civilizations, so one could argue that when drawing from such a vast well of information, they could find seemingly relevant data to support many theses that would be quite untenable given a more appropriately restrictive criteria. One must accept the assumption that civilizations separated by oceans had some contact. If one does accept this supposition, it simply begs other questions such as: how does stock astrological myths get shared by civilizations that are also separated by language? On the strictly human plain, the presumption seems to face more than one obstacle.

It can hardly be denied that astrology was incredibly important to ancient civilizations, but the theory that even seemingly un-astrological myths also contain oblique astrology would be a difficult thesis to maintain without substantial evidence. That disparate civilizations shared this base astrology would be equally difficult to prove. I'm not sure the writers prove that case convincingly across the board, but the investigation and discussion was worthwhile. I give the book around 3 to 3-and-half stars.

am rereading. immense.

Great book, neat thesis.

Six stars at times. One star at others.

Brilliant but so discursive. Full of shining gems of thought, encrusted with all but impenetrable allusions. Without a knowledge background in half a dozen different mythologies, there are many sections here so difficult to understand. There are paragraphs with references to five different myths (for example, American Indian, Finnish, Hindu, Greek and Egyptian) and, although I have a passing acquaintance with some, I was often lost.

It's like walking in on a conversation where the authors are talking to each other and feel no need to explain each term as it arises. Often they do - but also they often don't. If you are familiar with such words, you probably won't notice these lapses - but I was too often floundering and the context didn't give the meaning away.

That said, there's still heaps of thought-provoking stuff here - and I'll read the book again.

This was a fun read, very much in the vein of The White Goddess and other scholarly literature about mythology. De Santillana is adamant that a lot of world myth is cleverly disguised astronomy, and he makes a good case for many cryptic details in mythology from Gilgamesh to the Bible and Finnish folk tales referring to things like the precession of the equinoxes. His more controversial claim is that the similarities in myths from around the world (explained in other scholars' analyses through the concept of Jungian archetypes) indicate an ancient body of myth that a prehistoric civilization concocted, which was later disseminated through the migration of humans worldwide.

Even if I didn't necessarily buy into his theory, I really enjoyed de Santillana's comprehensive overview of world mythology and literary analysis.