The Golden Bough

The greatly revised and enlarged twelve-volume third edition (1911–15) of Sir James Frazer's controversial work on classical religion.

James George Frazer (Author)

9781108047340, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 April 2012

344 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2 cm, 0.44 kg

This work by Sir James Frazer (1854–1941) is widely considered to be one of the most important early texts in the fields of psychology and anthropology. At the same time, by applying modern methods of comparative ethnography to the classical world, and revealing the superstition and irrationality beneath the surface of the classical culture which had for so long been a model for Western civilisation, it was extremely controversial. Frazer was greatly influenced by E. B. Tylor's Primitive Culture (also reissued in this series), and by the work of the biblical scholar William Robertson Smith, to whom the first edition is dedicated. The twelve-volume third edition, reissued here, was greatly revised and enlarged, and published between 1911 and 1915; the two-volume first edition (1890) is also available in this series. Volume 5 (1914) considers the oriental roots of the Greek myths of Adonis and Attis.

Preface to the first edition
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the third edition
Book I. Adonis: 1. The myth of Adonis
2. Adonis in Syria
3. Adonis in Cyprus
4. Sacred men and women
5. The burning of Melcarth
6. The burning of Sandan
7. Sardanapalus and Hercules
8. Volcanic religion
9. The ritual of Adonis
10. The Gardens of Adonis
Book II. Attis: 1. The myth and ritual of Attis
2. Attis as a god of vegetation
3. Attis as the father god
4. Human representatives of Attis
5. The hanged god
6. Oriental religions in the West
7. Hyacinth.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]