The Myth of the Birth of the Hero

A Psychological Exploration of Myth

Otto Rank, Gregory C. Richter, E. James Lieberman

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2015
• Edition: 2
• eBook ISBN:
  9781421419145
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Literary Criticism Theory
• Index: Psychology

First published in German in 1909, Otto Rank's original The Myth of the Birth of the Hero offered psychoanalytical interpretations of mythological stories as a means of understanding the human psyche. Like his mentor Sigmund Freud, Rank compared the myths of such figures as Oedipus, Moses, and Sargon with common dreams, seeing in both a symbolic fulfillment of repressed desire. In a new edition published thirteen years after the original, Rank doubled the size of his seminal work, incorporating new discoveries in psychoanalysis, mythology, and ethnology.

This expanded and updated edition has been eloquently translated by Gregory C. Richter and E. James Lieberman and includes an introductory essay by Robert A. Segal as well as Otto Rank's 1914 essay "The Play in Hamlet."

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introductory Essay
• Translators’ Introduction
• Preface to the First Edition
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Halftitle Page
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Cycle of Myths
• 3. The Interpretation of the Myths
• The Play within Hamlet: Toward an Analysis and Dynamic Understanding of the Work
• Notes
• References
• Index