Sex in the World of Myth (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781780239774)

In Sex in the World of Myth, David Leeming argues that sex is as important in myths as it is in our daily lives. Casting myths as our cultural dreams, Leeming shows that sex is pervasive in all mythologies because it has obsessed and confused us like nothing else. He reveals how sexual myths, like all myths, can have many purposes. The reproductive acts of the ancient Greek goddess Gaia, for instance, may reflect a pre-Olympian matriarchal social system, while tales of the unbridled sexual deeds of the Polynesian Maui, and many others, speak to a natural fascination with the power and mystery of sexual drives. Both a survey of the sex lives of the world's mythological figures and their deep meaning, Sex in the World of Myth demonstrates that even when such myths are meant to elicit laughter or titillation, the participation in them of sacred heroes and deities means they are in some sense religious--tales offering us partial answers to the nature of existence in general, and of human sexuality in particular.

Author: David Leeming
ISBN-10: 1780239777
ISBN-13: 9781780239774
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Language: English
Published: 11/15/2018
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 8.60h x 5.60w x 1.10d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 04/01/2019