Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis
by Robert Graves 
, Raphael Patai
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The I, Claudius author's "lightning sharp interpretations and insights... are here brought to bear with equal effectiveness on the Book of Genesis" ( Kirkus Reviews ). This is a comprehensive look at the stories that make up the Old Testament and the Jewish religion, including the folk tales, apocryphal texts, midrashes, and other little-known documents that the Old Testament and the Torah do not include. In this exhaustive study, Robert Graves provides a fascinating account of pre-Biblical show more texts that have been censored, suppressed, and hidden for centuries, and which now emerge to give us a clearer view of Hebrew myth and religion than ever. Venerable classicist and historian Robert Graves recounts the ancient Hebrew stories, both obscure and familiar, with a rich sense of storytelling, culture, and spirituality. This book is sure to be riveting to students of Jewish or Judeo-Christian history, culture, and religion. show lessTags
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Scholars Robert Graves and Raphael Patai analyze the biblical book of Genesis in terms of Ancient Near Eastern mythology. It includes the notes and references required by scholars, yet most educated readers will find it accessible. Each chapter recounts one story, or “myth,” in prose form, synthesized from various traditions in addition to the biblical text. This is followed by commentary on the story, drawing parallels to Greek, Babylonian, Egyptian, and other myths and literatures.
Fascinating and scholarly alternate versions and interpretations of the stories in Genesis, drawn from the Apocrypha and post-Biblical sacred documents, such as the Midrashim. This book both provides additional stories, such as of Adam's other wives, and makes Biblical stories, such as the cursing of Noah's son Ham, more understandable by explaining what was excised (literally).
Chapters such as Adam's Helpmeets are very interesting.
> Azria Régine. Graves (Robert) Patai (Raphael). — Les Mythes hébreux.
In: Archives de sciences sociales des religions, n°66/2, 1988. pp. 277-278. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1988_num_66_2_2494_t1_0277_0000_4
In: Archives de sciences sociales des religions, n°66/2, 1988. pp. 277-278. … ; (en ligne),
URL : https://www.persee.fr/doc/assr_0335-5985_1988_num_66_2_2494_t1_0277_0000_4
Jan 8, 2021 (Edited)French
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Robert Graves (also known as Robert Ranke Graves) was born in 1895 in London and served in World War I. Goodbye to All That: an Autobiography (1929), was published at age thirty three, and gave a gritty portrait of his experiences in the trenches. Graves edited out much of the stark reality of the book when he revised it in 1957. Although his most show more popular works, I, Claudius (1934) and its sequel, Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (1935), were produced for television by the BBC in 1976 and seen in America on Masterpiece Theater, he was also famous as a poet, producing more than 50 volumes of poetry. Graves was awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Also a distinguished academic, Graves was a professor of English in Cairo, Egypt, in 1926, a poetry professor at Oxford in the 1960s, and a visiting lecturer at universities in England and the U.S. He wrote translations of Greek and Latin works, literary criticism, and nonfiction works on many other topics, including mythology and poetry. He lived most of his life in Majorca, Spain, and died after a protracted illness in 1985. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Robert Graves has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.
52+ Works 2,243 Members
Raphael Patai (November 22, 1910 - July 20, 1996), born Ervin György Patai, was a Hungarian-Jewish ethnographer, historian, orientalist and anthropologist. Patai's work was wide-ranging but focused primarily on the cultural development of the ancient Hebrews and Israelites, on Jewish history and culture, and on the anthropology of the Middle show more East. He was the author of hundreds of scholarly articles and several dozen books, including three autobiographical volumes. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis
- Original publication date
- 1963
- People/Characters
- Moses; Abel; Abraham; Adam; Benjamin; Cain (show all 18); Canaan; Esau; Isaac; Ishmael; Jacob; Joseph; Lot; Lucifer; Noah; Samail; Seth; Eve
- Important places
- Ai; Assyria; Babylon; Harran; Hebron; Jerusalem (show all 7); Machpelah
- First words
- Introduction -- Myths are dramatic stories that form a sacred charter either authorizing the continuation of ancient institutions, customs, rites and beliefs in the area where they are current, or approving alterations.
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 535
- Popularity
- 55,405
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.87)
- Languages
- 7 — English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Russian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 29
- ASINs
- 10
