INDO-EUROPEAN STUDIES

Comparative Mythologies

by: Jaan Puhvel

Right out of the gate we get an idea in the introduction of what the author intends with this book. The book is going to pop your knowledge bubble on a few myths that you may have assumed from the world we live in as well as it is going to be very informative and a highly academic read. This was not originally on my list of reads for this Dedicant package but being unable to get my hands on certain books over the pandemic here we are. To my understanding, this book was attempted by another in our Grove and they passed on it which didn’t help with my anxiety diving in. I am glad I read it though. It was an incredibly difficult read and I feel I spent an equal amount of time rereading passages as I originally read which in the end was fine.

The book is pretty much three books in one. The first section is a breakdown of how mythology and Indo-European studies break down and make things work. This gives you a solid idea of where the concepts of the next section come from and how various scholars have come to these conclusions. In a sense, it is the author's goal here to assure you the reader that the knowledge that is found in the rest of the book is based in solid study and fact. The second aspect of the book covers those mythologies from a fairly wide array of cultures. Celtic, German, Slav, Indo-Iranian, Greek etc. This was a fantastic aspect as most books I have come across focus on very few cultures. This alone will make this book a mainstay on my bookshelf for years to come. The third section takes the second section and explains how it all works together and does a deep comparison of the cultures and their myths by breaking them down into a variety of themes.

Overall the book is a solid read and as I expressed earlier it will be a mainstay on my bookshelf for some time and something I will sit down and read again.