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The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A psychological interpretation of mythology

Chapter 2: The Myth of the Birth of the Hero A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology
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About This Book

The work surveys recurrent birth-and-origin motifs in hero legends from diverse cultures and subjects them to a psychoanalytic reading. It interprets patterns such as endangered infancy, concealment or exile, miraculous survival, and later triumph as symbolic expressions of familial tensions, birth-related anxieties, and ambivalent parent-child dynamics. Through comparative analysis and close readings of many traditional accounts, the author argues that these shared story-structures stem from universal psychic processes rather than solely from historical transmission. The study pairs theoretical discussion with illustrative case studies to support its psychological explanation.

Nervous and Mental Disease Monograph
Series, No. 18

The Myth of the Birth of the Hero
A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology

BY
DR. OTTO RANK
of Vienna

Authorized Translation by
DRS. F. ROBBINS and SMITH ELY JELLIFFE

NEW YORK

THE JOURNAL OF NERVOUS AND MENTAL DISEASE
PUBLISHING COMPANY
1914