WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The Myth of the Birth of the Hero: A psychological interpretation of mythology cover

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

Chapter 5: Sargon
By Otto Rank
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

Mythology, Legends & FolklorePsychiatry/Psychology

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.

Sargon

Probably the oldest transmitted hero myth in our possession is derived from the period of the foundation of Babylon (about 2800 B.C.), and concerns the birth history of its founder, Sargon the First. The literal translation of the report—which according to the mode of rendering appears to be an original inscription by King Sargon himself—is as follows: [27]

“Sargon, the mighty king, King of Agade, am I. My mother was a vestal, my father I knew not, while my father’s brother dwelt in the mountains. In my city Azupirani, which is situated on the bank of the Euphrates, my mother, the vestal, bore me. In a hidden place she brought me forth. She laid me in a vessel made of reeds, closed my door with pitch, and dropped me down into the river, which did not drown me. The river carried me to Akki, the water carrier. Akki the water carrier lifted me up in the kindness of his heart, Akki the water carrier raised me as his own son, Akki the water carrier made of me his gardener. In my work as a gardener I was beloved by Istar, I became the king, and for 45 years I held kingly sway.”