Monsters Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors
epub | 5.54 MB | English | Author :David D. Gilmore | 2012 | University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Book Description :

The human mind needs monsters. In every culture and in every epoch in human history, from ancient Egypt to modern Hollywood, imaginary beings have haunted dreams and fantasies, provoking in young and old shivers of delight, thrills of terror, and endless fascination. All known folklores brim with visions of looming and ferocious monsters, often in the role as adversaries to great heroes. But while heroes have been closely studied by mythologists, monsters have been neglected, even though they are equally important as pan-human symbols and reveal similar insights into ways the mind works. In Monsters: Evil Beings, Mythical Beasts, and All Manner of Imaginary Terrors, anthropologist David D. Gilmore explores what human traits monsters represent and why they are so ubiquitous in people's imaginations and share so many features across different cultures.
Using colorful and absorbing evidence from virtually all times and places, Monsters is the first attempt by...

Category : | Folklore & Mythology, Cultural Anthropology, General Anthropology