Guest Author - Lana R. Mixon

“The history of myth is the history of humanity; our stories and beliefs, our curiosity and attempts to understand the world, link us to our ancestors and each other. Myths help us make sense of the universe.” This quote comes from Karen Armstrong, author of “A Short History of Myth” written in 2005. It is quite a profound statement about human beings.

As I was browsing through the bookstore about a year ago, the simplistic stick figures on the jacket cover of this book caught my eye. Then I noticed the author’s name, Karen Armstrong, which I recognized as an author of several books pertaining to religion. Her bio states that she was a Roman Catholic nun for several years. This interesting tidbit about her life was enough to prompt me to purchase the book even though I haven’t read any of Ms. Armstrong’s other books.

The first sentence is captivating; “Human beings have always been mythmakers.” Ms. Armstrong tackles the complex history of myths by simply breaking it down into time periods as follows:

1) What is a Myth?
2) The Paleolithic Period: The Mythology of the Hunters
3) The Neolithic Period: The Mythology of the Farmers
4) 4) The Early Civilizations
5) The Axial Age
6) The Post-Axial Period
7) The Great Western Transformation

Ms. Armstrong’s writing allows the reader to build a foundation upon which more complex ideas and information may be placed. Ms. Armstrong referred to 108 sources to write this concise 149 page book. Basically, she did her research quite well.

Ms. Armstrong defines her own opinion, within the first chapter, about the evolution of myth through the following statement, “Our modern alienation from myths in unprecedented. In the pre-modern world, mythology was indispensable. It not only helped people to make sense of their lives but also reveal regions of the human mind that would otherwise have remained inaccessible. It was an early form of psychology.”

Recently, I searched the internet to read other people’s reviews of this book. I was somewhat surprised to discover such a broad range of opinions. Some reviews state a negative opinion towards Ms. Armstrong’s simplification of such a complex subject matter. Other reviews matched mine more closely, which encompasses a positive stance for Ms. Armstrong’s ability to simplify and stay-on-topic. The New York Times Book Review states, “Witty, informative and contemplative: Ms. Armstrong can simplify complex ideas, but she is never simplistic.”

Reference: "A Short History of Myth" by Karen Armstrong