A scholarly approach to sixty-one stories from the book of Genesis, following in the lucid format of Graves' canonical The Greek Myths
An exhaustive study of sixty-one stories from the Old Testament and the Torah, as well as pre-biblical texts censored for centuries, that nuance, extend, and complete the book of Genesis. Graves and Patai, renowned scholars of Greco-Roman and Hebrew mythology, transcend the Christian biblical and Judaic versions of these narratives, in order to redefine myth. Myths are reconceived as dramatic stories that form a sacred charter either authorizing the continuance or the alteration of religious beliefs. Authorized biblical texts are interpreted against the grain to expose folk tales, apocryphal texts, midrashes, and other little-known documents that the Old Testament and the Torah exclude. Thus, the mythological component underlying the theological component is revealed. This is a useful companion to Graves' The Greek Myths, as it puts forth the thesis that the Hebrews, unlike the Greeks, used myth to sermonize on national history and destiny. Though the authors were true intellectuals, they were considered mavericks by the mainstream academy.
Collected in
The Graves Project
Robert Graves (1895–1985) was a preeminent English poet, novelist, critic, translator, and scholar of classical mythology. He served in World War I—an experience recounted in his 1929 autobiography, Good-Bye to All That—and later became the first professor of English literature at the University of Cairo. Best remembered today for his acclaimed historical novels about the Roman emperor Claudius, I, Claudius and Claudius the God, his other books include Count Belisarius, Lawrence and the Arabs, They Hanged My Saintly Billy, Homer's Daughter, The Golden Fleece, The Siege and Fall of Troy, Ann at Highwood Hall, The White Goddess, The Hebrew Myths, and Collected Poems. He is also the co-author of The Reader Over Your Shoulder: A Handbook for Writers of English Prose.
