Carl Kerényi

The Sanctuary of Eleusis, near Athens, was the centre of a religious cult that endured for nearly two thousand years and whose initiates came from all parts of the civilised world. Looking at the tendency to "see visions," C. Kerényi examines the Mysteries of Eleusis from the standpoint not only of Greek myth but also of human nature. Kerényi holds...

This introduction to the interior world of mythic consciousness has gone through many popular editions and become a classic point of reference for students of Greek religion as well as depth psychology. When referencing the title, avoid putting it in quotes or speech marks. Read Essays on a Science of Mythology with an eye for understanding the profound insights it...

This work presents a historical account of the religion of Dionysos, from its beginnings in the Minoan culture, down to its transition to a cosmic and cosmopolitan religion of late antiquity under the Roman Empire. It constructs a picture of Dionysian worship, always underlining the constitutive element of myth. Included in this study are the secret cult sects of the...

A landmark account of the divine physician of the Greeks in myth and archetype. To the physicians of classical antiquity, Asklepios was the ideal of their existence as healers. In this book, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerényi takes readers on a tour of the sacred sites of the Greek god of medicine to investigate the origins and...

A landmark account of the divine physician of the Greeks in myth and archetype. To the physicians of classical antiquity, Asklepios was the ideal of their existence as healers. In this book, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerényi takes readers on a tour of the sacred sites of the Greek god of medicine to investigate the origins and...

A landmark account of the Dionysos myth as an archetypal expression of indestructible life. No other god of the Greeks is as widely present in the monuments and ritual practices of antiquity as Dionysos. In this book, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerenyi presents an engaging history of the religion of Dionysos from its beginnings in the Minoan...

A landmark account of the Eleusinian Mysteries by one of the leading mythologists of the twentieth century. The Sanctuary of Eleusis near Athens was the centre of a religious cult that endured for nearly two thousand years and whose initiates came from all parts of the civilised world. In this classic work, Eleusis, Carl Kerényi examines the Mysteries of Eleusis...

A landmark account of the Prometheus story as myth and archetype. The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate...

A landmark account of the Prometheus story as myth and archetype. The god Prometheus stole fire from heaven and bestowed it on humans. In punishment, Zeus chained him to a rock, where an eagle clawed unceasingly at his liver until Herakles freed him. For the Greeks, the myth of Prometheus's release reflected a primordial law of existence and the fate...

A landmark study of the archetypal father, husband, and wife in Greek religion and myth. What did Zeus mean to the Greeks of antiquity? Who was Hera, archetypally united with Zeus as if they were a human couple? Examining the word Zeus and its Greek synonyms theos and daimon, acclaimed mythologist and historian of religion Carl Kerényi traces the origins...