Myths are humanity's topography, genealogy, and history. They provide symbols that help us live; their characters and deeds tell us what is successful and what fails, and under which conditions.

In Mythanalysis, mythographer and psychologist Pierre Solie pays particular attention to two myths about the Great Mother -- those pertaining to the Babylonian goddess Tiamat and the Egyptian goddess Isis. He analyzes these myths using several developmental diagrams and proposes the idea of chiasma -- which means cross -- to account for the crossovers where psychological changes take place. Numerous clinical cases are also presented that support the use of myth in therapy. Mythanalysis is a brilliant contribution to the science of human nature.

Table of Contents

Part One Mythanalysis Defined

Laura's Case, or the Return to the Land of Egypt

Myths About Life, Sex, and Death: The Myth of Isis and Osiris

Dialectical Models: Cannibalism and Agape

The Babylonian Myth of Marduk and Tiamat

Laura's Return

Part Two Mythanalysis Applied

Nocturnal Dreaming: Manifestation of Objective Psychic Reality and Witness to Its Transformation

The Psychotherapist as Sacred Prostitute of Nighttime and Daytime Dreams

Geo-History: Political, Imaginary, and Therapeutic

Therapeutic Literature

A Return to Myth