FSG Classics: The White Goddess : A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (Edition 2) (Paperback)

from DinadansFriend

A curious extended attempt to discern a unifying body of knowledge and attitude between three poetic universes. He uses the Celtic and Greek canons for his reference corpus. There are many interesting insights, but I did not find the unity that Graves was proclaiming. Still, I have not investigat...

from keylawk

The study of two vulgar poems of the 13th century, and review of the narratives, the 'myths', which hag-ride what would otherwise just be an attempt at recording our observations in some manner that seemed useful at the time. Graves supposes or purports to discern the "historical grammar" of the ...

from gwernin

The first time I read this, my conclusion was "more learned than wise." My opinion has not changed in the intervening fifteen years. Graves admitted that he has no Welsh, and relied on (defective) Victorian translations. Take with a very large pinch of salt.

from axelp

"...I cannot make out why a belief in a Father-god's authorship of the universe, and its laws, seems any less unscientific than a belief in a Mother-goddess's inspiration of this artificial system. Granted the first metaphor, the second follows logically--if these are no better than metaphors...."

from axelp

"...I cannot make out why a belief in a Father-god's authorship of the universe, and its laws, seems any less unscientific than a belief in a Mother-goddess's inspiration of this artificial system. Granted the first metaphor, the second follows logically--if these are no better than metaphors...."