By Norman O. Brown

From the Preface: This study of the Greek god Hermes explores the hy­pothesis that the interrelation of Greek mythology and Greek history is much closer than has generally been recognized. Such a hypothesis seems almost inescap­able in the face of the radical transformation that the attributes and personality of Hermes underwent during the archaic period of Greek history. What I have sought to do here is to correlate these changes with the revo­lution in economic techniques, social organization, and modes of thought that took place in Athens between the Homeric age and the fifth century b.c. Such a cor­relation, I submit, casts new light on the mythology of Hermes, and especially on the Homeric Hymn to Hermes.

NY. Vintage. 1947. 1969. 183p.

By Sonia Soul. Art by Michael Lacinere. Translation by Philip Kamp.

From the introduction: “.Intellect is the gift of the human race, the greatest and most enduring of all. This is the means by which it perceives, exists, creates and evolves, No matter haw extensive knowledge is, it has its limits. Intellect thirsts for fulfillment, to ceaselessly push these limits outward. Thus, people in that far-off period wanted to learn for they felt powerless and vulnerable in a world without bounds. They were deeply concerned with the beginning and the end and all the supernatural forces that could not be mastered. Through intellect, humanity came to fashion its view of the world. Utilizing the raw information from its immediate surroundings, it cultivated knowledge and experience, while imagination filled in the rest. Mankind had need of "Myth" because that was his own personal truth. His path in this increased his certitude about the world he had created around himelf. This is how we have come to accept the myth. In its conventional sense, that is, a narration that informs us about an older order of the world and explains it. The content of Greek mythology is not a simple matter. There is a practically endless series of accounts from various periods, and derivations on which  an  enormous classificatory endeavor has been expended and that is only the beginning. ...”

Athens. Techni. 1998. 118p.