J. M. W. Turner's painting of the Golden Bough incident in the Aeneid

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941). It was first published in two volumes in 1890; the third edition, published 1906–15, comprised twelve volumes. It was aimed at a broad literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch's Age of Fable. It offered a modernist approach to discussing religion, treating it dispassionately ^[1] as a cultural phenomenon rather than from a theological perspective. the golden bough painted by british painter j. ... the golden bough painted by british painter j. ... Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 1775[1] – 19 December 1851) was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker, whose style can be said to have laid the foundation for Impressionism. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 Galleria Borghese, Rome The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos) is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... Sir James George Frazer (January 1, 1854, Glasgow, Scotland – May 7, 1941), was a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. ... 1854 (MDCCCLIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Year 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar). ... Thomas Bulfinch (July 15, 1796 - May 27, 1867) was an American writer, born in Newton, Massachusetts to a highly-educated but not rich Bostonian merchant family. ... This article focuses on the cultural movement labeled modernism or the modern movement. See also: Modernism (Roman Catholicism) or Modernist Christianity; Modernismo for specific art movement(s) in Spain and Catalonia. ...

Some of the work, especially descriptions of magic, are still held as valid today. His speculation about dying god themes and the Year King have fallen into discredit, and his work on totems has been superseded^{[citation needed]}. Although the worth of its contribution to anthropology will be newly evaluated by each generation, its impact on contemporary European literature was substantial. A sacred king, according to the systematic interpretation of mythology developed by Sir James George Frazer in his influential book The Golden Bough, was a king who represented a solar deity in a periodically re-enacted fertility rite. ... This article is about the social science. ...

Subject matter

The Golden Bough attempts to define the shared elements of religious belief, ranging from ancient belief systems to relatively modern religions such as Christianity. Its thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship of, and periodic sacrifice of, a sacred king. This king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the earth, who died at the harvest, and was reincarnated in the spring. Frazer claims that this legend is central to almost all of the world's mythologies. The germ for Frazer's thesis was the pre-Roman priest-king at the fane of Nemi, who was ritually murdered by his successor: Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Fertility rites are religious rituals that reenact, either actually or symbolically, sexual acts and/or reproductive processes. ... Taken during a Hindu prayer ceremony on the eve of Diwali. ... Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome For other uses, see Sacrifice (disambiguation). ... A sacred king, according to the systematic interpretation of mythology developed by Sir James George Frazer in his influential book The Golden Bough, was a king who represented a solar deity in a periodically re-enacted fertility rite. ... The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a dying-and-rising god is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities in world mythology who are born, suffer death or an eclipse or other death-like experience, pass a phase in the underworld among the dead, and are... The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating, the sun, an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology Statue of Hathor - Luxor Museum Sun god redirects here. ... Matrimony redirects here. ... For the 1934 film, see The Goddess (1934 film). ... Nemi, an old town and comune of Italy, is in the province of Rome, on the Alban Hills, in central Lazio, 41°43′N 12°43′E, at 521 metres (1709 ft) above sea-level overlooking Lake Nemi. ...

"When I first put pen to paper to write The Golden Bough I had no conception of the magnitude of the voyage on which I was embarking; I thought only to explain a single rule of an ancient Italian priesthood." (Aftermath p vi)

The book's title was taken from an incident in the Aeneid, illustrated by the British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner: Aeneas and the Sibyl present the golden bough to the gatekeeper of Hades in order to gain admission. Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 Galleria Borghese, Rome The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos) is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story... J. M. W. Turner, English landscape painter The fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up, painted 1839. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... The word sibyl comes (via Latin) from the Greek word sibylla, meaning prophetess. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ...

Reception

The book scandalized the British public upon its first publication, because it included the Christian story of Jesus in its comparative study, thus inviting an agnostic reading of the Lamb of God as a relic of a pagan religion. Frazer removed his analysis of the Crucifixion to a speculative appendix for the third edition, and it was entirely missing from the single-volume abridged edition. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Image of the Lamb of God. ... For other uses, see Crucifixion (disambiguation). ...

Parts of the book, most notably its discussion of the symbolism of magic and its elucidation of the concept of sympathetic magic, remain accepted by scholars today. The larger theme of dying and reviving gods has not fared as well in the world of anthropology and comparative religion; most contemporary anthropologists have concluded that Frazer overinterpreted his evidence to fit it into his system^{[citation needed]}. Not to be confused with Magic (illusion). ... Magic (also called magick to distinguish it from stage magic) is a supposed way of influencing the world through supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ... This article is about the social science. ... The Major religious groups of the world. ...

Despite whatever controversy the work may have generated, and its critical reception amongst other scholars, The Golden Bough had a tremendous impact on the literature of the period. Robert Graves adapted Frazer's concept of the dying king who is sacrificed for the good of the kingdom to the romantic idea of the poet's necessary suffering for the sake of his Muse-Goddess in his Frazer-esque book on poetry, rituals and myths, The White Goddess, published in 1948. William Butler Yeats makes reference to it in his poem, "Sailing to Byzantium." H. P. Lovecraft mentions the book in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu." T. S. Eliot acknowledged indebtedness to Frazer in his first note to his poem The Waste Land. William Carlos Williams references it as well in Book Two, part two, of his extended poem in five books, Paterson. James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, D. H. Lawrence, Aleister Crowley, Ezra Pound, Mary Renault, Joseph Campbell, Naomi Mitchison (in her The Corn King and the Spring Queen) and Camille Paglia are but a few authors deeply influenced by The Golden Bough. Its literary impact has given it continued life even as its direct influence in anthropology has waned. Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, scholar, and novelist. ... The author and poet Robert Graves study of the nature of poetic myth-making, The White Goddess, first published in 1948, and revised, amended and enlarged in 1966, represents a tangential approach to the study of mythology from a decidedly idiosyncratic perspective. ... Yeats redirects here. ... Sailing to Byzantium is a poem by William Butler Yeats, first published in the 1928 collection The Tower. ... This article is about the author. ... Cthulhu with the insane city Rlyeh in the background. ... For other persons named Thomas Eliot, see Thomas Eliot (disambiguation). ... The Waste Land (1922)[1] is a highly influential 434-line[2] modernist poem by T. S. Eliot. ... William Carlos Williams Dr. William Carlos Williams (sometimes known as WCW) (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963), was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. ... Paterson is a poem by influential modern American poet William Carlos Williams. ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 — July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ... David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism, and personal letters. ... Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947, pronounced ) was a British occultist, writer, mountaineer, philosopher, poet, and yogi. ... Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States, October 30, 1885 – Venice, Italy, November 1, 1972) was an American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in early-to-mid 20th century poetry. ... Mary Renault (pronounced Ren-olt[1]) (4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. ... For other uses, see Joseph Campbell (disambiguation). ... Naomi Margaret Mitchison, CBE (nee Haldane; 1 November 1897 Edinburgh – 11 January 1999 at Carradale) was a Scottish novelist and poet. ... Camille Anna Paglia (born April 2, 1947 in Endicott, New York) is an American social critic, author and teacher. ...

Critical analysis of The Golden Bough

The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein returned time and again to The Golden Bough, often enough that his commentaries have been compiled as Remarks on Frazer's Golden Bough, edited by Rush Rhees, originally published in 1967, with the English edition following in 1971.^[2] He writes, "Frazer is much more savage than most of these savages."^[3] Wittgenstein redirects here. ...

Some modern criticism sets Frazer in the broader context of the history of ideas, for example, Robert Ackerman in his The Myth and Ritual School: J.G. Frazer and the Cambridge Ritualists. The myth and ritual school includes scholars Jane Harrison, Gilbert Murray, F. M. Cornford, and A.B. Cook, who were connecting the new discipline of myth theory and anthropology with traditional literary classics at the end of the 19th century. This school was an important influence on a great deal of Modernist literature. The history of ideas is a field of research in history that deals with the expression, preservation, and change of human ideas over time. ... The Cambridge Ritualists were a recognised group of classical scholars, mostly in Cambridge, England, including Jane Harrison, Gilbert Murray (in fact of the University of Oxford) , A. B. Cook, and others. ... Jane Ellen Harrison (September 9, 1850–April 5, 1928) was a ground-breaking English classical scholar and feminist. ... Gilbert Murray (or George Gilbert Aime) (January 2, 1866 - 1957) was a British classical scholar and diplomat. ... Francis Macdonald Cornford (1874-1943) was an English classical scholar and poet. ... Arthur Bernard Cook (1868-1952) was a British classical scholar, known for work in archaeology and the history of religions. ... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ...

Quotations

"If the test of truth lay in a show of hands or a counting of heads, the system of magic might appeal, with far more reason than the Catholic Church, to the proud motto, Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus ["Always, everywhere, and by all"], as the sure and certain credential of its own infallibility." (Chapter 4, "Magic and Religion".)

"The danger, however, is not less real because it is imaginary; imagination acts upon man as really as does gravitation, and may kill him as certainly as a dose of prussic acid." (Chapter 21, "Tabooed Things".) Hydrogen cyanide is a chemical compound with chemical formula H-C≡N. A solution of hydrogen cyanide in water is called hydrocyanic acid or prussic acid. ...

References in popular culture

• The M. R. James short story "Casting The Runes", references The Golden Bough.
• Stephen King has a character refer to The Golden Bough as a demonology text in "The Mangler".
• The book is mentioned in Raymond Chandler's novel The Long Goodbye.
• Aleister Crowley wrote a series of short stories inspired by The Golden Bough, which were collected into a volume called Golden Twigs.
• Umberto Eco makes reference to the book in Foucault's Pendulum.
• William Gaddis quotes directly from The Golden Bough in The Recognitions to describe a sacrificial act to be performed on a barbary ape named Heracles to save the life of the protagonist.
• Thomas Pynchon makes reference to both The Golden Bough and The White Goddess in chapter 3 of V..
• The Golden Bough is both directly referenced in and a partial framework for the plot structure of the Diana Wynne Jones novel Fire and Hemlock.
• The book is mentioned repeatedly in the John Ringo book Kildar, part of the Paladin of Shadows series, as a reference to understand the practices of a lost tribe of pagan warriors.
• The book is mentioned several times in Albert Sanchez Pinol's Cold Skin.
• The book is heavily referred to in the novel The First Verse by Barry McCrea.
• In Grant Morrison's graphic novel Arkham Asylum, psychotherapist Dr. Amadeus Arkham reads The Golden Bough as his mental health deteriorates.
• The Golden Bough is seen in the film Apocalypse Now in the stack of reading material for Colonel Kurtz, along with Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance.
• Information from The Golden Bough was used extensively for the 1973 film The Wicker Man.
• The titular myth forms the basis of Stuart MacRae and Simon Armitage's opera The Assassin Tree, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival on 25 August 2006.
• In the Japanese anime series Eureka Seven, the characters Holland and Dewey Novak are seen reading from The Golden Bough, and it is a symbol for one of the anime's fictional organizations. Frazer's theme of the sacrificial king is prominent throughout the series.

Montague Rhodes James, OM (August 1, 1862 – June 12, 1936), who published under the byline M. R. James, was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of Kings College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). ... For other persons named Stephen King, see Stephen King (disambiguation). ... The Mangler is a short horror story by Stephen King. ... The Long Goodbye (ISBN 0394757688) is a 1954 novel by Raymond Chandler, centered on his famous detective Philip Marlowe. ... Aleister Crowley, born Edward Alexander Crowley, (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947, pronounced ) was a British occultist, writer, mountaineer, philosopher, poet, and yogi. ... Umberto Eco (born January 5, 1932) is an Italian medievalist, semiotician, philosopher and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa) and his many essays. ... Foucaults Pendulum (original title: Il pendolo di Foucault) is a novel by Italian novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco. ... William Gaddis (December 29, 1922 - December 16, 1998) was an American novelist. ... The Recognitions is a 1955 novel by American William Gaddis. ... Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. ... The author and poet Robert Graves study of the nature of poetic myth-making, The White Goddess, first published in 1948, and revised, amended and enlarged in 1966, represents a tangential approach to the study of mythology from a decidedly idiosyncratic perspective. ... book cover V. is the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon published in 1963, concerning the journey of discharged U.S. Navy sailor Benny Profane through a decadent group of artists in 1956, along with the attempt of an aging traveller named Herbert Stencil to locate the mysterious woman he knows... Diana Wynne Jones (born London August 16, 1934) is a British writer, principally of fantasy novels for children and adults, as well as a small amount of non-fiction. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... // John Ringo is a popular American science fiction and fantasy author who writes full time. ... Kildar is a Military Fiction (Possibly also Military Sci-Fi) novel by the author John Ringo. ... Paladin of Shadows is a series of books written by Military sci-fi author John Ringo and centering around the life of ex-SEAL Mike Ghost Harmon. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Grant Morrison (born January 31, 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer and artist. ... Apocalypse Now is a 1979 Academy Award and Golden Globe winning American film set during the Vietnam War. ... Jessie Laidlay Weston (1850-1928) was an independent scholar and folklorist, working mainly on mediaeval Arthurian texts. ... From Ritual to Romance is a 1921 book written by Jessie L. Weston. ... // Events The Marx Brothers Zeppo Marx divorces his second wife, Barbara Blakely. ... This article is about the 1973 film. ... Stuart MacRae (born 12 August 1976, Inverness, Scotland) is a British composer. ... Simon Armitage Simon Armitage (born May 26, 1963 in Huddersfield) is a British poet, playwright and novelist. ... For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ... The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts that takes place in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, over three weeks from around the middle of August. ... Original run 17 April 2005 – 2 April 2006 Episodes 50 Manga Author Jinsei Kataoka, Kazuma Kondou Publisher Kadokawa Shoten Serialized in Shonen Ace Original run 26 July 2005 – 26 September 2006 Volumes 6 Manga: Gravity Boys and Lifting Girl Author Miki Kizuki Publisher Kadokawa Shoten Serialized in Comptiq Original run...

See also

• Archetypal literary criticism
• Force-fire
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces
• The Mass of Saint-Secaire
• Rex Nemorensis

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The force-fire (Scottish Gaelic: tein’-éigin), or a fire produced by friction, was used in folk magic practice in the Scottish Highlands up until the 19th century. ... The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. ... The rex Nemorensis, (Latin: the king of Nemi or the king of the grove) was a sort of sacred king who served as priest of the goddess Diana at Aricia in Italy, by the shores of lake Nemi. ...

Bibliography

Editions of The Golden Bough

• First edition, 2 vols., 1890.
• Second edition, 3 vols., 1900.
• Third edition, 12 vols., 1906-15. The last volume (1915) is an index.
• Abridged edition, 1 vol., 1922. This edition abridges Frazer's references to Christianity.
  • 1995 Touchstone edition, ISBN 0-684-82630-5
  • 2002 Dover reprint of 1922 edition, ISBN 0-486-42492-8
• Aftermath : A supplement to the golden Bough, 1937
• Abridged edition, edited by Robert Fraser for Oxford University Press, 1994. It restores the material on Christianity purged in the first abridgement. ISBN 0-19-282934-3

Secondary texts

• Ackerman, Robert. The Myth and Ritual School: J. G. Frazer and the Cambridge Ritualists (Theorists of Myth) 2002. ISBN 0-415-93963-1
• Csapo, Eric. Theories of Mythology (Blackwell Publishing, 2005), pp 36-43, pp 44-67. ISBN-631-23248-6
• Fraser, Robert. The Making of The Golden Bough: The Origins and Growth of an Argument (Macmillan, 1990; re-issued Palgrave 2001)

References

Wittgenstein redirects here. ...

External links

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The Golden Bough

Text copies of the 1922 edition: Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ...

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