The Golden Bough
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1890; third edition 1906-1915; abridged 1922
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 850 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Golden Bough, A Study in Magic and ReligionOxford World's Classics, 2009Robert Fraser's edition, which selects from the third edition and restores passages Frazer cut in 1922.
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Frazer begins with a rule of the sanctuary of Diana at Nemi, where the priest was a runaway slave who held office until killed by his successor, and sets out to explain it by comparing customs from every recorded society. The explanation grows into a theory of human thought passing from magic through religion to science, with chapters on sympathetic magic, taboo, sacred kings put to death when their strength fails, dying and reviving gods such as Adonis, Attis and Osiris, the corn spirit, scapegoats and fire festivals. Two volumes in 1890 grew to twelve by 1915; the 1922 abridgement is what most readers know.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Golden Bough are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
