Modern Mythology

In this vigorous early‑20th‑century treatise the author takes up a long‑standing debate with the renowned philologist Max Müller. The work opens as a carefully reasoned reply, defending a scientific anthropology of myth that treats legends as fossils of earlier social conditions. Readers are invited into a scholarly conversation that spans archaeology, comparative law, and the evolution of ritual.

The author argues that myths surviving in “civilised” societies are relics of a primitive age, much like flint tools or ancient marriage customs. He systematically challenges Müller’s loose use of terms such as totemism and fetishism, calling for clearer definitions grounded in the work of McLennan and Frazer. Though dense, the prose remains approachable, offering modern listeners a window onto the intellectual battles that shaped the study of mythology.