Illuminates the creative moments of the major traditions from prehistoric times through classical Greece arguing that religious values and meaning grew with social and technological innovation No one has done so much as Mr. Eliade to inform literature students in the West about 'primitive' and Oriental religions...Everyone who cares about the human adventure will find new information and new angles of vision.--Martin E. Marty, New York Times Book Review Preface xiii In the Beginning...: Magico-Religious Behavior of the Paleanthropians 3(26) Orientatio. Tools to make tools. The ``domestication'' of fire The ``opaqueness'' of prehistoric documents Symbolic meanings of burials The controversy concerning deposits of bones Rock paintings: Images or symbols? The presence of woman Rites, thought, and imagination among the Paleolithic hunters The Longest Revolution: The Discovery of Agriculture-Mesolithic and Neolithic 29(27) A lost paradise Work, technology, and imaginary worlds The heritage of the Paleolithic hunters The domestication of food plants: Origin myths Woman and vegetation. Sacred space and periodical renewal of the world Neolithic religions of the Near East The spiritual edifice of the Neolithic Religious context of metallurgy: Mythology of the Iron Age The Mesopotamian Religions 56(29) ``History begins at Sumer.'' Man before his gods The first myth of the flood Descent to the underworld: Inanna and Dumuzi The Sumero-Akkadian synthesis Creation of the world Sacrality of the Mesopotamian sovereign Gilgamesh in quest of immortality Destiny and the gods Religious Ideas and Political Crises in Ancient Egypt 85(29) The unforgettable miracle: The ``First Time.'' Theogonies and cosmogonies The responsibilities of an incarnate god The pharaoh's ascent to heaven Osiris, the murdered god Syncope: Anarchy, despair, and ``democratization'' of the afterlife Theology and politics of ``solarization.'' Akh-en-Aton, or the unsuccessful reform Final synthesis: The association Re-Osiris Megaliths, Temples, Ceremonial Centers: Occident, Mediterranean, Indus Valley 114(25) Stone and banana Ceremonial centers and megalithic constructions The ``enigma of the megaliths.'' Ethnography and prehistory The first cities of India Protohistorical religious concepts and their parallels in Hinduism Crete: Sacred caves, labyrinths, goddesses Characteristic features of Minoan religion Continuity of the pre-Hellenic religious structures The Religions of the Hittites and the Canaanites 139(23) Anatolian symbiosis and Hittite syncretism The ``god who disappears.'' Conquering the Dragon Kumarbi and sovereignty Conflicts between divine generations A Canaanite pantheon: Ugarit Baal conquers the sovereignty and triumphs over the Dragon The palace of Baal Baal confronts Mot: Death and return to life Canaanite religious vision ``When Israel Was a Child'' 162(25) The first two chapters of Genesis Paradise lost. Cain and Abel Before and after the flood The religion of the patriarchs Abraham, ``Father of the Faith'' Moses and the departure from Egypt ``I Am Who I Am'' Religion under the judges: The first phase of syncretism The Religion of the Indo-Europeans. The Vedic Gods 187(28) Protohistory of the Indo-Europeans The first pantheon and the common religious vocabulary The Indo-European tripartite ideology The Aryans in India Varuna, primordial divinity: Devas and Asuras Varuna, universal king and magician: rta and maya Serpents and gods Mitra, Aryaman, Aditi Indra, champion and demiurge Agni, chaplain of the gods: Sacrificial fire, light, and intelligence The god Soma and the drink of ``non-death'' Two Great Gods in the Vedic period: Rudra-Siva and Visnu India before Gautama Buddha: From the Cosmic Sacrifice to the Supreme Identity Atman-Brahman 215(32) Morphology of the Vedic rituals The supreme sacrifices: asvamedha and purusamedha Initiatory structure of rituals: Initiation (diksa), royal consecration (rajasuya) Cosmogonies and metaphysics The doctrine of sacrifice in the Brahmanas Eschatology: Identification with Prajapati through sacrifice Tapas: Technique and dialectic of austerities Ascetics and ecstatics: Muni, vratya The Upanishads and the quest of the rsis: How can deliverance from the ``fruits'' of one's own acts be obtained? The identity atman-Brahman and the experience of ``inner light'' The two modalities of the Brahman and the mystery of the atman captive in matter Zeus and the Greek Religion 247(17) Theogony and struggles between divine generations Triumph and sovereignty of Zeus The myth of the first races: Prometheus, Pandora The consequences of the primordial sacrifice Man and destiny: The meaning of the ``joy of life'' The Olympians and the Heroes 264(26) The fallen great god and the smith-magician: Poseidon and Hephaestus Apollo: Contradictions reconciled Oracles and purification From ``vision'' to knowledge Hermes, ``the companion of man.'' The goddesses. I: Hera, Artemis The goddesses. II: Athena, Aphrodite The heroes The Eleusinian Mysteries 290(12) The myth: Persephone in Hades The initiations: Public ceremonies and secret rituals Can the Mysteries be known? ``Secrets'' and ``Mysteries'' Zarathustra and the Iranian Religion 302(32) The enigmas The life of Zarathustra: History and myth Shamanic ecstasy? The revelation of Ahura Mazda: Man is free to choose good or evil ``Transfiguration'' of the world The religion of the Achaemenids The Iranian king and the New Year festival The problem of the Magi. The Scythians New aspects of Mazdaism: The cult of Haoma Exaltation of the god Mithra Ahura Mazda and the eschatological sacrifice The soul's journey after death The resurrection of the body The Religion of Israel in the Period of the Kings and the Prophets 334(23) Kingship and the monarchy: The apogee of syncretism Yahweh and the creature Job, the just man tried The time of the prophets Amos the shepherd Hosea the ill-loved Isaiah: ``A remnant of Israel'' will return The promise made to Jeremiah The fall of Jerusalem. The mission of Ezekiel Religious valorization of the ``terror of history'' Dionysus, or Bliss Recovered 357(17) Epiphanies and occultations of a ``twice-born'' god The archaism of some public festivals Euripides and Dionysiac orgiasm When the Greeks rediscover the presence of the God List of Abbreviations 374(2) Present Position of Studies: Problems and Progress. Critical Bibliographies 376(104) Index 480