The Golden Bough: Adonis, Attis, Osiris volume

Record summary

The expanded third edition of James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough gathered and compared myths, rites and stories involving death, renewal, kingship and catastrophe, including flood-related material discussed across multiple cultural traditions. It is a significant historical source for studying how early twentieth-century scholars constructed cross-cultural comparisons between deluge narratives and seasonal ritual. Frazer’s work matters as a history of interpretation, not as proof that separate traditions share one historical event. Its evolutionary assumptions and selective use of sources have been heavily criticized by later anthropology and religious studies.