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In this illuminating and evocative exploration of the origin and function of storytelling, the author goes beyond the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, arguing that mythmaking evolved as a cultural survival strategy for coping with the constant fear of being killed and eaten by predators. Beginning nearly two million years ago in the Pleistocene era, the first stories, Trout argues, functioned as alarm calls, warning fellow group members about the carnivores lurking in the surroundings. At the earliest period, before the development of language, these rudimentary "stories" would have been acted out. When language appeared with the evolution of the ancestral human brain, stories were recited, memorized, and much later written down as the often bone-chilling myths that have survived to this day.
This book takes the reader through the landscape of world mythology to show how our more recent ancestors created myths that portrayed animal predators in four basic ways: as monsters, as gods, as benefactors, and as role models. Each incarnation is a variation of the fear-management technique that enabled early humans not only to survive but to overcome their potentially incapacitating fear of predators. In the final chapter, Trout explores the ways in which our visceral fear of predators is played out in the movies, where both animal and human predators serve to probe and revitalize our capacity to detect and survive danger.
Anyone with an interest in mythology, archaeology, folk tales, and the origins of contemporary storytelling will find this book an exciting and provocative exploration into the natural and psychological forces that shaped human culture and gave rise to storytelling and mythmaking.
From the Hardcover edition.
- Sales Rank: #1540583 in eBooks
- Published on: 2011-11-15
- Released on: 2011-11-15
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"Paul Trout advances a scintillating theory for the origins of storytelling, mythmaking, and ultimately, of modern folklore, fiction, and, yes, religion. We humans narrate our lives in these ways for the same reason we are afraid of the dark: it is full of predators (or the hardwired memory of predators) that would like to eat us. Replete with evidence from the natural world, the world of myth, and the work of evolutionary and cognitive science, Deadly Powers is variously provocative, smart, unsettling, and fun."
—Todd Tremlin, Author of Minds and Gods: The Cognitive Foundations of Religion
"Cave bears, saber-tooth cats, giant raptors, tigers, serpents, crocodiles: early humans lived in constant fear of being devoured by these powerful predators. Over the millennia, as we evolved from prey to hunters, the ancient dread and awe of predators remained embedded in myths about bloodthirsty creatures, as monsters, gods, benefactors, and models. Paul Trout’s deeply researched and compelling Deadly Powers reveals the visceral impact and survival of the primal human fear of dying by carnivore. A wonderful book!"
—Adrienne Mayor, Author of The First Fossil Hunters and Fossil Legends of the First Americans
"Rather than being on the top of the food chain, we humans have been mainly a prey species throughout most of our evolution. In this extremely well-written and entertaining book, Paul Trout shows us how predators have shaped our psychology in such a way that many of our cultural myths and the stories we tell have been shaped by the predators that stalked our early ancestors."
—Robert W. Sussman, Department of Anthropology, Washington University
". . . well-written, well-researched, and highly informative about the grisly predators that stalked us in our early days. Trout’s major contention is that scholarly works in this area have tended to underestimate the importance of radical fear ‘in the beginning’ and the myths that have sought to make it intelligible. Tender-minded readers may find parts of this book distressing, and that is certainly the author’s intention: you need a strong stomach to think about Day One."
—Dudley Young, Author of the Pulitzer-nominated Origins of the Sacred
"Trout has written an interesting and original exploration of our early history with predatory animals and our modern obsession with violence in the media. . . ."
—Merlin Donald, Professor emeritus, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, and author of Origins of the Modern Mind
About the Author
Paul A. Trout, professor emeritus at Montana State University, taught English for thirty-eight years. He has published widely on cultural and academic issues, and his articles have appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Washington Post, the Washington Times, Commonweal, the Christian Science Monitor, and other publications.
Most helpful customer reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
"The Euphoria of Danger"
By A Reader
What was it like for our ancestors to dread the attack of terrible predators from land, sea, and sky? Huge birds of prey, giant crocodiles, maneating tigers and lions, voracious cave bears, all inspired tales of horror and imagery of monstrous creatures. This provocative book shows in vivid and gory details how human fears and ancient attempts to appease deadly animals much higher on the food chain led to exciting myths about monsters all around the world. The writing style is excellent and the illustrations are great (wish they could have been in color). Trout has really done some impressive research too. Highly recommend for anyone interested in mythology, animal - human interactions, anthropology, and early human storytelling.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
DEADLY POWERS Explores Man's Ultimate Relationship To Myth
By Edward L Zimmerman
I've never been one to believe in evolution. Now, before you tune me off, just hear me out for a moment. I've never believed much in it because I've never truly understood how man - as a modern creature - couldn't psychologically have grown from, say, some earlier creature. Sure, I've seen the popularized picture - the ape to the upright man - but I've never grasped how the human mind - arguably the greatest instrument toward reason that we know of in the universe - could possibly be ignorant of where it came from. I've read enough to know that there's still the possibility of a `missing link' in the established evolutionary chain; still, fully understanding where the human brain and the powers of cognition figured into the whole equation was always a bit nebulous to me.
(As I've already established in other reviews, I'm no science nerd.)
It is precisely because of my unique place in the universe that I found myself immeasurably fascinated with Paul A. Trout's DEADLY POWERS: ANIMAL PREDATORS AND THE MYTHIC IMAGINATION.
I've always been fascinated with myths. Creation myths. Roman myths. Greek myths. Indian myths. Various tribal myths. I think that's because I've always believed that - trapped somewhere deep within a rationed and reasoned exploration of man's earliest stories - there has remain hidden slivers of reality. Once we can crack open this last crystal of secret knowledge, we can fully examine the pieces in order to unlock a truer understanding of where we began - as a people. I think Mr. Trout would agree with that premise, as, in his new book, he goes against popular convention regarding the evolution of storytelling (aka "myths") to assert that mankind, first and foremost, didn't begin its collective experience at the top of the food chain; rather, it was probably somewhere very near the bottom.
This is what most fascinated me about DEADLY POWERS. Rather than dissecting the earliest myths to give them clarity for the time in which they were told, Trout reaches very astutely back to what mankind's first experiences more likely were - that of being the prey running from vastly more threatening predators - and he uses those frights and horrors to establish man's earliest understanding (feeble it may've been) for the role he played in that environment. How many times must these early men and women have watched others from their tribe fall prey to giant tigers or lions or bears? How futile may their hopes have been for survival? How would these experiences have played out with their limited cognitive ability? What did early man learn from this, and how would they then pass this knowledge on to others as well as successive generations? It only stands to reason that myths would've sprung out of these early terrors - the kind of myths that teach survival when survival seems near impossible; and it only stands to reason that subsequent myths would've incorporate threads and hints back to these prehistoric fears so that those sentiments could've been preserved for the generations that followed.
Trout goes to modest lengths to provide an overview of these earlier predators that man would've shared space with (mostly running away from!), giving the reader only a glimpse at the treacherous Pleistocene era and thereafter. From there, he gives a solid rundown of fear triggers and responses know to man, even showing how some of these behaviors may've evolved from or have been heavily influenced by these early predators. As these early men developed languages and began to think with `metacognition', Trout explores how a fragile psychology could've attached feelings of kinship, guardianship, and even godhood to such carnivores. Lastly, he ties his theory all up in the complete package by highlighting how all of these factors coalesced into perhaps the single greatest influence within mankind's ability to create myths - myths with meaning and purpose and stories to convey for the benefit of those who learn them and carry them forward to future generations.
As I hope I've conveyed, it's a fascinating exploration, mostly because it fills in what I've always thought was a bit of a gap in understanding the what's, where's, and why's mankind first decided to begin telling a story; certainly, it all could've begun with a very simple purpose in mind - saving one's skin. That's a very significant influence when you're little more than a tasty morsel being given a healthy look-over by the nearest lion. It's all told briskly and, thankfully, in very relatable prose. If you're a student of myths, then I would imagine you'd be equally pleased as I was.
So ... was mankind the original roadkill in the history of Earth? Was he nothing more than tomorrow's leftovers for yesterday's animal kingdom? Trout makes a convincing argument, and it's one that comes with my highest recommendation.
In the interests of fairness, I'm pleased to share that the kind folks of Prometheus Books provided me with a press copy for the purposes of completing this review.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Very informative and interesting
By E. Gray
Very good book with interesting ideas as to what inspired out ancestors to rise from the mindless ape and become the world's dominant species. There is a good focus on informative mythology, as well as scientific intrigue. I found myself greatly enjoying this book despite the sometimes pithy attitude of the author and the rambling candor. My only problem is that much of this is pure supposition driven not by fact but opinion. I would have liked to see more natural parallels drawn between the conclusions and what is represented in nature.
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