Imagination of Plants A Book of Botanical Mythology

Examines the role of plants in botanical mythology, from Aboriginal Australia to Zoroastrian Persia.
Plants have a remarkable mythology dating back thousands of years. From the ancient Greeks to contemporary Indigenous cultures, human beings have told colorful and enriching stories that have presented plants as sensitive, communicative, and intelligent. This book explores the myriad of plant tales from around the world and the groundbreaking ideas that underpin them. Amid the key themes of sentience and kinship, it connects the anemone to the meaning of human life, tree hugging to the sacred basil of India, and plant intelligence with the Finnish epic The Kalevala. Bringing together commentary, original source material, and colorful illustrations, Matthew Hall challenges our perspective on these myths, the plants they feature, and the human beings that narrate them.

About the author

Matthew Hall is Associate Director of Research Services at Victoria University of Wellington, in New Zealand. He is the author of Plants as Persons: A Philosophical Botany, also published by SUNY Press.

Product details

• Authors: Matthew Hall
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Content: Book
• Product form: Paperback / Softback
• Publication date: 31.01.2020
• Subject: Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Social sciences, law, business > Ethnology > Folklore
• EAN: 9781438474380
• ISBN: 978-1-4384-7438-0
• Pages: 330
• Series: Suny Religion and the Environm; SUNY series on Religion and the Environment
• Subjects: Religionsphilosophie, Sociology, Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft, PHILOSOPHY / Religious, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Folklore & Mythology, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Botany, RELIGION / Ethics, comparative religion, RELIGION / Comparative Religion, RELIGION / Philosophy, Religious ethics, Philosophy of religion, Botany & plant sciences, Botany and plant sciences