The Golden Bough (Annotated)

James George Frazer's The Golden Bough is a monumental study of myth, ritual, kingship, magic, and religion, tracing recurring patterns across ancient and so-called "primitive" cultures. Beginning with the priest of Diana at Nemi, Frazer constructs a vast comparative argument about sacrificial kings, fertility rites, seasonal renewal, and the gradual movement from magic to religion to science. Its...