Gertrude Rachel Levy

Gertrude Rachel Levy
Photograph of Gertrude Rachel Levy, former librarian, classical scholar and archaeologist, circa 1900
Photograph of Gertrude Rachel Levy, former librarian, classical scholar and archaeologist, circa 1900
Born 5 November 1883[1]
Aliwal North, Cape Colony[2]
Died October 1966 (aged 82)[3]
Hendon, London, England
Pen name G. Rachel Levy
Occupation writer, archaeologist
Language English
Notable awards Fellow, Society of Antiquaries of London, 1947

Gertrude Rachel Levy (5 November 1883 – October 1966) was an author and cultural historian writing about comparative mythology, matriarchy, epic poetry and archaeology. She published many of her works under the name "G. Rachel Levy".[4]

As did Alexander Marshack, but earlier, Levy made an observation to the effect that in the earliest known representations of humans and animals together, the humans are shown without weapons.[5] To the theory of hero archetypes, she contributed in The Sword from the Rock a three-phase evolutionary pattern, considered neglected by Brown and Fishwick: creation narratives, then quest pattern, then fraternal conflict.[6] Theodore Ziolkowski states that Levy included much of ancient epic in the works that can be traced back to ritual.[7] Eleazar M. Meletinsky[8] writes

[...] the monumental epics of agrarian civilizations undoubtedly use models linked to seasonal rites [...] On this point, Levy's work is interesting, despite its exaggerations, and goes beyond Murray's pioneering efforts.

Levy was an influence on Northrop Frye, as he himself acknowledged, and references to her work are common in his "Third Book" and "Late" notebooks.[9]

Education and career

Levy earned an M.A. in 1924, and worked from 1926 to 1928 with the Department of Antiquities in Mandatory Palestine. From 1930 to 1936 she was associated with an expedition to Iraq, sponsored by the University of Chicago. Later in life she lived in London,[4] where from 1939 to 1949 she was the librarian of the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies.[10] The Society of Antiquaries of London elected her as a Fellow in 1947.[11]

Works

  • The Gate of Horn: A Study of the Religious Concepts of the Stone Age, and Their Influence upon European Thought (1948; republished 1963, Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0571056606)[12]
  • The Sword from the Rock: An Investigation into the Origins of Epic Literature and the Development of the Hero (1953)[13]
  • The Violet Crown: An Athenian Autobiography (1954)[14]
  • Plato in Sicily (1956)[15]
  • The Phoenix' Nest: A Study in Religious Transformations (1961)[16]

Levy also edited The Myths of Plato (1905) by John Alexander Stewart for a 1960 edition, with revisions, translation of Greek text, and an introduction.[17]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1939 England and Wales Register
  2. ↑ 1901, 1911 England Census
  3. ↑ "Miss Rachel Levy". The Times. The Times Digital Archive. 20 October 1966. p. 14.
  4. 1 2 Dolman, Bernard, ed. (1954), Who's who in Art, Volume 7, Art Trade Press, Limited, p. 427, LEVY, Gertrude Rachel, M.A. (1924), F.S.A. (1947); Dept. of Antiquities, Palestine (1926-28); University of Chicago's Expeditions to Iraq (artist to expeditions) (1930-36); ... Address: 40 Rotherwick Rd., N.W.11. Club: University Women's Club. Signs work: "G. Rachel Levy."
  5. ↑ Govaerts, Robert (2012-08-29). Cosmic Prayer and Guided Transformation: Key Elements of the Emergent ChrTransformationistian Cosmology. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 96. ISBN 9781630875909. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  6. ↑ Browne, Ray Broadus; Fishwick, Marshall William (1983). The Hero in Transition. Popular Press. p. 53. ISBN 9780879722388. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. ↑ Ziolkowski, Theodore (2011-11-18). Gilgamesh among Us: Modern Encounters with the Ancient Epic. Cornell University Press. p. 169. ISBN 9780801463426. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  8. ↑ The Poetics of Myth, English translation p. 74
  9. ↑ Frye, Northrop (2004). Northrop Frye's Notebooks on Romance. University of Toronto Press. pp. 461 note 29. ISBN 9780802039477. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. ↑ Joint Library of the Hellenic & Roman Societies/Institute of Classical Studies Library, blogpost 14 July 2017, Former Librarian: Gertrude Rachel Levy
  11. ↑ "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries". The Antiquaries Journal. 27: 209&ndash, 215. 1947. doi:10.1017/S0003581500016978.
  12. ↑ Reviews of The Gate of Horn:
    • Renard, Marcel (1949). "Review". Latomus. 8: 88&ndash, 89. JSTOR 41516737.
    • Myres, John L. (1949). "Review". Man. 49: 21&ndash, 22. JSTOR 2792536.
    • Wheelwright, Philip (1951). "Review: If the Lost Word Be Lost...". The Sewanee Review. 59: 348&ndash, 362. JSTOR 27538080.
    • White, Victor (1949). "Review". Blackfriars. 30: 179&ndash, 181. JSTOR 43812748.
    • Smith, Sidney (27 August 1949). "Review". Nature. 164: 333–334. doi:10.1038/164333a0.
    • Garrod, D. A. E. (October 1949). "Review". The Antiquaries Journal. 29 (3–4): 213. doi:10.1017/S0003581500017339.
    • Raglan (September 1949). "Review". Folklore. 60 (3): 356. JSTOR 1256659.
    • den Boer, W. (1949). "Review". Mnemosyne. Fourth Series. 2 (3): 259–262. JSTOR 4427191.
    • Layard, John (1948). "Review". Hibbert Journal. 47: 200.
    • Dain, Alphonse (1948). "Review". Bulletin de l'Association Guillaume Budé. 6: 130–131.
    • Picard, Charles (1950). "Review". Journal des Savants. 2: 87–90.
  13. ↑ Reviews of The Sword from the Rock:
    • Norwood, Frances (1955). "Review". Classical Philology. 50: 51&ndash, 53. JSTOR 266124.
    • Knight, W. F. J. (1957). "Review". The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 77 (Part 2): 318–319. doi:10.2307/629380.
    • Rose, H. J. (August 1953). "Review". Man. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 53: 124–125. JSTOR 2795642.
    • van der Valk, M. H. A. L. H. (1956). "Review". Mnemosyne. Fourth Series. 9 (2): 160–161. JSTOR 4427832.
    • Jameson, R. D. (July 1957). "Review". Western Folklore. 16 (3): 223–225. doi:10.2307/1497659.
    • Le Breton, Louis (1955). "Review". Syria. 32 (1–2): 131–134. JSTOR 4196897.
    • Eissfeldt, O. (January 1, 1957). "Review". Orientalistische Literaturzeitung. 52: 108.
    • Barnett, R. D. (January 1954). "Review". The Antiquaries Journal. 34 (1–2): 86. doi:10.1017/S0003581500073315.
    • Myres, John L. (December 1953). "Review". Antiquity. 27 (108): 248–249. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00025138.
    • Falkenstein, Adam (1954). "Review". Gnomon. 26 (6): 424–426. JSTOR 27680984.
    • Bérard, Jean (1954). "Review". Revue des Études Anciennes. 56 (1–2): 167–168.
  14. ↑ Review of The Violet Crown:
    • White, M. E. (Summer 1956). "Review". Phoenix. 10 (2): 91–92. doi:10.2307/1086449.
  15. ↑ Reviews of Plato in Sicily:
    • Kerferd, G. B. (1957). "Review". The Classical Review. 7: 256&ndash, 257. doi:10.1017/S0009840X00177327. JSTOR 702022.
    • I. D. (May 1957). "Review". Il Politico. 22 (1): 232. JSTOR 43204545.
  16. ↑ Review of The Phoenix' Nest:
    • Scaligero, Massimo (March–June 1963). "Review". East and West. 14 (1–2): 118–119. JSTOR 29754740.
  17. ↑ Wynne-Tyson, Jon (2004). Finding the Words: A Publishing Life. Michael Russell. p. 57. ISBN 9780859552875.
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