For For readers interested in Merton's use of myth to criticise modern power; short and allusive.
Should I read this?
For the general reader
2 of 5worth a look
For the researcher
3 of 5worth your time
Difficulty
3 of 5demanding
Two myths, a parable, a broadside and a meditative study, using Prometheus and Atlas to look at modern society.
How it proceeds
Philosophic3 of 5
Scriptural1 of 5
Experiential2 of 5
Sociological3 of 5
Historical2 of 5
Independent intensities, 0–5 — what the work is made of, not how good it is.
A short book published by New Directions in 1961. Its jacket describes it as "two myths, a parable, a broadside and a meditative study", among them meditations on Prometheus and on Atlas and the Fat Man, and a study of the Greek philosopher Herakleitos. It was reviewed in Commonweal, Renascence, Catholic World and Jubilee in 1961-1962.