The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil

About the Book :
Drawing from Eastern and Western literature, Heinrich Zimmer presents a selection of stories linked together by their common concern for the problem of our eternal conflict with the forces of evil. Beginning with a tale from the Arabian Nights, this theme unfolds in legends from Irish paganism, medieval Christianity, the Arthurian cycle, and early Hinduism. In the retelling of these tales, Zimmer discloses the meanings within their seemingly unrelated symbols and suggests the philosophical wholeness of this assortment of myth.

About the Author :
The noted Indologist Heninrich Zimmer, born in Germany in 1890, came to the United States in 1940, at the height of his career, and was lecturing at Columbia University when he died in 1943. His other works include: Myths and Symbols in Indian Art andCivilization; Philosophies of India; The King and the Corpse and The Art of Indian Asia. All these books were prepared for publication by Joseph Campbell, author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Princeton/ Bollingen), from extensive notes left by Heinrich Zimmer at the time of his premature death.