The plight of a sorcerer

Transl. of: Entre les dieux et les d�mons--un sorcier (Kavya Usanas, Kavi Usan), which is part 2 of v. 2, Types �piques indo-europ�ens--un h�ros, un sorcier, un roi, of Mythe et �pop�e.. Continues: The stakes of the warrior, c1983.. Continued by: The destiny of king. 1973.

Editors' preface. Introduction (transl. by David Weeks). 1 - 1887-1939 (transl. by David Weeks). 1 Kavya Usanas and Kavi Usathan (Kay Us, Kaus). 2 Friedrich von Spiegel (1871, 1877). 3 The humiliation and submission of the demons. 4 The aging and rejuvenation of Yayati. 2 - The story of Kavya Usanas (transl. by David Weeks). 1 Kavya Usanas in the genealogy of the Pandavas. 2 Kavya Usanas, chaplain of the demons, and the secret of resurrection. 3 The humiliation and submission of the demons. 4 The aging and rejuvenation of Yayati. 3 - The Kavi, the gods, and the demons transl. by Kazuo Matsumura. 1 The ancient meaning of kavi. 2 The wealth of Kavya Usanas and Kay Us. 3 Kay Us, the demons and God. 4 - The power of the kavi (transl. by Patrick McReynolds). 1 The power of resurrection in battles between gods and demons. 2 Kaus and the elixir of life. 3 Kavya Usanas, Kay Us, and the manipulation of age. 5 - Two tales (transl. by Karlene Jones Bley). 1 The legend of Kavya Usanas and the type of Kavi Usan. 2 Other traditions about Kavya Usanas. 6 - Masters and disciples, men and women (transl. by Karlene Jones Bley). 1 The disciple in the body of the master, the grandson in the body of the grandfather. 2 Forbidden loves and women's revenge. 7 - The making of a dynasty (transl. by Mark R. Stefanovich). 1 The Kayanids--a historical dynasty?. 2 Examination of Arthur Christensen's arguments. 3 Other mythical themes in the hiistory of the Kayanids: the hero in the water reed. 4 The prohibition of drunkenness. 5 Kay Us and Srit. 6 Problems. Prospectus (transl. by Mark R. Stefanovich)

'This, the second section of Mythe et epopee II, Georges Dumezil's outstanding work on Indo-European myth and folklore, reconstructs another prototypical figure in the gallery of epic types: the sorcerer. In ancient mythical societies a culture hero needed access to magic, either personally or by command, because he was ideally expected to control or banish old age and death. [The book] compares two such manipulators of age and dying--the wealthy sorcerer Kayva Usanas of ancient Indiia, who partly congtrols the demons and keeps them by his wizardry from being decimated at the gods' hands, and Kay Us, his near namesake of Iranian legend, who is both the conqueror and the dupe of demons. Dumezil finds many precise parallels between the two....'

Hardcover