The Pied Piper of Hamelin at the Crossroads of History, Religion and Literature

Even if we were to discover the historical truth about the origin of the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, we still would not explain why its appeal to the imagination of artists and poets has been so extensive and the span of interpretations placed on the figure so divergent. The author of this book believes that the principle of reciprocity must be taken into account and this reflects the duality of the mind with its conscious and subconscious aspects. Can we align the Pied Piper with Ulysses and Gilgamesh on the basis of the mythology of the sun and its wandering surrogates as they journey through the night in quest of the anima, the eternal female?