Otto Rank believes “what we really have in common with our remote ancestors is
a spiritual, not a primitive self” (Beyond Psychology, p. 63). To tap into
this spiritual self, it is best to study the traces our ancestors left in their
tracks. The contemporary Westerner has on his hand the Mesopotamian, the
Egyptian, and, of course, the Graeco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian traditions. But
the older civilizations of Babylon and Egypt were all but lost to Medieval and
Renaissance Europe. "Introduction to Western Literature I" begins with
chapters from the Old Testament, and ends with excerts from the Homeric epics.