This course delves into the "myth of the monomyth", or the so-called "Hero's Journey", and examines the role of infanticide in the Bible and legends across various cultures. Prophecy and cultural upheavals often intertwine to produce intergenerational conflict, giving rise to influential figures said to have defied death from their very beginnings. We will uncover the often-ignored aspect of these stories, collapsed and polished into a single epic narrative by European authors, of how the father's initial murderous intent sets the stage for tales of survival and triumph. The realities of infant and animal sacrifices reveal social values, religious beliefs, and the qualities of hierarchies in different contexts, and these rituals often symbolise attempts to appease deities, ensure prosperity, or avert disaster. Still, the question of why it is that the death of children is required to accomplish these ends remains unanswered. Cross-culturally, girl children frequently bear the brunt of such sacrifices, though, unlike male counterparts who might be mythically rescued, girls are seldom afforded the same epic salvation, underscoring systemic gender biases and the undervaluation of female lives in these cultural contexts. Moving through the confused Abrahamic and Oedipal blend of myth, psychoanalysis and history, the class will culminate in an examination of Mohammed’s approach to female infanticide and the success of Islam.