Mythology

[majestic62]

Not sure if this goes here? (I never am :p )

Now I was thinking of treating myself to Bulfinch's Complete Mythology. I am really interested in mythology although I am not very knowledgeable on the subject. What do you guys think of Bulfinch's Mythology? Do you think it would be a worthwhile purchase or is there something else that I should try instead?

Thanx! ;)

[majestic62]

Oh Well... Ive Already ordered it! :D But id still like to know about any other good books... ;)

[apostasy]

The book I'm reading right now, Chimera by John Barth takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what might have happened to mythological figures after their famous exploits. So far it recounts scherezade's famous story telling nights from the perspective of her sister, who witnesses the entire act. The second novella is persius on Mnt Olympus retelling his life stories and regrets with a nymph that (literally) worships him. He discounts his triumphs over Maduesa and the Chimera on Pegasus and talks about the annoying fame that haunted him afterwards. Interesting read so far.

[Scheherazade]

The best mythology book I read (rather studied) is Mythology by Edith Hamilton. It is a page turner and not confusing unlike many other mythology books. I am hoping to get a copy for myself again as it university we were given only the photocopies of it. Rarely had the pleasure of owning original books back then.

[majestic62]

Thanks guys! They seem really interesting! ll check them out straight away! :D

[JECompton]

I've heard of Bulfinch's and Hamilton's works, but sadly half of what I know comes from internet sites like pantheon.org or anthology footnotes. Oh, and dare I say cartoons and comic books :D Disney's Ducktales may have been my first exposure to Circe, Scylla, Charybdis, and the sirens.

But hey, at least I was exposed to it somewhere and became interested! Still, I'll always think of Circe as having long straight black hair parted down the middle, purple eye shadow, and a duck-bill.

The other half comes from Homer, Greek plays, and other literature dealing with mythology. When I'd come across something I didn't know, I'd look it up online or in a little dictionary on mythology. I should check out one of those compilations, though since it gets really confusing. In Plato's Symposium, it seems they refer to conflicting accounts of Eros (who was known by the Romans as Cupid) in the same paragraph--in one version Eros existed before the all other gods, in another, Eros is the son of Aphrodite and Ares from their adulterous affair. Confusing!

[majestic62]

Thanks!! Ill be sure to look those up! Any source will be helpful! :D

[Winifred]

If you are interested in the mythology of Camelot, etc, you could try John Steinbeck's translation of Sir Thomas Malory's The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights.

Also, Beowulf, trans. by Seamus Haney, is a great read.

[sdat1333]

yes Edith Hamilton's Mythology is a good read if your into that sort of thing. Easy read, but mythology isnt my thing so I didn't read the whole thing

[bloodie]

I have Bullfinch, but I find that it's not as all-rounded as some other mythology books I have...

most of what I know comes from. Hmm, I don't know, I think I just grew up reading kids' mythology and then I 'graduated' to Malory/Homer/Aeschylus/etc.

For quick reference in Classical myth I use the Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology.

One of my favourite mythology collections -- just because it's got so much in it -- is C. Scott Littleton's "Mythology". It's illustrated in colour...which is cool...and it's got

Egypt
Mesopotamia
Classical
Celtic
Scandinavian
Indian
Chinese
Japanese
North American
Mesoamerican
South American
African
Australasian

Which is very cool.

[majestic62]

I have Bullfinch, but I find that it's not as all-rounded as some other mythology books I have...

most of what I know comes from. Hmm, I don't know, I think I just grew up reading kids' mythology and then I 'graduated' to Malory/Homer/Aeschylus/etc.

For quick reference in Classical myth I use the Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology.

One of my favourite mythology collections -- just because it's got so much in it -- is C. Scott Littleton's "Mythology". It's illustrated in colour...which is cool...and it's got

Egypt
Mesopotamia
Classical
Celtic
Scandinavian
Indian
Chinese
Japanese
North American
Mesoamerican
South American
African
Australasian

Which is very cool.

I actually just bought that recently ;) but havent gotten around to reading it yet. I t does look very good though. And its illustrated which is really nice :)

[bloodie]

What I like about Littleton's is that I know it's 'accurate' as far as 'accuracy' in mythology goes...because what I figure is if the editor's got ONE of his mythos' 'right' he's probably got them all 'right'...being ethnically Indian I know most of the Indian myths anyway so I checked that when I bought it and it read like all the stories I've ever been told, so I figured it must've been pretty good.

[gijmaj]

guys what u mean in mythology? collection of myths or something else?

and plz be kind and tell me whether u know myth about Amiran, Caucasuan Prometheus:)

[SrendiVashtar]

Personally, I'm really interested in comparative mythology. I've been reading THE GOLDEN BOUGH which is really thought provoking, even though it reads like it was written in the 1800s (gee, go figure). Anything Joseph Campbell is interesting, though I especially liked HERO WITH 1000 FACES. What I dislike about some mythology books is that they don't draw parallels and treat every new manifestation of a god or goddess as if it were a totally new god or goddess.