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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
I picked up this book because it was considered the best and original text on mythology by my high school Latin teacher. And, while he might have been one of the actual worst teachers I've ever had in my life, every Friday he would talk to us about mythology. And it was the BEST part of being in his class. So, when I found myself wanting to know more about Greek mythology, it seemed the most logical place to start for me.
Essentially, this book as a Sparks Notes version of Greek mythology. It's a quick and dirty rundown of mythology - it hit the high notes but never dug too deeply into the stories themselves. I did appreciate the author's sass throughout the book - it was a delightful addition I wasn't expecting. While a nice overview, this book really left me wanting to know more about these stories and the mythology behind them. I needed a more complete anthology to be truly satisfied. This book was a good intro - but I want more!
Essentially, this book as a Sparks Notes version of Greek mythology. It's a quick and dirty rundown of mythology - it hit the high notes but never dug too deeply into the stories themselves. I did appreciate the author's sass throughout the book - it was a delightful addition I wasn't expecting. While a nice overview, this book really left me wanting to know more about these stories and the mythology behind them. I needed a more complete anthology to be truly satisfied. This book was a good intro - but I want more!
informative
fast-paced
wouldnt have been so bad if it werent for those stupid archetypes!
first 80 pages are pretty dang boring but after that it get a little better
I've loved mythology ever since I learned about it in History during middle school. Although I encountered it via a tv show or movie or a book before middle school, middle school is my first distinct memory learning (and loving) mythology. Since then I have taken a handful of mythology classes and immensely enjoyed each one, even if I went over the same material a few times.
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes was an impulse/guilty pleasure buy. Did I really need another book on mythology? Probably not but that didn't stop me from buying it anyways. Although I never did read this book cover to cover, I read a better part of it and still learned a few tidbits here and there.
Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes was an impulse/guilty pleasure buy. Did I really need another book on mythology? Probably not but that didn't stop me from buying it anyways. Although I never did read this book cover to cover, I read a better part of it and still learned a few tidbits here and there.
i was planning to use this book to help study for my gre in english test, but found it not terribly good for that purpose. the book is well-written and easy to read, and covers and summarizes most of the pertinent myths and legends of greek and roman literature--but it's too long to be a summary. if i didn't want to read the original to get a particular story, i would go here--but i think i'd much rather read ovid or homer, even if it is more challenging.
Immediately the vibe of the preface was bad. Yuck. Calling ancient people savages and acting like the white Greeks were so much better and smarter... yikes. Reading some reviews the end makes the whole book have that same sinister undertone. Not for me.
A good reference guide, however, loses points for Eurocentrism, completely ignoring the fact that other cultures also have mythologies that came before many of the Greek myths, and also the strange miniscule section at the end of the giant book on Norse mythology purely because "well, my readers can only be white, so we all owe it to acknowledge the Norse myths too which is why I'm throwing these twenty pages in." That was off-putting, to say the least.
I felt positively about the book until that point, barring some of the commentary before the author's retellings that had some strange notes. The end quite literally ruined the entire rest of this for me, which I was previously enjoying because it was a convenient place to get brief summaries on characters in Greek mythology I had never heard of before, like that of Philomena, Ion, Clytie, etc. I got the 75th edition with illustrations, so the cover didn't really imply it was about anything other than Greek mythology, but some statements are like, "The Greeks were the VERY FIRST to ever conceive of this idea!" which is just blatantly wrong in many places.
I would recommend just reading the original sources of the myths from their ancient authors. Look into the earliest versions of the myths as well as their later retellings, and decide which is more enjoyable for you. It will likely be a more insightful and entertaining experience to just do it that way. For summaries, Theoi.com is an excellent resource, without the bias Hamilton brings to this work.
I felt positively about the book until that point, barring some of the commentary before the author's retellings that had some strange notes. The end quite literally ruined the entire rest of this for me, which I was previously enjoying because it was a convenient place to get brief summaries on characters in Greek mythology I had never heard of before, like that of Philomena, Ion, Clytie, etc. I got the 75th edition with illustrations, so the cover didn't really imply it was about anything other than Greek mythology, but some statements are like, "The Greeks were the VERY FIRST to ever conceive of this idea!" which is just blatantly wrong in many places.
I would recommend just reading the original sources of the myths from their ancient authors. Look into the earliest versions of the myths as well as their later retellings, and decide which is more enjoyable for you. It will likely be a more insightful and entertaining experience to just do it that way. For summaries, Theoi.com is an excellent resource, without the bias Hamilton brings to this work.
I'm going to be honest and say I didn't read this whole book, but thats because I read it for school. We only had to read certain chapters and such. Edith Hamilton is a good writer, and she tells the myths clearly and concisely, so well done!