Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, 75th Anniversary Illustrated Edition

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Since its original publication by Little, Brown and Company in 1942, Edith Hamilton's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the word and established itself as a perennial bestseller in its various available formats: hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, and e-book. One could add many more but overall in this book one can see clearly the basis of a civilisation that was destined to become great and provide Europe with its mind and soul.

At home, Hamilton was a recipient of many honorary degrees and awards, including election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Edith Hamilton and her sister were among the first women to audit classes (her sister published an autobiography detailing their life in Germany even). There are reasons for the re-invention of the Sigurd story that are not entirely pleasant, and the re-invention of that story as the Wagnerian Ring Saga in opera.

I look up to it so much for being the root of letting me grow as a reader and aided me to open my eyes and mind to a world of vast imagination, creativity and foreign culture.I wish I had found this book sooner, I liked the books by Robert Graves, The Greek Myths vol 1 and The Greek Myths vol 2, and remember at the time being amazed and dazzled, especially with the footnotes where there were so many. There was this one guy, whose name I'm forgetting at the moment, whom you can tell she just despised, but was too polite to say. The unfortunate bit is that she always channels her anger towards the women, who are often unaware that they are getting it on with the almighty himself, and/or the children that they give birth to. I was fortunate to have grown up in a time when bookshelf sets of stories were the norm in family homes.

However, I really need to point this out again: this is supposed to be a comprehensive work of mythology as a whole! You end up second-guessing yourself - maybe the classic status is causing you to be unduly deferential. This book can be considered the best reference material for those interested in knowing more about mythology. And we recognize reference points for countless works for art, literature and culture inquiry--from Freud's Oedipus complex to Wagner's Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra.We have two copies of Mythology in our house—one from high school and one that I picked up along the way from a relative who was downsizing. This week, we're talking Prophet Song, Paul Lynch, Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, and "Rabbit Test", Samantha Mills. This deluxe, hardcover edition is fully-illustrated throughout with all-new, specially commissioned art, making it a true collector's item. Norse Section, I love the little bits of Norse Mythology we get here, but unfortunately provided very little, that it feels like an afterthought. This 75th anniversary edition of a classic bestseller is stunningly illustrated and designed to enchant fans of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology at all ages.

Although the myths remain unchanged, the way that we think about them has evolved considerably over the last 150 years. Hamilton does remark repeatedly that later Greeks and Romans were turned off by the misbehaving of the gods and tried to sweep the original versions under the rug. An easy to use contents page, lots of info on major and minor Greek mythology characters and even a very small section on Norse mythology at the back. I really enjoy reading Mythology and Edith Hamilton’s ‘Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes’ has been no exception.

A little naive maybe, however, given this and the irrevocably atrocious acts of each and every member of the Greek Pantheon, I suggest that there are, in fact, no Gods in Greek Mythology, only reflections of vastly more powerful versions of ourselves, unmasking and exposing all of our most unfavourable attributes.