Mythology

Back Bay books

by Edith Hamilton

No cover — Edith Hamilton: Mythology (1998, Little, Brown and Co.)

497 pages

English language

Published Sept. 10, 1998 by Little, Brown and Co..

ISBN:: 978-0-316-34151-6

View on OpenLibrary

(34 reviews)

There has long been a need for the stories of ancient mythology written to appeal to the twentieth-century mind. Edith Hamilton's orderly and lucid presentation of Greek, Roman and Norse mythology promises the casual reader and the avid student a sound, modern and adult key to the foundation stones of world literature. Her years of study of classical literature have already produced notable books and the charm of her writing is well established by THE GREEK WAY and THE ROMAN WAY. She has not been content to be merely a reteller of tales. She has blended and organized the sometimes conflicting myths of the early storytellers, molding them with vivid clarity.

48 editions

Monirah reviewed Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Review of 'Mythology' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I will be honest and say that I couldn't become interested in it at first, but after ploughing through the first few chapters, I slowly started to sink in to Hamilton's world of "monsters, mortals, gods, and warriors."

I'm sure most, if not all, of us are familiar with a handful of stories surrounding Ancient Greece: Hercules; Athena; the opening of Pandora's box; Oedipus; etc. And, while this applied to me, I was not overly familiar with them and did not know how the characters within these myths relate to one another. So, I found that this book acted as the thread that connected these loose points into a coherent whole.

I thought it was nice that Hamilton gives mention to the varying versions of a myth if they exist. She also goes beyond Greek mythology by delving in to Roman and Norse mythologies.