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Mythology
by
The world-renowned classic that has enthralled and delighted millions of readers with its timeless tales of gods and heroes.
Edith Hamilton's Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture--the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiqu
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Paperback, Back Bay Books Edition, 497 pages
Published
September 14th 1998
by Little, Brown and Company
(first published 1942)
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4 Stars
Wow. So this took me almost a full year to get through.

And no, I'm not actually joking (shocking, I know). GR says I started this in August....of 2018.

But what can I say.
Aside from the fact that I am probably just too dumb and too uncultured to truly enjoy this thing to it's full capacity...I'm also not a pretentious asshole who is going to pretend I lurved it to pieces just to look smart. (And no, I am not suggesting anyone who says they love this is a liar. One of my BBF GR buds An ...more
Wow. So this took me almost a full year to get through.

And no, I'm not actually joking (shocking, I know). GR says I started this in August....of 2018.

But what can I say.
Aside from the fact that I am probably just too dumb and too uncultured to truly enjoy this thing to it's full capacity...I'm also not a pretentious asshole who is going to pretend I lurved it to pieces just to look smart. (And no, I am not suggesting anyone who says they love this is a liar. One of my BBF GR buds An ...more

This book is considered as a classic for a reason... And I just wanted to say that this edition is GORGEOUS. Please, BUY IT! I promise that it'll look as AMAZING on your shelves as it does on mine! :D




P.S. These beautiful photos aren't mine! ;) ...more




P.S. These beautiful photos aren't mine! ;) ...more

This is the second in a series of six reviews focusing on books about Greek mythology. The books included in this comparative evaluation are:
Bulfinch's Mythology (Modern Library Paperback Edition, 2004)
Mythology by Edith Hamilton (originally published in 1942; Back Bay Books edition of 1998)
The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (Penguin Books combined edition, 1992)
Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece by Gustav Schwab (Pantheon Books, copyright 1946)
Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis (H ...more
Bulfinch's Mythology (Modern Library Paperback Edition, 2004)
Mythology by Edith Hamilton (originally published in 1942; Back Bay Books edition of 1998)
The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (Penguin Books combined edition, 1992)
Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece by Gustav Schwab (Pantheon Books, copyright 1946)
Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis (H ...more

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, Edith Hamilton
Edith Hamilton's Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture--the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
We meet the Greek gods on Olympus and Norse gods in Valhalla. We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus.
We hear the tales of Jason and the Go ...more
Edith Hamilton's Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture--the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
We meet the Greek gods on Olympus and Norse gods in Valhalla. We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus.
We hear the tales of Jason and the Go ...more

Edith Hamilton may have written Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes more than a half century ago and she may have been fairly ancient when she did so, but she still put out one seriously readable book!
Hamilton took from the best sources to cobble together slick summaries of all your old time myth favorites. Before giving each mythical story's highlights, she details the different writers who created a version of it and explains the qualities of the best ones. Sometimes she berates the l ...more
Hamilton took from the best sources to cobble together slick summaries of all your old time myth favorites. Before giving each mythical story's highlights, she details the different writers who created a version of it and explains the qualities of the best ones. Sometimes she berates the l ...more

Aug 23, 2009
K.D. Absolutely
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Recommended to K.D. by:
Monique
"This book makes me feel smarter," says my GR friend in her review of this book. I worked the same for me.
Greek, Roman and Norse mythologies are so old because they have been in existence thousands and thousands of years even before Christ was born. No wonder that many literary works have been based on them. Even the names of the planets and the stars. Even the names of my, mortal as they are, relatives and friends. I have a nephew by a cousin in Canada whose name is Hector but he does not write ...more
Greek, Roman and Norse mythologies are so old because they have been in existence thousands and thousands of years even before Christ was born. No wonder that many literary works have been based on them. Even the names of the planets and the stars. Even the names of my, mortal as they are, relatives and friends. I have a nephew by a cousin in Canada whose name is Hector but he does not write ...more

4 stars
Basically, this gif sums up most of Greek mythology:

Not even kidding a little bit.
Anyways, mythology is always something I was interested in and loved, it's in so much of our everyday life still in the stories we tell and our history. I know most of my real life friends read this in the 10th grade, but my class read The Odyssey only and I've always meant to get to this book but didn't until now.
I listened to the audio of this book during my work commutes, and I liked it because it was a ...more
Basically, this gif sums up most of Greek mythology:

Not even kidding a little bit.
Anyways, mythology is always something I was interested in and loved, it's in so much of our everyday life still in the stories we tell and our history. I know most of my real life friends read this in the 10th grade, but my class read The Odyssey only and I've always meant to get to this book but didn't until now.
I listened to the audio of this book during my work commutes, and I liked it because it was a ...more

Hm. I declared August "History Month" and read, amongst various others, Bulfinch's Mythology of which I was quite disappointed. In my research of his work and how it came to be I found a reference to this book by Edith Hamilton, who superseded Mr. Bulfinch in most classrooms. Thus I read this book in an attempt to find a better written encyclopedia. Unfortunately, I did not succeed.
To clarify: this book IS better written than the one by Mr. Bulfinch. One reason is that Edith Hamilton was a scho ...more
To clarify: this book IS better written than the one by Mr. Bulfinch. One reason is that Edith Hamilton was a scho ...more

This is one of those books you hear about and then buy in a used bookstore and it languishes on your bookshelves for years until you finally pick it up, and then you just end up thinking to yourself, why didn't I pick this up sooner? Only, it's also one of those books that really works better as a reference than as a book you sit down and read from cover to cover. I read this book over the course of most of February, in bits and pieces, and it worked well that way.
This book is a classic for a re ...more
This book is a classic for a re ...more

Pindar in the early fifth century tells the tale about the feast Tantalus made the gods and protests that it is not true. The punishment of Tantalus is described often, first in the Odyssey, from which I have taken it. Amphion's story, and Niobe's, I have taken from Ovid, who alone tells them in full. For Pelops winning the chariot race I have preferred Apollodorus, of the first or second century A.D., who gives the fullest account that has come down. The story of Atreus' and Thyestes' crimes a
...more

Nov 04, 2012
Christopher
marked it as to-read
Only made it to page 180, but someday I'll finish it. In the meantime, some paintings of a few myths I did read:

John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus, in which Echo (who can only echo what other people say) fails to save Narcissus from drowning himself while admiring his own wonderful visage.

Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son, in which the titan Saturn eats all his children so that they won't be the death of him.

Peter Paul Rubens, Leda and the Swan, in which a woman is raped by Z ...more

John William Waterhouse, Echo and Narcissus, in which Echo (who can only echo what other people say) fails to save Narcissus from drowning himself while admiring his own wonderful visage.

Francisco de Goya, Saturn Devouring His Son, in which the titan Saturn eats all his children so that they won't be the death of him.

Peter Paul Rubens, Leda and the Swan, in which a woman is raped by Z ...more

This book is very hard to classify. Doesn't the title make you think "World Mythology"? Well, if it did, you would be wrong. I bought this book, looking forward to (especially) a female viewpoint of comparative mythology from various different countries around the world. What I got was an extremely thorough set of retellings (with impeccably named sources) by Hamilton of virtually every classical (Greek and Roman) myth ever told), with the very strange inclusion of approximately 20 pages of Nors
...more

I believe, deep in my heart, that everyone who has attended high school in the past twenty to thirty years or so (in the United States, at least) owned a ratty, most likely used copy of this work at one time or another. This book has been on the required reading list of so many schools that nearly everyone has seen it, owned it, and opened it at least twice.
This is one only two such books I still have, 15 years out of high school: this and Strunk and White. This is a good book to have lying arou ...more
This is one only two such books I still have, 15 years out of high school: this and Strunk and White. This is a good book to have lying arou ...more

I remember reading this over and over when I was in high school, just for my own pleasure. Then I got to college, and took an actual mythology class, and the first thing the professor said was, "I hope you all haven't been reading junk like Edith Hamilton." What?! Well, most of his problem was with those bite-sized little rundowns of the myths, which is what I liked about it. It's a nice survey of Greek mythology, an introduction, if you will. There are a few inaccuracies, and she barely mention
...more

You can never forget your first love.

4.5****
This was great for Greek mythology- with family trees at the back of the book to aid understanding and it was great to see how these heroes and Gods all connect. The author also wrote where the these stories are found and the source material she used (eg through tragic plays, or part of poetry) which was great for me for further research!
I also enjoyed how the author included different versions of the tales and who originally wrote these down- for example, there are different versions of ...more
This was great for Greek mythology- with family trees at the back of the book to aid understanding and it was great to see how these heroes and Gods all connect. The author also wrote where the these stories are found and the source material she used (eg through tragic plays, or part of poetry) which was great for me for further research!
I also enjoyed how the author included different versions of the tales and who originally wrote these down- for example, there are different versions of ...more

Edith Hamilton was probably how I discovered mythology myself. I have an old tattered paperback copy of this which helped guide me through the Odyssey and the Iliad. I haven't attempted Ovid or Hesiod, but this is where I would undoubtedly start whenever decide to do so.
...more

I was happy to have the recommendation of Edith Hamilton's Mythology from my Goodreads friend, Beverly about a year ago, when I was looking for a book that would help me understand this subject better. There is a lot of information which I preferred to read a little at a time which took almost a year to finish. Do I remember all in this book? You got to be kidding, I remember the basics and it has already helped in my classic reads when these figures show up and if my memory fails, I can look he
...more

Oct 08, 2020
Jay
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
High schoolers
Shelves:
read-for-school,
mythology
Wow! This book is FILLED TO THE BRIM with Mythology!! 5/5 stars from me!
This book has some violence, so I recommend this book for teenagers over 13.
This book has some violence, so I recommend this book for teenagers over 13.

Nov 17, 2010
Janus the Erudite Artist
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned-paperback
This book, aside from fairy tales, has introduced me to the world beyond our reach. I first had this book because back in high school, we were required to read it. I never really understood back then why it seemed that I was one of the few who enjoyed reading this and majority of our class despised having to be given the assignment to read it. I always found it entertaining. Well, the first few stories were a bit tedious but it was a foundation that helped me understand the other tales so it was
...more

I really don’t know where to begin with this review because the 75th anniversary illustrated edition is stunning and I am overwhelmed by its beauty.
I’ve always been interested in Greek mythology but I never had a whole book that would help me understand the relationships between Titans, Olympian Gods, Demi-gods and humans. But this one served its purpose. Not only we have the family trees that help us know who is related to who, but also how they get involved with the great heroes such as Achil ...more
I’ve always been interested in Greek mythology but I never had a whole book that would help me understand the relationships between Titans, Olympian Gods, Demi-gods and humans. But this one served its purpose. Not only we have the family trees that help us know who is related to who, but also how they get involved with the great heroes such as Achil ...more

Mar 05, 2019
Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adventure,
favorites,
animals,
health,
philosophy,
creativity,
death,
folk-tale,
best-of,
happiness
I've been reading on this collection of myths for almost a month, and I really didn't want to come up for air. A one sentence summary: these stories are the best stories of all time. There are stories about every possible theme---death, work, struggle, sadness, love, hate, war, revenge, retribution. Because these stories are deeply embedded in our culture they reverberate through the modern stories we hear.
This is a must-read for everyone.
Cautionary note: Edith Hamilton isn't afraid to share he ...more
This is a must-read for everyone.
Cautionary note: Edith Hamilton isn't afraid to share he ...more

Aug 20, 2015
El
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cultural-studies-and-other,
fantasy
This is a book I've had sitting on my shelves for a long time, and one I've flipped through several times to look up references from other books, titles, movies. I was finally encouraged to read the entire thing from having read Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones, in which the 14-year-old protagonist reads Mythology and makes comparisons to her own life, comparisons based mainly on the story of Jason and Medea. (One of my own personal favorites, as well, because Medea is a wickedly delicious charac
...more

Greek, Roman, and Norse mythologies have affected our modern cultures more than we might like to admit. Those mythologies were used as means to explain the environment in which humankind lived, the natural phenomena they witnessed and the passing of time and seasons.
Mythology has catalyzed the emergence of a rich and profound body of artistic works. In fact, this exactly peaked my interest in mythology in the first place. Here are some of my favs:

The titan Saturn eats all of his sons in fear of ...more
Mythology has catalyzed the emergence of a rich and profound body of artistic works. In fact, this exactly peaked my interest in mythology in the first place. Here are some of my favs:

The titan Saturn eats all of his sons in fear of ...more

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I didn't like the practice of Hamilton retelling only the myths that she enjoyed, rather than using the most wildly accepted version of the stories or combining the different stories into one retelling. I also didn't understand the point of the Norse mythology at the end, after more than ninety percent of the book was dedicated to Greek and Roman mythology - it was a little jarring, and very unnecessary. But on the other hand, the book wa
...more
topics | posts | views | last activity | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Goodreads Librari...: Please add page number | 2 | 13 | Feb 24, 2021 02:46AM | |
Anyone starting-with-the-Greeks? | 7 | 85 | Oct 31, 2018 11:50AM | |
Goodreads Librari...: missing book editions | 2 | 16 | Jul 24, 2017 07:33AM | |
2015 Reading Chal...: Mythology by Edith Hamilton | 5 | 72 | Mar 09, 2015 06:54AM | |
The influence of greek mythology in european graphic novels | 1 | 11 | Aug 28, 2014 09:43AM |
Edith Hamilton, an educator, writer and a historian, was born August 12, 1867 in Dresden, Germany, of American parents and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. Her father began teaching her Latin when she was seven years old and soon added Greek, French and German to her curriculum. Hamilton's education continued at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut and at Bryn Mawr College near Ph
...more
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