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Bulfinch’s Mythology, The Age of Fable: Thomas Bulfinch (Humanities, Classics, World Literature) [Annotated]
The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes is the first part of Bulfinch's Mythology, the other two being The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur, and, Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages. Chapters Prometheus and Pandora; Apollo and Daphne — Pyramus and Thisbe — Cephalus and Procris; Juno and Her Rivals, Io and Callisto — Diana and Actaeon — Latona and the Rustics; Phaeton; Midas — Baucis and Philemon; Proserpine — Glaucus and Scylla; Pygmalion — Dryope — Venus and Adonis — Apollo and Hyacinthus; Ceyx and or, the Halcyon Birds; Vertumnus and Pomona; Cupid and Psyche; Cadmus — The Myrmidons; Nisus and Scylla — Echo and Narcissus — Clytie — Hero and Leander; Minerva — Niobe; The Graeae and Gorgons — Perseus — Medusa — Atlas — Andromeda; Monsters, Giants, Sphinx, Pegasus, and Chimaera, Centaurs, Griffin, and Pygmies; The Golden Fleece, and many more.
489 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 2, 2021
22 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Bulfinch
307 books119 followersThomas Bulfinch was an American writer born in Newton, Massachusetts, best known for the book Bulfinch's Mythology.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 2, 2025
This is definitely one of the more extensive mythologies to read through. At the end of each chapter he lists references to that myth in famous poetry and plays. We listened in the car and just enjoyed the stories, but this would also work well as a resource for consulting to better understand allusions in older works.
November 6, 2022
English was my very favorite class in high school. I was addicted to books for as long as I can remember and our fabulous teacher, Sister Marianna, did everything she could to keep it that way.
Our literature books contained lots of lists of recommended reading and I told myself that I would get to all of them in years to come. I left school with an almost complete set of the books we used in 10th, 11th and 12th grade which have certainly gotten lots of use over years; ′fortunately, the Braille dots have for the most part stood the test of time
Alas, I did not get around to most of that recommended reading, however. I covered some of it when I returned to college to prepare to teach English, but once that dream was not fully realized, I moved on to other things.
A recent article in THE READER's DIGEST told of a wonderful teacher who told her pupils that they would have the equivalent of a college if they read all of the books on a list she provided. The story told of a woman who followed through with that and of how the books impacted her life.
Reading that article reminded me of my own long ago promise to myself and I decided to use her list as a guide of sorts with the definite understanding that I could skip things I did not want to read.
This was the first book on the list.
I decided to read it because I know very little about mythology. The subject interests me, but mostly because I became very interested in Joseph Campbell's work while I was in college.
Reading these summaries of the myths that have shaped our world proved interesting, though I doubt that I will retain very much of what I read. That has nothing to do with this book and everything to do with my own interests and proclivities.
It is easy to see why this has stood the test of time and I'm glad I read it.
Our literature books contained lots of lists of recommended reading and I told myself that I would get to all of them in years to come. I left school with an almost complete set of the books we used in 10th, 11th and 12th grade which have certainly gotten lots of use over years; ′fortunately, the Braille dots have for the most part stood the test of time
Alas, I did not get around to most of that recommended reading, however. I covered some of it when I returned to college to prepare to teach English, but once that dream was not fully realized, I moved on to other things.
A recent article in THE READER's DIGEST told of a wonderful teacher who told her pupils that they would have the equivalent of a college if they read all of the books on a list she provided. The story told of a woman who followed through with that and of how the books impacted her life.
Reading that article reminded me of my own long ago promise to myself and I decided to use her list as a guide of sorts with the definite understanding that I could skip things I did not want to read.
This was the first book on the list.
I decided to read it because I know very little about mythology. The subject interests me, but mostly because I became very interested in Joseph Campbell's work while I was in college.
Reading these summaries of the myths that have shaped our world proved interesting, though I doubt that I will retain very much of what I read. That has nothing to do with this book and everything to do with my own interests and proclivities.
It is easy to see why this has stood the test of time and I'm glad I read it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews