Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Edith HamiltonBrand: Spring Arbor/Ingram
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-09-14
ISBN: 0316341517
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780316341516
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Mythology
Book Review: "Mythology"- A Misleading Title
Summary: 3 Stars
Overall, "Mythology" is a decent introduction to Greco-Roman mythology, and when I read it in the third grade or so I loved it and it gave me a good base of knowledge. However, this year I had to study it in English class and just about memorize it, and my opinions about it have changed. This book is meant to be read as a textbook, looking things up when one feels it neccesary. That is how I originally read it. By no means should this dry, utilitarian tome be read cover-to-cover. Hamilton's writing style is concise and she gets her point across, but one cannot read more than one story at a time without nearly falling asleep. Reading Hamilton is a far cry from reading Homer or Sophocles. The most positive aspect of the book is its sheer comprehensiveness- Hamilton covers the gods and demigods thoroughly, as well as a large number of mythical tales. If you manage to force yourself through the whole of this book, you will gather from it quite a lot of information.
The title might lead you to believe that this book is a comprehensive look at mythology in general, but don't be fooled. In Hamilton's eyes, no culture or mythology is worth a second thought except that of the Greeks and Romans. She accuses all pre-greek religions of glorifying pain and sacrafice, which is not true at all. She says of the religions of the ancient world, "Mankind's chief hope of escaping the wrath of whatever divinities were then abroad lay in some magical rite, senseless but powerful, or in some offering made at the cost of pain and grief." She belittles the lore of Egypt and Mesopotamia, calling the Egyptian goddess with the head of a cat "a rigid figure...suggesting inflexible, inhuman cruelty." It was the goddess of music! She describes the Greeks themselves, in pre-hellenistic times, as living "a savage life, ugly and brutal." She says of Greek mythology, "what the myths show is how high they [the greeks] had risen above the ancient filth...". Disgusting. How dare she call the mythology of the Egyptians and the Assyrians "filth"? She does mention Norse mythology in her book, but gives so tiny a glimpse of it that she ought not to have included it at all. She doesn't bother to go into any detail at all about the Norse gods, and ignores almost the entire Volsung saga, telling only the stories of Signy and Sigurd. She tells us nothing of Freja's disturbing obtainment of Brisingamen, the dwarf-wrought necklace, or of the ring of Andvari that brought such misfortune upon its wearers. She does cover the Creation and Ragnarok, though not in much detail.
This book should have been entitled "Greco-Roman Mythology" or "The Mythology of the Greeks and Romans".
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