Mythology...

[13ip0lar]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend any good books in relation to Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and other mythology of that sort. It doesn't have to be in the original language, and all that. I'm just looking for something that will explain them, and the moral of the story? I just basically want something to help me understand a lot of the sci-fi out there better. I know a lot of the popular stories, but when they go into more detail I become lost. A lot of good sci-fis seem to weave a lot of real world myths into their shows. Just wondering if anyone could recommend a good book(s)?

[tehapoc]

Look into some works by Edith Hamilton. Might be what you're looking for.

[13ip0lar]

Look into some works by Edith Hamilton. Might be what you're looking for.

Seems like it's exactly what I'm looking for. Well, to a degree, I appreciate the suggestion though. You wouldn't happen to know a good book for Egyptian mythology would you? I only ask because from what I can ascertain about the book, well...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology_%28book%29

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is a book written by Edith Hamilton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Hamilton), published in 1942 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1942_in_literature) by the Penguin Group. [ISBN-0452009855, 9780452009851]. It retells stories of Greek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_myth), Roman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_mythology), and Norse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology) mythology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythology) drawn from several classical sources. The introduction includes commentary on the major classical poets used as sources, and on how changing cultures have led to changing characterizations of the deities and their myths. The book has become one of the most powerful and critically acclaimed books of the Western world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_world). It is frequently used in high schools (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school) and colleges (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College) as an introductory text to ancient mythology and belief.

So one would assume there isn't much on Egyptian gods and such.

[cHRiSCOe]

The odyssey lol

[tehapoc]

So one would assume there isn't much on Egyptian gods and such.

Most large religions are well documented.


Tales of Ancient Egypt (Roger Lancelyn Green)
The Religion of Ancient Egypt (Sir W. M. Flinders Petrie)
Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others (Stephanie Dalley)


Should also look into Oxford Companion to World Mythology.

[DucknahEireann]

Had a look there on Amazon and found this for a decent price. I havent read it myself so I cant legitimately recommend it. Nonetheless it sounds like what your looking for:

Amazon.com: Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt (9780195170245): Geraldine Pinch: Books


Also, here is something you might be interested in regarding Celtic and Irish Mythology. Maybe not as interesting as the Greeks and Egyptains etc but its still mythology:

Amazon.com: Celtic Myths and Legends (9780786711079): Peter Berresford Ellis: Books


Good luck.

[sleepydumbdude]

There are some mythology books for free on kindle. I've been ready popular tales from the norse on my phone. They have a bunch of different ones for free. I don't know how good they are though. The next one I was going to read is over egyption gods. I remember I went to the website to view them and the recommended had other free ancient mythology books.

[StyledBear]

for the greek and roman myths go direct;

ovid's metamorphoses and apollodorus' library of greek mythology

maybe also; Hesiod's theogony and works and days, the homeric hymns

robert graves two part 'the greek myths' is a must

[ooo0ooooooo0ooo]

go to your local college and look in the bookstore for some used mythology textbooks. the one we used in my class was pretty good. most colleges have a mythology course

[Bearded Bugs]

In terms of primary mythology you won't get much better than the Odyssey and the Iliad by Homer, and the Aeneid by Virgil. All three are wonderful epics with fascinating characters and plots.

[exo-apollo]

In terms of primary mythology you won't get much better than the Odyssey and the Iliad by Homer, and the Aeneid by Virgil. All three are wonderful epics with fascinating characters and plots.

All excellent works. I also really enjoyed Herodotus' Histories, although that is not so much mythology as it is a historical work (although some elements of it quite possibly could be mythological). In fact a lot of historical from the Ancient times have a mythological weave to them eg. Suetonius' Twelve Caesars weaves myths into pure history.