Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable

Rating:
Summary: Makes the Obscure Become Meaningful - and Fun to Read
Review: "The Age of Fable" is an enjoyable, easy to read introduction to Greek and Roman mythology.

Today we lament that people have little time for the classics and even less for mythology. Bulfinch, writing in 1855, said much the same, "To devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false marvels and obsolete faiths, is not to be expected of a general reader in a practical age like this."

And yet without some familiarity with Greek and Roman mythology we not only have little understanding of Greek and Roman civilization, we also limit our appreciation for some of the greatest English literature and poetry. Shakespeare, Keats, Milton, and other English writers have assumed that readers are acquainted with mythology. And more basic, we also deprive ourselves of some fascinating and enjoyable stories and tales.

In writing "The Age of Fable" Bulfinch focused on "mythology as connected with literature", not just the fables themselves. He created a book that has remained easy to read and as well serves as an amazingly useful reference when reading 16th, 17th, and 18th century literature and poetry. I have repeatedly found that what was an obscure and murky reference to mythology took on meaning and significance by a quick visit to Bulfinch. I particularly appreciate his index of names: it really helps me track down those prolific deities.

I sometimes pick up "The Age of Fable" and simply browse a few pages, exploring a new tale, a new adventure by powerful deities with magnified human frailties. Buy a copy, you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Thomas Bulfinch retells the classical myths for the masses
Review: "The intelligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humanities of old religion,
The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty
That had their haunts in dale or piny mountain,
Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms and watery depths; all these have vanished;
They live no longer in the faith of reason;
But still the heart doth need a language; still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names;
Spirits or gods that used to share this earth
With man as with their freidn; and at this day
'Tis Jupiter who brings whate'er is great,
And Venus who brings every thing that's fair."

At the end of his Author's Preface for "Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable," Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867) quotes from Coleridge's "The Piccolomini" to represent the connection between mythology and literature. An accountant at the Boston Merchants' Bank, Bulfinch had been educated at Harvard and was a teacher early in his career. Seeing a need for something more than a formal translation of the myths and legends of antiquity, Bulfinch decided to popularize classical literature for all of us who did not know how to read Ancient Greek and Latin. Throughout his business career he collected hundreds of myths and legends, not only of the pagan era of Greek and Roman gods, but also Oriental deities, and Norse sagas. "The Age of Fable" was first published in 1855, and created the identification of the name of Bulfinch with that of mythology for the general population. For the last half of the 19th-century and the first part of the 20th, the volume was as much an American classic as "The Last of the Mohicans," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Uncle Remus," "Tom Sawyer," and "Huckleberry Finn."

When Bulfinch told these ancient tales the archeological study of Greece had not really begun (Troy was still considered a mythical location) and historians had yet to formulate any acceptable explanations for how these myths originated. Bulfinch was interested in telling these stories simply and for their own sakes, without being caught up in the Dead Language issues of the poems he excerpts (except to the extent that he uses the Latin versions of the names of the gods and goddesses rather than the Greek). Nor was he interested in drawing moral lessons from these stories, because Bulfinch's goal was to make the classical references found in the educated poets of his day accessible to the common folk.

The opening chapters deal mostly with the gods and goddesses, starting with the tales of Prometheus and Pandora, and ending with the "Monsters" such as the Sphinx and Pegasus. The next section is devoted to the great heroes, from Jason and Atalanta, to Hercules and Theseus, and then the lesser heroes such as Orpheus and orion. We then get to the epic poems of antiquity with chapters on the Trojan war, the adventures of Ulysses, and the adventures of Aeneas. The final section of "The Age of Fable" covers a lot of ground, including Egyptian deities, the Oracles, Poets of Mythology, Eastern Mythology, Hindu Mythology, and Norse Mythology, including Beowulf. I was weaned on Edith Hamilton's "Mythology," but I still appreciate Bulfinch's approach in telling pretty much the same stories in a more straightforward manner. More importantly, these stories have really become literature in their own right, and can be read for that enjoyment rather than for scholarly knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Makes the Obscure Become Meaningful - and Fun to Read
Review: "The Age of Fable" is an enjoyable, easy to read introduction to Greek and Roman mythology.

Today we lament that people have little time for the classics and even less for mythology. Bulfinch, writing in 1855, said much the same, "To devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false marvels and obsolete faiths, is not to be expected of a general reader in a practical age like this."

And yet without some familiarity with Greek and Roman mythology we not only have little understanding of Greek and Roman civilization, we also limit our appreciation for some of the greatest English literature and poetry. Shakespeare, Keats, Milton, and other English writers have assumed that readers are acquainted with mythology. And more basic, we also deprive ourselves of some fascinating and enjoyable stories and tales.

In writing "The Age of Fable" Bulfinch focused on "mythology as connected with literature", not just the fables themselves. He created a book that has remained easy to read and as well serves as an amazingly useful reference when reading 16th, 17th, and 18th century literature and poetry. I have repeatedly found that what was an obscure and murky reference to mythology took on meaning and significance by a quick visit to Bulfinch. I particularly appreciate his index of names: it really helps me track down those prolific deities.

I sometimes pick up "The Age of Fable" and simply browse a few pages, exploring a new tale, a new adventure by powerful deities with magnified human frailties. Buy a copy, you won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A Mastery of Myth
Review: Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, The Age of Fable, is an excellent source for understanding and appreciating the legends and myths of ancient Greece and Rome. Well researched, the book reviews the fables in clear, simple prose. An excellent source for students, writers, scholars, or the casual reader interested in classic mythology. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Mastery of Myth
Review: Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology, The Age of Fable, is an excellent source for understanding and appreciating the legends and myths of ancient Greece and Rome. Well researched, the book reviews the fables in clear, simple prose. An excellent source for students, writers, scholars, or the casual reader interested in classic mythology. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Age of Fable: Greek and Roman myth. Bulfinch
Review: Overall a good book for novice readers to of mythology. Good basic stories written in prose. Also has explanations of the use of myth in poetry. The footnotes are clear and concise, and where appropriate provide further information about the text you just read. My only quibble with the book is that it's called Greek and Roman myth, when they put the names of Roman deities first, and the name of the Greek dieties in parentheses. This is a book you read if you want to expand your knowledge base about mythology. This is not a book for people already know the stories. This is a good book for people who know nothing about greek myth, and are looking for a place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Age of Fable: Greek and Roman myth. Bulfinch
Review: Overall a good book for novice readers to of mythology. Good basic stories written in prose. Also has explanations of the use of myth in poetry. The footnotes are clear and concise, and where appropriate provide further information about the text you just read. My only quibble with the book is that it's called Greek and Roman myth, when they put the names of Roman deities first, and the name of the Greek dieties in parentheses. This is a book you read if you want to expand your knowledge base about mythology. This is not a book for people already know the stories. This is a good book for people who know nothing about greek myth, and are looking for a place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Still excellent
Review: This book provides a succinct introduction to many of the stories that underlie Western culture. The main part of the book presents a digest of Greek myths, arranged in a loosely along the "genealogy" of the Greek Pantheon. Included are brief synopses of the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Aneid. These stories are no longer universally known as they were such a short time ago, and this book provides an easy introduction to them. At the end of the volume are included some stories of the Hindu and Nordic gods, but these, especially the Hindu stories, are not as satisfying as the Greek stories. [...] this book is a great buy!

Rating:
Summary: Still excellent
Review: This book provides a succinct introduction to many of the stories that underlie Western culture. The main part of the book presents a digest of Greek myths, arranged in a loosely along the "genealogy" of the Greek Pantheon. Included are brief synopses of the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Aneid. These stories are no longer universally known as they were such a short time ago, and this book provides an easy introduction to them. At the end of the volume are included some stories of the Hindu and Nordic gods, but these, especially the Hindu stories, are not as satisfying as the Greek stories. [...] this book is a great buy!

Rating:
Summary: Still excellent
Review: This book provides a succinct introduction to many of the stories that underlie Western culture. The main part of the book presents a digest of Greek myths, arranged in a loosely along the "genealogy" of the Greek Pantheon. Included are brief synopses of the Odyssey, the Iliad, and the Aneid. These stories are no longer universally known as they were such a short time ago, and this book provides an easy introduction to them. At the end of the volume are included some stories of the Hindu and Nordic gods, but these, especially the Hindu stories, are not as satisfying as the Greek stories. [...] this book is a great buy!