Mythology

Rating:
Summary: A good overview, but not the best reference.
Review: Looking at the title of the book, I thought this book would be a collection of myths. Upon looking at the list of other titles by Edith Hamilton (like "The Greek Way" and "The Roman Way"), I felt that this would be more of the history of mythology. This book is a blend of these two ideas.

The book is not organized to be a quick reference. It tells the main stories and characters as well as gives a brief section on the minor figures. For each section, the author explains where she is getting the material (for instance, from Homer or from Ovid) with a little editorial comment. Then, she relates the myth. She is giving you the story, but it does not read like a story. It reads like a college instructor giving you the highlights of the story with the occasional comment.

Although the bulk of the myths covered are either Greek or Roman, Hamilton does include some Norse mythology. Given the difference in worldview difference, I would like to have seen more contrasting of the differences.

I found this book to be a great review of the Greek and Roman myths. I found that the differences between the Greek and Roman interpretations of the same basic myth to be very interesting. It is not a substitute for reading the myths themselves, and for this, Hamilton does mention the authors and, sometimes, the play or poem. I would recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales of the Gods and Heroes of Classical Mythology
Review: Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" tell the "Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" of classical mythology and this volume, first written in 1942, is now a timeless classic itself. This was the first book of mythology that I ever read and it is still the best. When Hamilton retells the love story of Cupid and Psyche or the tragedy of Agamemnon and his children, she does so with a full sense of what it meant when first told by Apuleius or Aeschylus. These are not children's tales, but the heroic legends and religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, the illustrations by Steele Savage have the elegance of wood block prints, which, for all I know, is exactly what they are. I appreciate Hamilton's choice to avoid relying on Ovid, for while the "Metamorphoses" is the most comprehensive ancient text dealing with the classical myths, Ovid is an unbeliever. For Hamilton the writings of Homer, Hesiod and Pindar are more abbreviated in terms of providing details for the myths, but at least they take the tales seriously.

Another strength of the book is how she organizes the myths in her seven parts: (1) Covers the complete pantheon of deities, including the lesser gods of Olympus and Earth and the later Roman additions, as well as the earliest heroes. (2) Retells the various tales of love, between mortals and the gods or each other, along with the Quest for the Golden Fleece and other early heroic adventures. (3) Focuses specifically on the greatest heroes, Perseus, Theseus and Hercules, with Atalanta thrown in the mix in a curious but understandable editorial decision by Hamilton. (4) Puts together Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid into a giant epic stretching from the Judgment of Paris to the founding of Roman, with the Odyssey and the tragedies of Euripides. (5) Tells about the great mythological families, namely the House of Atreus (Agamemnon), the Royal House of Thebes (Oedipus and Antigone), and the Royal House of Athens. (6) Covers all of the lesser myths, most notably Midas. (7) Goes off in a new direction, providing a very brief introduction to Norse mythology that seems woefully inadequate given the comprehensive compilation of classical mythology that precedes it.

I looked over other possibilities as a basic textbook for an introductory mythology course, but I keep coming back to this one. If you want analysis of these myths, then you certainly want to look elsewhere. But if you want a solid retelling of virtually every tale of classical mythology, then Edith Hamilton's volume is still at the top of the list.

Rating:
Summary: Good storytelling.
Review: Hamilton tells the stories, that may span several sources, in essentialized form in single stories for each character or topic. This overview technique creates stories that are often times more interesting than the drier read of some original texts. She provides references to all materials used enabling the reader to investigate further when they find a story of particular interest. This is a great introductory text to Greek Mythology or a great text for more advanced readers working to essentialize their knowledge.

Rating:
Summary: Decent, Fun Mythology
Review: If you're a beginning, Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" is a great book. It provides a summarized version of nearly every significant Greek or Roman myth. Everything from Odysseus' journey to mere descriptions of all minor characters in this vast subject. However, its only good for beginners.

Having a brief background in mythology prior to this book, I found it fun and disappointing. It was a good 400-page read, but the writing lacks. Hamilton's interest to keep things short makes the myth sometimes hard to understand and blazingly fast. While the latter isn't bad, if you're interested in reading the details for yourself, this isn't the right book.

With the mediocre writing of Hamilton's (she uses "stuff" to describe elements in mythology, but that's just one problem), Mythology provides a decent overview of everything people need to know for the Greek and Roman theology.

Another bothersome feature this book had was its chapter on Norse Mythology. It seemed that Edith Hamilton got bored of writing this book and jabbed the Norse Mythology section in to appropriately title the book. It lacks in any depth. Additionally, her narratives show that her enthusiasm for writing this book was nil.

Once again, if you're a beginner and interested in mythology, buy the book. If not, you're better of with Bulfinch's Mythology or individual tales (Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid).

Rating:
Summary: Great Introduction for Early Teens
Review: The major fault of Edith Hamilton's classic Mythology also serves as its greatest strength. Hamilton edited this collection in a very conservative social mileu, and chose to edit out and play down much of the sex and violence one typically finds in the greek myths. However, that choice makes it an excellent selection to give teens and pre-teens their first introduction to the world of Zues, Perseus, Hercules, and the rest.

Several other intructory books on myths are available, but this remains the classic. Other less sanitized collections, however, are probably better for older readers.

The myths are well presented and organized. A short section on Norse myth, though prefunctory and not Hamilton's speciality, provides in theresting contrast and good fun for young readers. The essays included are good, though not the books greatest strength. They are nontheless worthwhile as they sketch out the complex interrelationships between the greek gods and heroes offering the reader substantial intellectual stimulation.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Classical Mythology
Review: I've done quite a bit of reading about greek (and roman) mythology and I still enjoyed this book. They way the myths are writen is so good that I could almost feel myself back in ancient Greece, observing the scenes. I also enjoyed the quotes from the original source where the myth was told (e.g. The Odyssey, The Illiad, etc). Overall this is a good basic classical mythology book. Even people who already know these myths should read this book if only for the delightful manner in which they are told. For someone who cannot match a roman god to his greek conterpart this might require flipping back to the first chapter. If you pay attention the first time you read it you shouldn't have any trouble with this.
Near the end of the book there are a couple norse myths. That's it. If your looking for a book that has myths from more than just Greece/Rome you'll be disappointed. However if you looked at the table of contents and noticed the lack of other cultural myths (and still wanted to read the book) you should be extremely satisfied. I know i was...

Rating:
Summary: God and heroes
Review: Edith Hamilton's very popular 'Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes' is a very basic, very popular and very good text for the introduction of Greek and Roman mythology. This book by Hamilton, simply entitled 'Mythology' is an expansion of the material in the shorter book. Largely, however, it is a repetition of the same material.

In our Western culture, the term 'mythology' is most often equated with these tales, and Hamilton, first writing before World War II, has helped to reinforce that equation with the current generations of readers.

Those looking for the mythological stories of other cultures will be disappointed -- with the exception of a brief section on Norse mythology at the end (about five percent of the entire volume), it covers nothing outside the Greek and Roman pantheons. Of course, part of the difficulty of approaching mythology of other cultures is that, in many instances, it is not mythology to them; or, in the case of mythology, one needs a firmer grounding in the culture and religious aspects of that culture before the mythology becomes accessible.

Hamilton (raised, as I was astonished to discover, in Indiana, where I currently reside) studied at Bryn Mawr, and had a distinguished teacher career in addition to writing this useful text. Hamilton's writing is not complicated and very easy to follow -- this has made her texts selected often for high school and undergraduate courses in Greek and Roman mythology, more frequently perhaps than any other text produced in this century.

Hamilton begins the text with an essay giving an overview of what mythology is, and what the purpose of it was.

'Through it,' she wrote, 'we can retrace the path from civilised man who lives so far from nature, to man who lived in close companionship with nature; and the real interest of the myths is that they lead us back to a time when the world was young and people had a connection with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers and hills, unlike anything we ourselves can feel.'

She proceeds with a brief history of the development of Greek mythology, the origins of the stories lost in the mists of time. She tells of the influences of Greek thought on subsequent developments in thought and religion: 'Saint Paul said the invisible must be understood by the visible. That was not a Hebrew idea, it was Greek.' Unlike most religious constructs, the Greek mythological world tried to make sense of the greater life of the universe in terms that were very human indeed, with a minimum of mystery. 'The terrifying irrational has no place in classical mythology.'

This is not to say, of course, that there were not terrible stories and fantastic creatures -- indeed, the mythological stories are full of them -- Gorgons and hydras and chimaeras dire. But these are mostly metaphorical (and were understood as such), and primarily used for a hero to be made (this same idea has pervaded to the most recent Mission Impossible movie).

Hamilton proceeds after this essay to describe the members of the pantheon, the major and minor gods and goddesses, the ideas of creation, the heroes (human, semi-divine and divine), stories of love and devotion, justice and injustice, and, of course, of warfare, victory, defeat, and courage. Those heroes before the Trojan War, perhaps the Greek-mythological-equivalent of a world war, had battles and dire circumstances to fight and overcome. The Trojan War figured largely in the mythological frameworks of Greece and Rome -- all the gods and goddess were involved in this conflict, it seemed, as were many of the heroes of Greek mythology.

Hamilton, writing in a fairly conservative period of time, and in a fairly conservative culture, sanitised the mythological stories to a large extent. The Greeks were a very human and often rather bawdy bunch; the Romans were even moreso. Much of the sexuality in the mythological stories is omitted, save to demonstrate the less-desirable aspects. Quite often, undergraduates who study mythology are astonished to discover, if they had used Hamilton's text in an earlier high school setting, that there is a lot more sex and violence in the 'real' stories than they had been previously exposed to.

Of course, one of the primary aspects of the mythological tales was not to explain the cosmos or to build complex theological constructs (reason did these, often with help from the myths, but not using the myths as the basis), but rather the illustration of moral truths -- those of honesty, virtue, and courage as primarily valued in Greek and Roman society. Evil befalls those who do not lead a moral life; rewards come to those who do. Of course, there is a bit of whimsy in the cosmos -- bad things happen to good people, etc., even in ancient Greece. The fluctuating personalities of the gods (and the number of them) ultimately gives a satisfying explanation (if not a satisfying reason) why such things might occur.

Rating:
Summary: A fine introduction to Greek and Roman myth.
Review: I came to love this book as a child, and I continue to enjoy it and benefit from it as a twentysomething adult. Understanding the root Greek and Roman stories can lead to a much fuller and richer understanding of Western culture, including literature, movies, art - even comic books and cartoons.

This a great collection of stories (with wonderful illustrations) for students and others interested in getting a sense of various myths and stories - large one like the search for the Golden Fleece, the Trojan War, the wanderings of Ulysses, the labors of Hercules, and smaller ones like King Midas, Orpheus, etc. This book recounts the stories, but it doesn't seek to interpret them. You'll have to dig deeper for that, and Hamilton helps you on your way by providing her sources.

If you enjoy this book, you may want to read the originals, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, the Argonautika; the works of the Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides; and other works like Ovid's Metamorphoses and some the Norse and northern European epics and sagas - Beowulf, the Prose Edda, etc.

This isn't a definitive reference or mythological encyclopedia; it's a starting place for a really wonderful trip. I encourage you to give it a try - and to give it as a gift to young people in your life.

Rating:
Summary: More about Ms. Hamilton's world than the Greeks' world
Review: As a very quick and superficial introduction, this book may have some benefit, in the same way that the Cliff Notes can be useful, but if you want to get the true flavor of the myths and of the Greek universe, you best go elsewhere. Edith Hamilton reached so widely, while being so hemmed in by the strictures of her day, that she paints the stories only in the broadest of brush strokes, and bowdlerizes them in the process, much as might be expected of a proper British lady scholar writing in the days of top hats and steam locomotives.

We may well be doing a disservice to our students by exposing them to this work, bland and devoid of the passion, immediacy and rawness that still resonate from the surviving Greek and Roman texts. If we want to imbue the present generation with love of knowledge, I would recommend instead Robert Fagles' wonderful translations of Homer and Sophocles, Nick Rudall's translation of Euripides' "Trojan Women", or Calimach's vivid rendition of the male love myths in "Lovers' Legends". But not Dame Edith.

Rating:
Summary: ***DONT READ THIS BOOK***
Review: I was required to read this book for summer reading as of going into ninth grade. Now I am no genius and I don't really know that much about mythology but I found this book EXTERMLY confusing. It made no sense what so ever. I dont think this lady knew waht she was doing(not to insult her). I also had to take notes and she makes nothing clear she goes on and on about usless infomation, that has no real relivance to the story that she is presently trying to tell. Just tread another book, unless you like to read horrible books for fun.