Rating: 
Summary: MYTHOLOGY By, Edith Hamilton - A definate Seller in my book!
Review: When I first started reading this extraordinary book, I couldn't put it down! It's especially great because not only does it tell myths of the Greek Gods and Goddess', Hamilton provides many adventures of Mythical heroe's and the major offspring's of Zeuss. I reccommend reading MYTHOLOGY if you ever have to do a report on Greece - or just for the enjoyment!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Very Readable
Review: The author accumulated the legends from authors such as Ovid and Hesiod, and then organized them into her own words. I really enjoyed it since the text was readable and I wasn't subjected to huge amounts of quotations from the original authors. I think I got more out of this book than if I had read the original works. Summarized very nicely.
Rating:
Summary: If you teach Mythology, you need this book!!
Review: I had to read this book in my English 1 class, and even though I thought it would be a drag, I was suprised at the information I got from it. By the way, I am 15 and a freshman at Oak Grove High. Anyway, I now have a very strong knowledge of mythology and I thank Edith Hamilton for writing such a good book and a great leaning tool for us kids in High school
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: Edith Hamilton's Mythology
Review: This is an awesome book about Greek and Roman mythology. Hamilton is obviously very passionate about the subject, but she doesn't let emotion get in the way of her writing. She tells the myths like they are, occasionally using passages from other writers, like Ovid. Also included are family trees of the gods, heroes, and houses of ancient Greece, a short section on Norse mythology, and illustrations of scenes from the myths. This is a very refreshing mythology book to read-and it's so entrancing I read my copy in a day!
Includes:
Part I, The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes
Part II, Stories of Love and Adventure
Part III, The Great Heroes before the Trojan War
Part IV, The Heroes of the Trojan War
Part V, The Great Families of Mythology
Part VI, The Less Important Myths
Part VII, The Mythology of the Norsemen
Rating:
Summary: "Mythology"- A Misleading Title
Review: 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".
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding and opinionated introduction to mythology
Review: I first read this book as a child and it was the first book I ever wore out. It relates all the key Graeco-Roman myths, with Norse myths treated perfunctorily at the end. Hamilton learned Greek and Latin as a little girl and wrote her books late in life; they read like the works of someone who spent a lifetime reading the classics for personal pleasure. Readers using this book as an introductory guide should be aware of Hamilton's prejudices: she prefers the Greeks to the Romans, and writers who believed in the stories to those who did not. As a result, you might be wrongly discouraged from classical authors such as Ovid (whom Hamilton seems to actively despise), even though Ovid's worldview is strikingly similar to our modern one and his writing vivid and enjoyable. But if you approach this book as an opinionated presentation by a genuine enthusiast, as opposed to an effort at scholarly objectivity, you will not likely regret being caught up in the passion the author brought to this material.
Rating: 
Summary: Zero Stars
Review: Just one word BBOORRIINNGG. You should only read this book as required reading.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent collection of mythological stories.
Review: Although it's difficult to give an accurate review of such a large book with so many different stories, overall Edith Hamilton's Mythology deserves five stars. For a discussion on the myths within this book, please skip down to the capitalized section.
The effort put into this book is tremendous. It is quite obvious by her writing the Ms. Hamilton has dedicated plenty of time to this work. Although not all works which have been worked on for so long are necessarily successul, this one is.
The book mainly covers Greek and Roman mythology, with a small section of Norse mythology at the end. As there are at least two different names for each god and goddess due to the difference between the Greek and Roman myths, the stories can get a bit confusing. Yet Ms. Hamilton does her best to aid us in understanding. The work begins with an introduction to mythology section which describes certain gods and goddesses, as well as the history of mythology. As stated, these parts may be confusing since there are usually a Roman and Greek name for each important figure.
THE STORIES THEMSELVES. The myths themselves are told excellently by Hamilton. She offers views from many different sources, often choosing the best source for each story (or each particular part of a story). As myths differ from writer to writer, you may find that the version of one myth is different from the version Hamilton tells. This is expected. However, Ms. Hamilton does an excellent job telling the myths as best she can, especially considering the amount of myths she tells in the book.
The only complaint I have of this book is the fact that some myths that I consider important only receive a few pages in the book, while less important myths (in my opinion) have several pages dedicated to them. Another example of this is the presence of such myths that I thought were important in the 'less important myths' section.
Overall, this is a good overview of mythology and is definitely recommended. If you are planning a trip to Greece anytime, I suggest picking this up as it will help explain the significance of many places within Greece that you may end up visiting.
Rating:
Summary: It's a Classic!
Review: I had to read this carefully in high school, it was required reading, we had to be tested on it. It is more of a reference book, more encyclopedic than fiction. The principal mythic characters of Greece, Rome, and Nordic origins are briefly introduced. She selects the most notable tales about these gods from their ancient bards, as in presenting the story of Odysseus, she provides excerpts from Homer and Euripides' Trojan Women.
It's good reading for these Olympic games.
And you'll find herein, that the amazons are, according to Aeschylus, "warrior women, those men-haters"! OH, my goodness! (What did they know???)
|
