Mythology : Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

by Hamilton, Edith

• ISBN13: 9780446607254
• ISBN10: 0446607258
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-08-01
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Summary

MONSTERS, MORTALS, GODS, AND WARRIORS For over fifty years readers have chosen this book above all others to discover the thrilling, enchanting, and fascinating world of Western mythology. From Odysseus's adventure-filled journey to the Norse god Odin's effort to postpone the final day of doom, Edith Hamilton's classic collection not only retells these stories with brilliant clarity but shows us how the ancients saw their own place in the world and how their themes echo in our consciousness today. An essential part of every home library, MYTHOLOGY is the definitive volume for anyone who wants to know the key dramas, the primary characters, the triumphs, failures, fears, and hopes first narrated thousands of years ago -- and still spellbinding to this day.

Author Biography

Edith Hamilton is the acclaimed author of The Greek Way and The Roman Way, which have been read by generations of readers around the world. She was made an honorary citizen of Athens in 1957.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. V
Introduction to Classical Mythology	p. 13
The Mythology of the Greeks	p. 14
The Greek and Roman Writers of Mythology	p. 21
The Gods, the Creation, and the Earliest Heroes
The Gods	p. 24
The Titans and the Twelve Great Olympians	p. 24
The Lesser Gods of Olympus	p. 36
The Gods of the Waters	p. 38
The Underworld	p. 39
The Lesser Gods of Earth	p. 41
The Roman Gods	p. 44
The Two Great Gods of Earth	p. 48
Demeter (Ceres)	p. 50
Dionysus or Bacchus	p. 55
How the World and Mankind Were Created	p. 65
The Earliest Heroes	p. 78
Prometheus and Io	p. 78
Europa	p. 81
The Cyclops Polyphemus	p. 85
Flower-Myths: Narcissus, Hyacinth, Adonis	p. 89
Stories of Love and Adventure
Cupid and Psyche	p. 96
Eight Brief Tales of Lovers	p. 105
Pyramus and Thisbe	p. 105
Orpheus and Eurydice	p. 107
Ceyx and Alcyone	p. 110
Pygmalion and Galatea	p. 112
Baucis and Philemon	p. 115
Endymion	p. 118
Daphne	p. 119
Alpheus and Arethusa	p. 120
The Quest of the Golden Fleece	p. 122
Four Great Adventures	p. 136
Phaethon	p. 136
Pegasus and Bellerophon	p. 139
Otus and Ephialtes	p. 143
Daedalus	p. 144
The Great Heroes before the Trojan War
Perseus	p. 146
Theseus	p. 155
Hercules	p. 166
Atalanta	p. 180
The Heroes of the Trojan War
The Trojan War	p. 185
The Judgment of Paris	p. 186
The Trojan War	p. 186
The Fall of Troy	p. 201
The Adventures of Odysseus	p. 211
The Adventures of Aeneas	p. 230
From Troy to Italy	p. 230
The Descent into the Lower World	p. 236
The War in Italy	p. 240
The Great Families of Mythology
The House of Atreus	p. 247
Tantalus and Niobe	p. 248
Agamemnon and His Children	p. 251
Iphigenia among the Taurians	p. 260
The Royal House of Thebes	p. 266
Cadmus and His Children	p. 266
Oedipus	p. 268
Antigone	p. 273
The Seven against Thebes	p. 277
The Royal House of Athens	p. 281
Cecrops	p. 282
Procne and Philomela	p. 283
Procris and Cephalus	p. 285
Orithyia and Boreas	p. 286
Creusa and Ion	p. 287
The Less Important Myths
Midas--And Others	p. 292
Midas	p. 292
Aesculapius	p. 293
The Danaids	p. 295
Glaucus and Scylla	p. 296
Erysichthon	p. 298
Pomona and Vertumnus	p. 299
Brief Myths Arranged Alphabetically	p. 301
The Mythology of the Norsemen
Introduction to Norse Mythology	p. 314
The Stories of Signy and Sigurd	p. 317
The Norse Gods	p. 322
The Creation	p. 326
The Norse Wisdom	p. 328
Genealogical Tables	p. 331
Index	p. 337
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