Bulfinch's Mythology
By Thomas BulfinchFor almost a century and a half, Bulfinch's Mythology has been the text by which the great tales of the gods and goddesses, Greek and Roman antiquity; Scandinavian, Celtic, and Oriental fables and myths; and the age of chivalry have been known.
The stories are divided into three sections: The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes (first published in 1855); The Age of Chivalry (1858), which contains King Arthur and His Knights, The Mabinogeon, and The Knights of English History; and Legends of Charlemagne or Romance of the Middle Ages (1863). For the Greek myths, Bulfinch drew on Ovid and Virgil, and for the sagas of the north, from Mallet's Northern Antiquities. He provides lively versions of the myths of Zeus and Hera, Venus and Adonis, Daphne and Apollo, and their cohorts on Mount Olympus; the love story of Pygmalion and Galatea; the legends of the Trojan War and the epic wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas; the joys of Valhalla and the furies of Thor; and the tales of Beowulf and Robin Hood.
The tales are eminently readable. As Bulfinch wrote, "Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated. . . . Our book is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement."
Thomas Bulfinch, in his day job, was a clerk in the Merchant's Bank of Boston, an undemanding position that afforded him ample leisure time in which to pursue his other interests. In addition to serving as secretary of the Boston Society of Natural History, he thoroughly researched the myths and legends and copiously cross-referenced them with literature and art. As such, the myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the nineteenth century; however, it is the vigor of the stories themselves that returns generation after generation to Bulfinch.
Book details
- Hardcover
- 977 pages
- English
- 0517274159
- 9780517274156
About Thomas Bulfinch
thomas bulfinch was Read More about Thomas Bulfinch
More Books By Thomas Bulfinch
People who bought this also bought
From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose and Adventure in an Encore Career
Used Book
Dictionary of the Modern United States Military : Over 15, 000 Weapons, Agencies, Acronyms, Slang, Installations, Medical Terms and Other Lexical Units of Warfare
Used Book
Sarton Selected: An Anthology of the Journals, Novels, and Poetry of May Sarton
Used Book
The Guerrilla Guide to High-tech Trade Shows: The Underground Resource for Saving Your Time, Money, and Sanity
Used Book
The Nakedness of the Fathers : Biblical Visions and Revisions
Used Book
Loving with a Vengeance Mass Produced Fantasies for Women
Used Book
Terry Savage's New Money Strategies for the '90s : Simple Steps to Creating Wealth and Building Financial Security
Used Book
Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe : A Memoir of Life on the Run
Used Book
When Bad Things Happen to Good People book by Harold S. Kushner
Used Book
From Cover to Cover : Evaluating and Reviewing Children's Books
Used Book
Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
New Book
The Self-Help Sourcebook: Finding andForming Mutual Aid Self-Help Groups
Used Book
Eight Weeks to Optimum Health: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body's Natural Healing Power
Used Book