Mythology: World Myths, Gods, Heroes, Creatures, Mythical Places (EYEWITNESS COMPANION GUIDES)

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 352 pages
• Published by: DK ADULT September 3, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0756631548
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0756631543
• Book Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Description
Originally told to explain the mysteries of the world-such as creation, divine will, fertility, death, and love-myths are a major part of many cultures throughout the world, and each area has its own myths. Organized by geographic region, each myth is placed within the civilization's history and context. The key elements of world mythology, such as the hero, his divine connection, the labyrinth, the initiation, and the transformation, are explored in boxes and features throughout the book. AUTHOR BIO: Philip Wilkinson has more than 50 titles to his credit in the fields of mythology, history, and the arts, including DK's Illustrated Dictionaries of Mythology and Religions. Neil Philip is the author of many books on folklore and mythology, including The Illustrated Book of Myths and Myths and Legends Explained.

Reader Reviews
This is another of those Eyewitness Companions gems. This time, the focus is on mythology. There are other works out there on the subject (Heck, I've even reviewed Bulfinch's Mythology!). But this offers nice coverage. As always with this series, the strength of this volume is the background that it provides and the breadth of coverage. This comes, however, with the disadvantage of not much depth. But that is the tradeoff of such a volume. The book begins by giving the reader some background on exactly what myths are all about. This, it does pretty well. The authors say (Page 14) "Myths are sacred stories. They tell of the creation of the world; the emergence of gods and the first men and women; the adventures of heroes and the audacity of tricksters; the nature of heaven and the underworld; and of what will happen when time comes to an end." But, again, centrally, there is a sacred quality to these stories. After its useful introductory segments, the book moves to a consideration of the Classical World, primarily Greek and Roman myths. Among the subjects (and this is one of my favorite sections in the book, as a matter of fact) are: birth of the titans, the gods of Olympus (a diagram on pages 40-41 is quite helpful), the Oedipal tragedies, the stories of Homer (with the Trojan War, the story of Odysseus' return to his home), the story of Aeneas and the founding of Rome, and so on. Then, the book moves to an analysis of myths in other regions of the world. For instance, Europe. Here, we encounter the Norse gods, such as Thor or Balder or Odin or Freyja. Myths from Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania are also summarized. With many of these, one wants to read so much more about specific subjects. But then this would become a 1,000 page volume, would it not? There is a final section on "Who's Who in Mythology," focusing on "types" of characters. Creators and high gods? Zeus, Ahura Mazda, or Tohan. Or "Tricksters," such as Loki or Ahriman. And on it goes. So, another nice addition to this series.