Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, 75th Anniversary Illustrated Edition

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Although her name is the only one on the cover, Edith Hamilton is not really the author of all the tales in Mythology. It is more accurate to think of her as a collector or interpreter, as she compiled the stories in the book from the writings of various Greek, Roman, and Icelandic authors. Nevertheless, Hamilton’s choices reflect a personal point of view: the stories she includes, her methods of storytelling, and her omissions reveal her own interpretation of the myths and also reflect the time period in which she was writing.

We meet the Greek gods on Olympus and Norse gods in Valhalla. We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. Moreover, the one thing I expect at the very least from an encyclopedia of mythology is a good overview. Such an overview MUST include immensely important classics like the Gilgamesh epos! However, this book does not. Other cultures aren't even referenced. If she had titled her book correctly, I really wouldn't mind. It's a nice book about the very much related mythology of the Greeks and the Romans. However, I really need to point this out again: this is supposed to be a comprehensive work of mythology as a whole! The hero of the Oresteia, Aeschylus’s trilogy of plays . Orestes’s father is the great king Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, and his sister is the sacrificed Iphigenia. When his mother, Clytemnestra, kills Agamemnon to avenge Iphigenia’s death, Orestes kills her. As a result, the horrible Furies plague him until he atones for his crime. ParisI was a history major in college, so this was fascinating to me. I get that it's not for everyone, but if you want to learn more about mythology in general, this is the book for you. The Roman Way (1932), her second book, provided similar contrasts between ancient Rome and present-day life. It was also a Book-of-the-Month Club selection in 1957. [28] Hamilton described life as it existed according to ancient Roman poets such as Plautus, Virgil and Juvenal, interpreted Roman thought and manners, and compared them to people's lives in the twentieth century. She also suggested how Roman ideas applied to the modern world. [19] [31] Only after retiring did she start to write books, which explains why this book was published only when she was 62! I was also amazed how listening to this audiobook gave me insight to how the physical book would be organised - later looking at its Kindle samples* I was impressed – and (also to my delight) noticed the book includes illustrations, and so now I’ve added it to my list to buy in the future.

a b c d e f g h i j Judith P. Hallett, "Edith Hamilton" in Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair, ed. (2015). Indiana's 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. p.150. ISBN 978-0-87195-387-2.Edith Hamilton, an educator, writer and a historian, was born August 12, 1867 in Dresden, Germany, of American parents and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. Her father began teaching her Latin when she was seven years old and soon added Greek, French and German to her curriculum. Hamilton's education continued at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut and at Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in 1894 with an M.A. degree. The following year, she and her sister Alice went to Germany and were the first women students at the universities of Munich and Leipzich. While I was pleased to see that Hamilton had included the Volsunga saga in the chapter about Norse mythology (in many books it is replaced by the Nibelungenlied which was penned much later), she dismissed the saga by saying that the story is so well-known thanks to the Nibelungenlied that the original can be told briefly and THAT is an absolute no-go for me. The first and most famously foolish woman of Greek myth. Married to Epimetheus, Prometheus’s simple-minded brother, she has been entrusted with a box that the gods have told her never to open. Pandora peeks inside the box, unleashing evil into the world. She manages to close the box just in time to save Hope, humankind’s only solace. Orpheus Although Hamilton never completed her doctorate, she did become an "inspiring and respected head of the school" [23] and was revered as an outstanding teacher of the classics, along with being an effective and successful administrator. She enhanced student life, maintained its high academic standards, and offered new ideas. Hamilton was unafraid to suggest new initiatives such as having her school's basketball team compete against another girls' team from a nearby boarding school. The proposed athletic competition was considered a scandalous suggestion for the time because news coverage would include the names of the participants. After Hamilton convinced the local press not to cover the event, the games proceeded and it became an annual tradition. [26] [27]