From Odysseus's adventure-filled journey to the Norse god Odin's effort to postpone the final day of doom, a treasury of Western mythology offers the key dramas, primary characters, triumphs, failures, fears, and hopes told thousands of years ago. Organized in sections on the gods and early heroes, love and adventure stories, the Trojan war, and a brief section on Norse mythology.
The world-renowned classic that has enthralled and delighted millions of readers with its timeless tales of gods and heroes. Edith Hamilton's mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture-the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present. We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover the origins of the names of the constellations. And we recognize reference points for countless works for art, literature and culture inquiry--from Freud's Oedipus complex to Wagner's Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O'Neill'sMourning Becomes Electra. Both a reference text for scholars of all ages and a book to simply enjoy,Mythologyis a classic not to be missed.