“Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes”, by Edith Hamilton, illustrated by Steele Savage

 

497 pages, Little, Brown and Company, ISBN-13: 978-0316341516

Does anyone else remember Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes? I first found this book in grade school – grade school! – when I went trolling through the paperback bookshelves my 4^th Grade teacher, Mrs. Roberts, had in her classroom and was introduced, for the first time, to Achilles, Jason, Thor and so on (there was another book I remember reading at about this time, too, about a boy named Jud and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906…anyway). Mythology contains an introduction and seven sections:

• Greek Gods of Olympus and the Greek creation myths 
• Greek and Roman myths involving love and adventure, including the tales of Eros and Psyche and Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece
• Heroes before the Trojan War, such as Perseus, Theseus, Heracles and Atalanta
• The Trojan War and its heroes, including Odysseus, Aeneas and Achilles
• Significant families in Greek mythology: the house of Atreus, the royal house of Thebes and the royal house of Athens
• Lesser-known stories from Greek and Roman mythology
• Tales from Norse myths involving deities such as Odin, Thor and Loki (not the Marvel incarnations, mind you)

According to Hamilton, what distinguishes Greek mythology from others is it’s foundation on the factual reality; the nonsensical took place in a world, which was essentially rational and matter-of-fact. For example, Hercules always had his abode in the city of Thebes, save when he took of a journey to accomplish his twelve labors; Aphrodite’s birthplace was just offshore from the island of Cynthera; Pegasus’ comfy stable was in Corinth. There was a sense of reality in the mythological world but no place for magic. The aim of this book is to produce knowledge of the myths that had been recorded by ancient writers and poets. In fact, the myths as we know now are the creation of great poets, one of which is the Iliad by Homer. Unlike the Egyptians, the Greeks made their gods in their own image and breathed them with their emotions and feelings. It is uncertain how the genesis of Greek mythology came into being; however the earliest Greek poets arrived at a new point of view which had never been dreamed of in the world before them. It was at this point that mankind regarded itself as the center of the universe, intent upon promoting the beauty of Man, which was the very consummation of reality.

Mythology just may be the most comprehensive and lucidly accounted tales of mythology based upon Hamilton’s extensive collection of the sources from great ancient poets and writers. Of all other books on mythology of the western civilization, this book is by far the most excellent in providing readers with both entertainment and knowledge without academically esoteric approach or literary pompousness, succeeding as it does in offering education and appreciation of art that has been passed down to our present time for thousands of years. Hamilton’s great triumph was in writing a work doesn’t require perquisites for scholarly knowledge of academic languages, intellectual superiority or historical knowledge of ancient times; it is an anthology of entertaining and inspiring tales of gods, goddesses, nymphs and mortals who fell out of favor with the divine, written in plain English. We meet all from the mercurial gods and goddesses on the Mount Olympus and in Valhalla; are fascinated with tales of Cupid and Psyche, the Odyssey’s Golden Fleece and forlorn Clytie, whose love for Apollo went unrequited, and discover that Paris of Troy used to live with a nymph called Oenone before deserting her for Helen of Sparta.

The essence of myths is threefold: it is a branch of natural science, trying to explain what humans saw around them; it is also a genre of pure classical literature; lastly, mythology is religion, the deepening realization of what human beings needed in their gods and goddesses. In this light, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology breathes life into the Greek, Roman, and even Norse myths, which are the bedrock of  Western Civilization – the stories of gods, goddesses and heroes that have imbued the humankind with multifarious creativity from time immemorial to present.