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

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A little naive maybe, however, given this and the irrevocably atrocious acts of each and every member of the Greek Pantheon, I suggest that there are, in fact, no Gods in Greek Mythology, only reflections of vastly more powerful versions of ourselves, unmasking and exposing all of our most unfavourable attributes. Physically, the Olympians are objectively perfect. I mean this in the sense that whatever your subjective idea of beauty is, that is the form in which the Gods should appear to you. In any case, their beauty, strength and vigour are unmatched but, these things aside, their personalities, temperament and moral compass’ leave much to be desired. The Olympians are unpredictable, unfaithful and consequently jealous, sex fiends. They are self-serving, scheming, apathetic and scornful, and have a major superiority complex! Roman name: Diana. Apollo’s twin sister, Artemis is the beautiful huntress goddess and, like Athena, is somewhat masculine. Artemis is normally good and just, but demands a human sacrifice during the Trojan War. Aphrodite These contrasting motivations of the classical poets, and the degree to which such motivations are reflected in their stories, remind us that even these Greek and Roman poets were not themselves the original creators of these myths. Each written retelling of a myth was merely a new version of an old story that had been told countless times before in Greek and Roman oral and written tradition. Yet each new telling represents a new interpretation that shifts emphases and draws connections not previously made. Therefore, whether intentionally or not, each retelling radiates a new and different meaning. The same may be said here of Hamilton and her retelling in Mythology. Brief Historical Context Hamilton received the National Achievement Award in 1951 as a distinguished classical scholar and author. She received the award along with Anna M. Rosenberg, Assistant Secretary of Defense. The award was created in 1930 to honor women of accomplishment and inspire others. [5] According to reviewers, Hamilton's The Prophets of Israel (1936) had similarities to her earlier books about Greeks and Romans by making the prophets' messages relevant to contemporary readers. She accomplishes this, according to one writer, by showing that "behind all great thought stands an individual mind, fired by passion and possessed of an eye that sees deeply into humanity." [52] The views of the prophets, it adds, are very similar to those in modern times: "The prophets were forerunners of three genuinely American movements— humanism, pragmatism and the philosophy of common sense." [52] Death [ edit ]

Hm. I declared August "History Month" and read, amongst various others, Bulfinch's Mythology of which I was quite disappointed. In my research of his work and how it came to be I found a reference to this book by Edith Hamilton, who superseded Mr. Bulfinch in most classrooms. Thus I read this book in an attempt to find a better written encyclopedia. Unfortunately, I did not succeed. And although each chapter starts with a reference, every now and then I got the sense there were parts missing, like the ending of the story of Arachne, where Edith Hamilton has a happy ending showing Athena regreting her anger to Arachne, but my 3 translations of Ovid’s Metamorphosis shows her wrath is not appeased as she also curses her family. Anyways, mythology is always something I was interested in and loved, it's in so much of our everyday life still in the stories we tell and our history. I know most of my real life friends read this in the 10th grade, but my class read The Odyssey only and I've always meant to get to this book but didn't until now.More recent writers have used Hamilton's observations in contrasting the civilizations and cultures of the East with that of the West. In comparing ancient Egypt with Greece, for instance, Hamilton's writing describes the unique geography, climate, agriculture, and government. Historian James Golden cites from The Greek Way that "Egyptian society was preoccupied with death." Its pharaohs erected giant monuments to themselves to impress future generations and its priests advised the slaves to "look forward to an afterlife." [35] Golden used Hamilton's research to contrast these differences with the Greeks, especially the Athenians. Hamilton argued that individual "perfection of mind and body" dominated Greek thought and as a result, the Greeks "excelled at philosophy and sports" and that life "in all its exuberant potential" was the hallmark of Greek civilization. [35] The Roman Way

Hamilton was born in 1867 to an American family living in Dresden, Germany, and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 1894, she graduated from Bryn Mawr, a women’s school in Baltimore, and was then appointed headmistress there in 1896. In 1922, she retired from her headmistress position to focus on her writing and her studies of ancient Greek and Roman civilization. Hamilton’s experiences at Bryn Mawr undoubtedly affected the perspective of Mythology, where the theme of women struggling in a male-dominated world runs throughout the text. She died in 1963, having been made an honorary citizen of Athens, an award that signified what she considered the pinnacle of her life.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. Hamilton wrote a number of well-known books about Greek and Roman life, most notably The Greek Way (1930) and The Roman Way (1932). These books, along with Mythology, became standard interpretations of classical life and art, as Hamilton focused on the ways Greek and Roman value systems serve as the foundation for modern European and American societies. She wrote the books between World Wars I and II, and they clearly reflect the search for cultural roots that many felt was needed during that historical period. Written in a time of great upheaval—the global economic Depression and Europe’s disintegration before World War II— Mythology’s focus on the shared, broad, and ancient cultural heritage of America and Europe gave the book widespread appeal.