NUMBER: 28TITLE: Classical Mythology: Images & Insights
AUTHOR: Stephen L. Harris and Gloria Platzner
STARTED: Sometime in January
FINISHED: April 19, 2005
PAGES: 1040
GENRE: Textbook
FIRST SENTENCE: An integral component of ancient Greek religious, political, and social culture, Greek myth originate with anonymous storytellers who created tales about gods and heroes that were transmitted orally for many generations before being crystallized in written form.
SUMMARY:[From barnesandnoble.com] Comprehensive and beautifully illustrated, this is the only classical mythology text that combines thorough coverage of theoretical approaches to myth with a substantial anthology of primary works. More than 700 pages of primary selections, many of them complete works, include major hymns, epics, and plays of classical myth, while more than 200 photographs of classical works of art illustrate how the Greeks and Romans envisioned gods.
REASON FOR READING: The only assigned textbook in my "Greek and Roman Mythology" class.
THOUGHTS: For a big, thick, intimidating book... it was AWESOME. I love mythology and this book only caused me to fall in love with the gods, goddess, nymphs, satyrs, and stories even more. This book had the benefit of including numerous excerpts form actual texts. By reading and analyzing chunks of the Iliad, Odyssey, et al. I really got into the meat and purpose of the stories. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a comprehensive and diverse overview of ancient myth.
This book also gave me so many new pieces of art with which to fall in love.
MISCELLANEOUS: Zeus was a naughty boy.
KEEP/SHARE/CRINGE(?): Selling back
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
CR: The Calhouns by Nora Roberts
RN: The sequel to The Calhouns also called The Calhouns and also by Nora Roberts
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