2024 the best books on greek mythology review

Price: $39.95 - $29.98
(as of Nov 18, 2024 20:20:08 UTC - Details)

A full, authoritative, and wholly engaging account of these endlessly fascinating tales and of the ancient society in which they were created.

Greek myths are among the most complex and influential stories ever told. From the first millennium BC until today, the myths have been repeated in an inexhaustible series of variations and reinterpretations. They can be found in the latest movies and television shows and in software for interactive computer games. This book combines a retelling of Greek myths with a comprehensive account of the world in which they developed―their themes, their relevance to Greek religion and society, and their relationship to the landscape. "Contexts, Sources, Meanings" describes the main literary and artistic sources for Greek myths, and their contexts, such as ritual and theater."Myths of Origin" includes stories about the beginning of the cosmos, the origins of the gods, the first humans, and the founding of communities."The Olympians: Power, Honor, Sexuality" examines the activities of all the main divinities."Heroic exploits" concentrates on the adventures of Perseus, Jason, Herakles, and other heroes."Family sagas" explores the dramas and catastrophes that befall heroes and heroines."A Landscape of Myths" sets the stories within the context of the mountains, caves, seas, and rivers of Greece, Crete, Troy, and the Underworld."Greek Myths after the Greeks" describes the rich tradition of retelling, from the Romans, through the Renaissance, to the twenty-first century.

Complemented by lavish illustrations, genealogical tables, box features, and specially commissioned drawings, this will be an essential book for anyone interested in these classic tales and in the world of the ancient Greeks.

250 illustrations, 120 in color

From the Publisher

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thames & Hudson (June 28, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0500251215
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0500251218
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.65 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.9 x 1.1 x 10.4 inches
Reviewer: Paul Carleton
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Are the gods still with us?
Review: Seeing the recent movie "Troy" (twice) sparked my reading Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" (Lombardo's translation). But Homer left gaps, assuming his audience was familiar with the mythology. Buxton's book very nicely, comprehensively and entertainingly fills in those gaps. It's fun to read or just peruse by itself, or as a reference.Even so I'm struck by the early Greeks' absolute belief in the gods, in the gods' presence, and in their power over men and events. Given those Greeks' knowledge of their world back then, I suppose such beliefs were to be expected. But we've come a long way in the intervening three millennia - still many today profess belief in God, the angels and saints. Based on what's known today about our world, in my book, "Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest for Science-Minded Skeptics", I propose an alternative to such beliefs.

Reviewer: Alberto ortiz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Greek mythology
Review: Oi have no complains against this book. Is awesome well written, illustrated and explained. Good book to have

Reviewer: bookfilmlovr
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Oh Those Crazy Gods!!!
Review: Nice book, lot's of details, good information, well presented and easy to follow but not simple. My only complaint is the size of the text, its small and light. I have bad eyes so this might not bother others. The text is smaller than what you find in novels. I had to use both reading glasses (which is normal for me) AND a magnifying glass, which is not normal for me. But, even so, I enjoyed this book and will go back to it time and time again to refresh on a particular God or myth. Nice pictures of relics and art works to support the text. Filled with fun facts. Its so much fun to acquaint those crazy Gods with modern terminology. The Gods never really died or faded away. Just think how Chaos is with us today, alive and well.

Reviewer: Gail
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The depth of information is quite good
Review: I bought this as a gift for a 17 year old who is really into Greek mythology. When I first saw it I thought it too much of a textbook for that age. When she opened the gift she got so happy. I've been told she is devouring the book so guess I have a bit to learn. I must say I was very impressed with the quality of the information presented, and the illustrations/ photos are also high quality. I would recommend this book if you're looking for more than just reading the myths themselves. This book appears to thoroughly research history and origins of how they evolved.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very educational book
Review: Nothing liked it completely

Reviewer: drwouj
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Nice artistic mythology
Review: Took Greek mythology 40 years ago in college and still confused. Bought this book to help me organize a new study of mythology. It is helping, with easy to read text intermingled with ancient art illustrating the myths in the text. Very helpful to see the overall subject of Greek myths in a simplified organized context. A beautiful helpful reference for my 65 year old mind. Well worth the price I paid on Amazon.

Reviewer: Shark-bite
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Completely Satisfied!
Review: I recieved my copy of this book today and spent several hours reading and taking in its beautiful pictures. This book is absolutely marvelous!!!Granted it may not be the perfect study text to Greek Mythology but it is very informative and provided me with the history and pictorial information I was looking for. This book has family trees, maps, beautiful artwork, many artifacts and great insight to the Greek mythical world. Some of the chapters I was completely enthral with were myths origin, heroic exploits and family sagas. All in all it is well laid out and very easy to understand. I highly recommend this book.

Reviewer: Debbie de Juan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very good historial account
Review: This is a amazingly detailed book of the mythological genealogy of characters, the Greek culture at the time, and the landscape and environs of the age. For those who are looking for historical detail this is the perfect book. I would have preferred to have accounts of the actual stories of the characters.

Reviewer: Nevin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: A perfect referral on Greek mythology. My daughter loved it.

Reviewer: Meghann Gervais
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I have several books authored by Richard Buxton and all are well written and researched. Great illustrations, great information. A good read without being too cerebral or too light.

Reviewer: Cliente de Amazon
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Él libro es bueno pero llegó en muy mal estado, muchas de las paginas estaban arrugadas o rotas, manchadas o pegadas, si no hice la devolución es por que él pedido lo abri dos semanas después de recibirlo. Él conténido es bueno pero no estoy contenta con él producto que me enviaron

Reviewer: Godfrey Lim
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I like the sheer volume of information and illustrations it has. As a reference book, it’s great. For my 11 yo son, he was curious and read parts of it he wanted, it was a bit too much for him

Reviewer: Thomas
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The price and number of pages is good . BUT it isn't what I expected. The book doesn't present the myths except as summaries or to refer to categories of myths. The book is more like a sociological analysis of the time and place that produced the Greek myths. This is interesting, but not what I wanted.