Eyewitness Companions: Mythology (EYEWITNESS COMPANION GUIDES) [Paperback]

Philip Wilkinson (Author), Neil Philip (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0756631548 | ISBN-13: 978-0756631543

Originally told to explain the mysteries of the world-such as creation, divine will, fertility, death, and love-myths are a major part of many cultures throughout the world, and each area has its own myths. Organized by geographic region, each myth is placed within the civilization's history and context. The key elements of world mythology, such as the hero, his divine connection, the labyrinth, the initiation, and the transformation, are explored in boxes and features throughout the book. AUTHOR BIO: Philip Wilkinson has more than 50 titles to his credit in the fields of mythology, history, and the arts, including DK's Illustrated Dictionaries of Mythology and Religions. Neil Philip is the author of many books on folklore and mythology, including The Illustrated Book of Myths and Myths and Legends Explained.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (September 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756631548
• ISBN-13: 978-0756631543
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid introduction to mythology, June 5, 2008

By 

Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL)) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eyewitness Companions: Mythology (EYEWITNESS COMPANION GUIDES) (Paperback)

This is another of those Eyewitness Companions gems. This time, the focus is on mythology. There are other works out there on the subject (Heck, I've even reviewed Bulfinch's Mythology!). But this offers nice coverage. As always with this series, the strength of this volume is the background that it provides and the breadth of coverage. This comes, however, with the disadvantage of not much depth. But that is the tradeoff of such a volume.

The book begins by giving the reader some background on exactly what myths are all about. This, it does pretty well. The authors say (Page 14) "Myths are sacred stories. They tell of the creation of the world; the emergence of gods and the first men and women; the adventures of heroes and the audacity of tricksters; the nature of heaven and the underworld; and of what will happen when time comes to an end." But, again, centrally, there is a sacred quality to these stories.

After its useful introductory segments, the book moves to a consideration of the Classical World, primarily Greek and Roman myths. Among the subjects (and this is one of my favorite sections in the book, as a matter of fact) are: birth of the titans, the gods of Olympus (a diagram on pages 40-41 is quite helpful), the Oedipal tragedies, the stories of Homer (with the Trojan War, the story of Odysseus' return to his home), the story of Aeneas and the founding of Rome, and so on.

Then, the book moves to an analysis of myths in other regions of the world. For instance, Europe. Here, we encounter the Norse gods, such as Thor or Balder or Odin or Freyja. Myths from Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Oceania are also summarized. With many of these, one wants to read so much more about specific subjects. But then this would become a 1,000 page volume, would it not?

There is a final section on "Who's Who in Mythology," focusing on "types" of characters. Creators and high gods? Zeus, Ahura Mazda, or Tohan. Or "Tricksters," such as Loki or Ahriman. And on it goes.

So, another nice addition to this series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good source book, August 7, 2008

By 

Susan from Chicago - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eyewitness Companions: Mythology (EYEWITNESS COMPANION GUIDES) (Paperback)

I'm studying astrology and the myths play a huge part in the origins of the signs and planets involved in astrology birth charts. Knowing the myths helps to remember what each sign/planet means when interpreting charts.

Also, as Richard Idemon says (author of Through the Looking Glass), each of us mythologizes our family system and each of us lives our lives according to our own social myths. To grow we need to understand what myths we are living. My friend said, "I have no idea what myths I'm living." I said to her, "Well, get the DK Mythology book and maybe you'll find out!" There is a brief intro to Mythology in the beginning.

Myths are included from the classical world, Europe, Asia,The Americas, Africa, Oceania. There's a who's who in mythology and each myth has an explanation of the type/theme of myth, culture of origin, scene of the story, sources, & other names/equivalent deities from other cultures.Each myth is about 1 to 2 pages long. Short, but fun & very informative. After some myths, there will be a "related myths" at the end of the page so you can read a similar myth from somewhere else in the world.

The book contains beautiful photos and artwork to illustrate each myth. These are what sold me as much as the myths themselves.

The book is a very sturdy paperback that measures about 5"x9".