New Larousse Encyclopedia Of Mythology [Hardcover]

Felix Guirand (Editor), Richard Aldington (Translator), Delano Ames (Translator), Robert Graves (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 1987

Here, in all their wonder and splendor, are the Mythologies of Mankind.. from pre-biblical Egypt and pre-Homeric Greece to the farthest researches of Africa, the Orient, the Pacific and the Americas.. all gathered into one mammoth volume of unprecedented scope and beauty, and illustrated with an incomparable scope and beauty, and illustrated with an incomparable assemblage of authentic paintings, sculpture, symbols, idols, ritual and sacrificial objects, many rarely seen by modern Western eyes.

This monumental work is the first complete encyclopedia of world anthology. Originally published in France by the famous house of Larousse, it contains of course all the well-loved myths of Classical Antiquity. But more than half the book is devoted to the strange and unfamiliar mythologies of civilizations...from Peru to Persia, from Tahiti to Togoland.

Nearly 600 Illustrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 500 pages
• Publisher: Crescent Books (December 16, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517004046
• ISBN-13: 978-0517004043
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #860,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lavishly illustrated reference work, November 18, 2003

By 

Pieter "Toypom" (Johannesburg) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: New Larousse Encyclopedia Of Mythology (Hardcover)

In his illuminating introduction, Robert Graves discusses the function of myth. He claims that in the first place, it serves to answer the type of awkward questions that children ask, like Who made the world or Who were the first people? The second function of myth is to justify an existing social system and to account for traditional customs and rites.

Graves points out how myths of origin and eventual extinction vary according to the climate and that one finds a warm celestial afterworld in the north or a fresh flowered Elysian Field in Greece. He also deals with the Akan of Ghana and with Egypt and India. His conclusion is that myth is a dramatic shorthand record of stuff like invasions, migrations, dynastic changes, admission of foreign cults and social reforms. For example, when bread was first introduced in Greece, the myth of Demeter and Triptolemus sanctified its use.

The Encyclopedia investigates prehistoric mythology and that of Egypt, Assyro-Babylonia, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Persia, India, China, Japan, Oceania and that of the Celts, the Teutons, the Amerindians and Africans. It contains 34 colour plates and hundred of black and white illustrations and it concludes with a further reading list divided under different headings reflecting its chapter contents, plus a thorough index.