Myths & Legends: An illustrated guide to their origins and meanings [Hardcover]

Philip Wilkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2009

Myths & Legends retells the stories central to every culture that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. Coverage extends from the well-known tales of the Ancient Greeks, which hold the key to the origin of such phrases as "Achille's heel," to the lesser-known, but richly colorful, myths of the Americas and the East. Topic spreads explore characters and stories in terms of their cultural, psychological, and religious meanings and show their power, purpose, and influence both in their own time and in today's world. Feature spreads visit the sacred sites that can still be seen today, and underline the importance of themes that appear across cultures and through the centuries. In looking at such universal themes as creation, heroic trials, tricksters' lessons, and death and the afterlife, Myths & Legends investigates how different cultures have addressed questions such as How was the world created? How did man learn to use fire? and Why do we grow old?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Wilkinson is an author of illustrated non-fiction books and has over fifty titles to his credit in a range of subject areas, particularly history and the arts. Philip's books include Eyewitness Companion Guides: Mythology, the award-winning Amazing Buildings, the United Nations endorsed A Celebration of Customs and Rituals, and several TV tie-ins. Philip is based in England, but his books have been published all over the world and in more than fifteen languages

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (June 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756643090
• ISBN-13: 978-0756643096
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to myths and legends around the world, November 3, 2009

By 

Outside Food (Lafayette Hill, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Myths & Legends: An illustrated guide to their origins and meanings (Hardcover)

The world of myths and legends gets the DK treatment as stories from many cultures are described and illustrated. This book can only be a smattering (or it would be 100,000 pages) but it is broken into regions on every occupied continent. Variations on the stories are covered, since some of them have more than one version. Creation myths are nearly everywhere, and there is a surprising number of great flood and underworld stories around the globe. Comparisons with stories covered in other places in the book are indexed at the bottom of most pages. The text can become difficult to read at times, as the font switches between large and small on the pages. But otherwise a good effort.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is what I always wanted, December 22, 2010

By 

Mr. Kevin - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Myths & Legends: An illustrated guide to their origins and meanings (Hardcover)

I ordered this book,because I always was interested in Mythology and I am so happy, because this book gives you huge information about world Myths and legends. Easy understandable, high quality illustrations give you well imagination about story. I strongly recommend this book who is interested in ancient aliens and Myths... I can rate this book with 10 stars...