Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology An A-Z guide to the myths and legends of

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As its cover indicates, this book includes famous and lesser myths of the Greeks, the Romans, the Celts, the Persians, the Egyptians, the ancient Chinese and many other peoples.

The book is easy to read, pleasant to use, and allows readers to quickly look up various goddesses and gods and their associated myths.

The book dedicates one chapter to each people or region (although Greece and Rome share one chapter). Within each chapter, the entries are alphabetized according to the names of mythical figures. For example, the chapter on Greece and Rome has entries about Achilles, Actaeon, Aegeus, etc. Each entry describes the particular mythical figure and his or her main attributes, exploits and adventures. The book dedicates about five or six generous paragraphs to each major figure and a long paragraph to each minor figure.

Each chapter begins with a detailed introduction to each region and its myths. The chapters also include articles about general topics in each region (like "Celtic Otherworlds," "Tragic Lovers" of Norse mythology, and "Yin and Yang" in the chapter about East Asia.)

One of the best parts of the book is its lavish illustrations. An illustration accompanies almost every myth. Some are photographs of famous sculptural depictions of myths. Others are mythological paintings by the great masters, and still others are the work of talented illustrators. Besides learning about mythological figures, readers can painlessly bolster their knowledge of art history.

This book would be an ideal gift for a young person just learning about myths or a fine addition to any adult's reference library.

The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology is not really complete in that it doesn't cover the African, Australian, and North and South American mythology, but other than that it does a good job of covering the rest of the world's mythology. The myths covered include Greece & Rome, the Celtic world, the Nordic lands, Egypt and West Asia, South and Central Asia, and East Asia. Each section or geographical area is lavishly illustrated and well-researched.It makes for an interesting read for those who are fascinated by world mythology, and also serves as a valuable research tool into the myths of ancient cultures.

This is a nicely illustrated book of ancient lore and legend. What I like is that it delves into other than the Greco/Roman and Norse myths. There is a lot of Celtic and Asian Mythologies that you don't usually find in this sort of compilation.