The Complete World of Greek Mythology (Hardcover)

by Richard Buxton (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Engrossing and lavishly illustrated, this survey demonstrates once again why Greek mythology is so enduringly popular. Greek lit prof Buxton (Imaginary Greece: the Contexts of Mythology) treats the subject thematically, covering Greek origin myths, the character and functions of the Olympian gods, the exploits of heroes, the Homeric epics and the sagas of the House of Atreus and other tragic clans in which there is a "seamless connection…between heroic exploits and domestic catastrophes." Maps and family trees are provided to chart the progress of mythic quests and to help keep straight the tangled ancestry and couplings of gods and mortals, along with hundreds of superb photos of landscapes, ruins and objets d’art that steep readers in the atmospherics of ancient Greece. Buxton does not bowdlerize the elements of rape, incest, adultery, homosexuality, castration, bestiality, phallic overstimulation and Dionysian abandon in these stories, or the ubiquitous motif of parents devouring (and regurgitating) their children. But he is alive to their more profound psychological and social import. As mythic cycles of violence and retribution, hubris and nemesis play themselves out, he pegs them as explorations in extremis of the tensions people feel as they are torn between squabbling relatives, family and polis, or duty and fate. Buxton’s engagingly written blend of erudition and insight makes these primordial tales seem fresh again.
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Product Description
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.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson; illustrated edition edition (June 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500251215
• ISBN-13: 978-0500251218
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,040 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #3 in	Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Reference > Archaeology
  #7 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology > Greek & Roman
  #10 in	Books > History > Ancient > Greece

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent., June 17, 2005

By	S. Hebbron "S B H." (Leicester UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

An enormously engaging and highly explanatory work which details ancient greek religious beliefs and the works of the major playwrights and poets alike. What is of particular interest is how Gods and the stories of Myths of Gods and Godess's helped to explain the surrounding world to the people of the time. What is remarkable is these stories really were the first kind of documented evidence of humanity making sense of it's exsistance, purpose and meaning. A phenomena which has been occuring in revised and multi-cultural forms ever since.
The Myths are surprising, intelligent and familair at once, they are remarkable informative and have much contemporary resonance. A classic work on a classic subject.

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Constructed and Visually Engaging, January 21, 2007

By	Dan (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

I've been picking through the gamut of Greek myth texts for an introductory course, and I was fortunate to come across this beauty. It's not just a mythology text that the art historian can use, it's the ONLY classical myth "textbook" I have encountered that could legitimately appeal to art history classes. There are illustrations (usually color photos) on every page. The quality of the pages and binding itself is also really quality stuff. The narration is pretty standard. It's more of a summary text kind of thing than the various excerpts you find in other classical myth texts. I wouldn't use any of the other mythology texts, but this one makes a wonderful supplement to primary source material such as Homer, Hesiod and/or the tragedians. This thing raises the bar for the presentation of classical myth books.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, May 31, 2008

By	Bruce D. Wilner "Bruce David Wilner" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Somewhere amid the oodles of glossy photos of athlete-festooned kraters and oinochoes, I was hoping to discover some well narrated myths. My quest was frustrated. Not only does the book provide, at best, sketchy coverage of the thrilling heroic epics (e.g., Theseus, Perseus, Herakles), but one must hunt around for a sentence here and a paragraph there--even to reconstruct something as basic and tightly definable as the "birth of Zeus and overthrow of Kronos" story. That said, I feel strongly obliged to assign three stars merely because the volume is so overwhelmingly physically beautiful. Give this book wide berth and reach for either Schwab (a narrative cyclopedia) or D'Aulaire (a fun, richly illustrated--if purportedly juvenile--panorama). Graves isn't bad, either, but it's oriented toward the scholar of comparative evolution of mythosystems or some such, not for the seeker of glorious old tales, spicily woven; nor can you go wrong with Bulfinch, though that's clearly showing its age.