At first glance, Thomas Bulfinch's classic compendium of Greek mythology, written around the time of the Crimean War, looks like a sweeping and romantic tome. A flick through its musty old pages makes its prose look rich and ornate, and you want to delve into it. Unfortunately, once you do, you realise that it is a very dry reference book.

The storytelling is perfunctory, summarising some of the greatest stories of human civilization with scarcely any narrative flair or sense of drama. The poetic quotations used to illustrate various classical motifs are poorly-chosen, or at least are ones that have not aged well. The use of Roman names instead of Greek (Jupiter instead of Zeus, Saturn instead of Cronos, etc.) also jars, as we have since become used to the much more convenient and evocative Greek originals. A weak attempt at comparative mythology, looking at Indian and Norse gods and heroes towards the end of the book, reads like an afterthought. There are also some peculiar mistakes that would not pass in a modern, proof-read book; the Minotaur, for example, is described as "a monster with a bull's body and a human head" (pg. 188), which sounds more amusing than terrifying, or at least terrifying for the wrong reasons.

That said, the book has a noble purpose, arguing quite reasonably that "without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated" (pg. ix). This is truer of Bulfinch's time than our own, of course, because mythology unlocks many of the rich allusions in Milton, Shakespeare, Keats, Byron and Wordsworth, and we have no such writers of 'elegant literature' today. The book, for all its flaws, is a useful key to a treasure chest of allusion and heritage that we seem to have decided is not worth all that much nowadays. That's a mark against us, though, not Bulfinch's book. Even if the book has aged poorly, the myths themselves are timeless. ( )

I haven't read anything about mythology in ages and because I'm working on something which relies heavily on myth, I thought it couldn't hurt to do a bit of research. I'm not sure how to evaluate this book simply because in terms of writing, it's very...text-like? There was no real coherence for me. I felt like I was reading something slapped together without rhyme or reason.

However, I did learn a few interesting things and it helped me to remember some myths I'd completely forgotten and the references to literature were helpful too. I now have a list of books I'd like to pick up to study further.

If you're looking for a straightforward "guide" to mythology, this isn't the book you want. If you're looking to learn the basics, as in you've never really read much about it, then it might be useful. ( )

Like taking a master class in Greco-Roman mythology from the comfort of your own home. Concise, well organized--the absolute best of this kind of book. The only downfall is the feels-very-tacked-on-at-the-last-minute final section(s) exploring comparative mythology across the world. Absolutely a must-have for serious scholars (and I don't know how I managed to live without it on my shelf this long). ( )