Bulfinch's Mythology

If anyone thinks this is a completely comprehensive look at the mythos of the Greeks, the Norse, the Celtic, the Arthurian, the Crusades, or the Middle Ages, then you're part-way correct. It is pretty comprehensive. At least by my eye. But it's more comprehensive for the Greeks, the Arthurian legends, and the time of Charlemagne than anything else.

In fact, other than the quick and dirty tellings of the the Greek gods and heroes, with christian sensibilities intact and morals gently glossing over the good stuff, the rest of the book is pretty much knights, knights, knights, knights, knights, knights, and a few more knights for good measure.

Do you like chivalry? MUST LOVE CHIVALRY.

Don't get me wrong, I've read my fair share of all the show more Arthurian stuff and I can't find fault with what I've read here. It matches what I've read in Mallory and other sources. The Crusades, though, well I only knew a couple of tales so this was pretty interesting, assuming that I didn't get bored out of my skull by all the grand head-bashings and the fighting of the Saracens or their own allies. Honestly, I read all of this knight stuff because I've already read a lot of this knight stuff and so I can fill out what I already know, but reading this is like taking a crash course in learning yet more about a sub-genre that I never really *cared* for to begin with, except in how it informed and influenced all the greats that I *did* care for.

You know, like seeing how GRRM cribbed this or how Tolkien cribbed that.

Still. I did read all the volumes of [b:The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I|377965|The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Volume I|Edward Gibbon|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1352548717s/377965.jpg|14550831], so it *is* very interesting to see the crusades from the bright and shiny PoV all turned into myth instead of the grand mistake that we all know and ... um... is love too ironic a term? Will people get that I'm being completely sarcastic? Ahem. Maybe.

Still, when it came down to the parts that I was most interested in, such as the Greeks and the Norse and the Celtic, I was rather disappointed that they didn't get so much embellishment and detailed time in the page. I'll probably have to go somewhere else for the Nordic and the Celtic stuff, because it just felt like it was kinda... fast. Glossed. Big Bullet Points. They certainly didn't get much love in comparison to all the knight-shit. I mean... the grand romantic chivalry that all the men and women still swoon to.

This was a huge book, btw. Did you know that the Glossary was almost a few hundred pages? Yup. Impressive, right? Total disclosure: I skipped that. If I want to later look up a name, I'll hit up wikipedia.

:) show less

The definitive collection of mythology, although from a decidedly Anglo Christian perspective. It's actually interesting to ferret out the slant Bulfinch brings to a text which would benefit from a less biased perspective. It is helpful to have a basic knowledge of the myths that have informed culture, both classical and popular over the years. It's also very useful for doing crosswords.

Actual Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Review
Gosh, I loved reading these stories. They were fascinating and attention grabbing (and attention keeping). However, I do feel like this book could have been organized a bit better. Reason 1: despite a few rereads of the introductions for each section (of which, there were 3 due to 3 sections), it was occasionally hard to see how some of the stories fit under the section that they were placed under. Reason 2: Some of the stories were broken down into 2 parts (and in 2 cases, into 3 parts), and their corresponding chapters read like “Arthur” and “Arthur (Continued).” While combining these may have added to a chapter’s length, I feel like it would have been better to combine the chapters like show more these and make subheadings to differentiate sections when necessary. I’m actually giving it a 3.75 star rating because I felt like couldn’t give it a full 4 of 5 stars, and 3 stars felt too low. I did really enjoy this overall, and I do recommend it as a read. show less

A very interesting read. A lot of the myths I read elsewhere are completely different than the ones I read elsewhere. I'm not sure which myths are the more prevalent, but the differences were very interesting.

As I like to include some mythology and mythological stories into my writings, I think this will be a very helpful tool. My copy of "D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths" brings in the whimsical, while "Bulfinch's" bring in a more practical view.

Fascinating account of myths and legends. I especially liked the ones that had Charlemagne's Paladins in them, but a lot of the stories are really crazy. For instance, Orlando falls in love with some woman, but she grows to scorn him because of this convenient fountain enchanted by Merlin that causes you to hate the people you see.

The Greco-Roman stories are great classics, including Phaeton and all those other stories of the follies and silliness of the gods. Then it has the Arthurian Legends which are also quite good.

All in all this book is excellent and should be read by people that like stories.

I worked my way through this thick volume over the course of a few weeks in August, wanting to take my time with it and dig in a bit. I didn't find Bulfinch's summaries all that interesting, in the end, but I suspect it will be useful to have this book around for the occasional reference need. It's certainly a handy thing to have so many different mythologies highlighted within two covers.

This exquisite hard cover story covers a multitude of topics retelling short stories of Greek mythology, in a nonfiction format. It includes a glossary that explains important terms used throughout the series. Stories are told about mythological persons and events including: The Trojan War, Ulysses, King Midas, Hercules, Pegasus and the Chimera, Daedalus, Icarus, Cupid and Psyche, Atlanta, and Baucis and Philemon. These stories are written in a way that draws in young readers and gives critical information relating to the time period of Greeks and Roman mythology. The illustrations hold a special importance as they assist in conveying a more detailed picture of era and events relating to the specific Gods or Goddesses and settings involved.