A really good text. I now have a renewed interest on Greek Mythology and it's influences on the Western world. ( )

from 1977

I randomly searched my shelves for something to help me brush up on Orpheus and Euridice. Before I knew it, I'd brushed up on a whole lot more and learned some new things to boot.

This is a book which is a bit mis-marketed; as a textbook, it's clearly meant for first-time learners (usually in an undergraduate setting). Unfortunately (and this is perhaps more a comment on our times than on the book), the level of discourse is generally fairly high, and I think probably sometimes beyond the comprehension of your average college freshman.

The book has a nice selection of primary source readings sprinkled into each chapter, however, and reaches into lesser-used territory--a good deal is chosen from the Homeric Hymns besides the Hymn to Demeter, which I have not seen in other textbooks, and much use is made of later sources, including an entire subset of chapters (these should really be appendices) on the nachleben of various aspects of myth in the medieval, renaissance, and modern periods.

Overall, it's a readable introduction, if a bit on the erudite side; it really needs a lot of fleshing out via intermediaries (TAs or professors) to be accessible to most college students. For a kinder introduction which assumes less background knowledge on the part of the reader, see Barry B. Powell's _Classical Myth_ (last seen in its 6th edition). ( )

Very basic introduction to classical mythology which gives short entries on the most well-known characters and events. I think probably more useful as a children or young adults' reference guide than as anything else. ( )