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World Mythology: An Anthology of Great Myths and Epics
World Mythology is a compilation of over 50 great myths and epics. Your students will gain an appreciation and understanding of ancient and modern cultures through myths and epics from the Middle East, Greece and Rome, the Far East and Pacific islands, the British Isles, Northern Europe, Africa, and the Americas. An introduction and historical background supplement each myth. Questions at the end of each selection prompt analysis and response.
722 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
April 19, 2019
Around the world numerous different peoples came up with explains about the natural world and their own cultural heritage, though separated by vast distances create obvious differences there is also many similarities. World Mythology: An Anthology of Great Myths and Epics by Donna Rosenberg brings together the stories of different cultures both well-known and hardly known together for a mass audience.
Rosenberg covers all corners of the world from such the well-known epics of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, Beowulf, King Arthur of the Middle East, Greece, Northern Europe and Britain while also covering from the Segu in African, Bakaridjan Kone, and from the Inuit, Sedna. Rosenberg also covered numerous creation and fertility myths from those same cultures or nearby neighboring cultures. Before each piece, Rosenberg would give an introduction and historical background giving the reader better context for what they are about to read.
This collection brings together well-known myths and epics that “Western” audiences know as well as those not known from the “Western” perspective, with a few exceptions like The Ramayana. From the standpoint of getting a large audience introduced to these myths, the book succeeds. However, Rosenberg literally sets off alarm bells to any discerning reader when she says that she will be retelling these myths for the modern world. While I didn’t expect the entirety of The Iliad or Beowulf to be republished in this collection, I expected a fairly authentic telling of these myths and the butchering of them made me appreciate less those myths and epics I hadn’t read before like The Aeneid or The Ramayana or that I hadn’t known of before like the aforementioned Bakaridjan Kone and Sedna because I knew it wasn’t a true representation of the myth. To add further insult were Rosenberg’s introductions and historical background that were wrong on history thus making her explanations of the myth questionable especially when she wants to push forward the Great Goddess theory on every myth that has an important female deity or heroine—I don’t deny that there was important Great Goddess religions but not every myth Rosenberg claims is a patriarchal takeover of a matriarchal religious system.
While World Mythology is an okay introduction to numerous cultural myths from around the globe, but do not get this for the classics nor consider those other myths you’ll read as the definitive versions.
Rosenberg covers all corners of the world from such the well-known epics of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, Beowulf, King Arthur of the Middle East, Greece, Northern Europe and Britain while also covering from the Segu in African, Bakaridjan Kone, and from the Inuit, Sedna. Rosenberg also covered numerous creation and fertility myths from those same cultures or nearby neighboring cultures. Before each piece, Rosenberg would give an introduction and historical background giving the reader better context for what they are about to read.
This collection brings together well-known myths and epics that “Western” audiences know as well as those not known from the “Western” perspective, with a few exceptions like The Ramayana. From the standpoint of getting a large audience introduced to these myths, the book succeeds. However, Rosenberg literally sets off alarm bells to any discerning reader when she says that she will be retelling these myths for the modern world. While I didn’t expect the entirety of The Iliad or Beowulf to be republished in this collection, I expected a fairly authentic telling of these myths and the butchering of them made me appreciate less those myths and epics I hadn’t read before like The Aeneid or The Ramayana or that I hadn’t known of before like the aforementioned Bakaridjan Kone and Sedna because I knew it wasn’t a true representation of the myth. To add further insult were Rosenberg’s introductions and historical background that were wrong on history thus making her explanations of the myth questionable especially when she wants to push forward the Great Goddess theory on every myth that has an important female deity or heroine—I don’t deny that there was important Great Goddess religions but not every myth Rosenberg claims is a patriarchal takeover of a matriarchal religious system.
While World Mythology is an okay introduction to numerous cultural myths from around the globe, but do not get this for the classics nor consider those other myths you’ll read as the definitive versions.
September 9, 2007
This year we're starting out Sophomore English with a unit on Creation Mythology before turning to The Odyssey. I'm using this book as the core text because it gives a very broad overview of world mythology in an intelligent, inclusive, and complex fashion. I like how it breaks mythology down into specific ethnic traditions: instead of a section on "African Myths," they tell you which group, such as the Yoruba, the myth comes from; instead of "South American Myths," you get myths from the Tiahaunaco, the Aztec, and the Maya. The myths themselves retain their strangeness, their illogic, and their often disturbing violence and sexuality. All too often anthologies of myths boil them down into bland retellings that leave out all not just the sex and violence, but the bizarre contradictions that make myths so appealing in the first place. I highly recommend this anthology - the only downside is that it is some 700 pages, so getting enough copies for your students to take home would be expensive and getting them to lug them around difficult. I have one class set and use lots of hand-outs.
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April 19, 2018BİTTTTTTTİİİİİİİİİİİİİ
yorum & puan sonra ama bitti yani cidden bitti 😏 hehheee
yorum & puan sonra ama bitti yani cidden bitti 😏 hehheee
February 3, 2016
Donna Rosenberg created more than just an encyclopedia of myths from around the world in this book, she provides each myth in great detail along with some explanatory work. This book has proven to be an invaluable resource for expanding one's reading of classical literature. She categorized the sections by regions of the world, and offers background and introduction for each story. Among the many myths or stories are Beowulf, King Arthur, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Gilgamesh, the stories of Hercules, The Life and Death of Heracles, Romulus & Remus, The Enuma Elish, the Viking stories involving Thor, Odin, Loki, etc., and much more from Native American stories, African stories, Asian stories, and Pacific Island stories. I recommend this book as a great way to be read well in many classic epics and myths from the convenience of a single book.
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December 18, 2015Don't be intimidated by the size of this volume; it flows relatively smoothly. Bringing together the "beginning" myths of various geographies establishes a good perspective on the relationship between narratives and the humanity's existential questions. The parallels, similarities and differences might change how you view humanity.
May 25, 2019
کتابیست بسیار زیبا و مفید که در مورد خلاصه ای از اساطیر جهان و شامل : یونان و رم - خاورمیانه - اروپای شمالی - جزایر بریتانیا - خاور دور و جزایر اقیانوس آرام - آفریقا - کشورهای آمریکایی است. در این کتاب دو جلدی شرحی بر اسطوره های ایران باستان وجود ندارد
October 27, 2017
Bana kalirsa kitabin hakki 3.5*
Misir mitolojisi inanilmaz ustunkoru olmus ve Slav mitolojisine deginilmemis bile. Afrika mitolojisi ise bir an once o kisimlari gecmeye calismama sebep oldu
Misir mitolojisi inanilmaz ustunkoru olmus ve Slav mitolojisine deginilmemis bile. Afrika mitolojisi ise bir an once o kisimlari gecmeye calismama sebep oldu
October 23, 2010
We bought this book to get more information about Greek Mythology following reading the version of Greek Mythology for kids. Over the years we have jumped around and read different myths and epics in this book, but we have mostly focused on the Greeks.
This time, however, we started with the old favorites and have just plowed through without picking and choosing. There are some very entertaining aspects of some of the unfamiliar myths. In one myth, the creator creates demons by farting them out of his rear end. This produced roars of laughter and continues to produce endless jokes in our house.
Regardless of origination of the various myths, we are finding a lot of similarities. For example, there are plenty of floods that happen to annihilate entire races that don't meet the expectations of the gods. I don't know if the editor is highlighting them or we are seeing how people are more similar than we think, especially in their story telling.
Some of the myths provoke a lot of discussion. One creation myth from Africa was particularly annoying. There are two major gods in this myth, Olorun (male) and Olokun (female). Olorun is the god of the sky and Olokun is the goddess of the sea. There is no land at this time. One of the lesser gods, Obatala, decides that it would be fun to create the earth. Following the directions of some of the other gods, he pours dirt into the water and land is formed. Essentially, he steals part of the Olokun's kingdom. Nowhere in the story does Obatala consult with Olokun about this action. Later in the story she gets angry and creates a big flood. Still, there is no discussion abnout resolving the issue fairly or appeasement going on. In the end, Olokun relents without any discussion and Obatala is not made to pay for stealing. I don't like the messages this myth sends out, but the discussions we had were interesting.
The abridgment isn't very good in this book, but it isn't terrible either. The editor writes/edits so the language is quite repetitive and leaves out some critical parts of the various stories. The abridgment (and translation of the Kotan Utunnai is particularly repetitive). The editing also has a lot to be desired. There are words that are obviously wrong (warned instead of warmed in the Liu Chun/Bao Chu myth from China). Still, this book is getting us ready for the full versions.
This time, however, we started with the old favorites and have just plowed through without picking and choosing. There are some very entertaining aspects of some of the unfamiliar myths. In one myth, the creator creates demons by farting them out of his rear end. This produced roars of laughter and continues to produce endless jokes in our house.
Regardless of origination of the various myths, we are finding a lot of similarities. For example, there are plenty of floods that happen to annihilate entire races that don't meet the expectations of the gods. I don't know if the editor is highlighting them or we are seeing how people are more similar than we think, especially in their story telling.
Some of the myths provoke a lot of discussion. One creation myth from Africa was particularly annoying. There are two major gods in this myth, Olorun (male) and Olokun (female). Olorun is the god of the sky and Olokun is the goddess of the sea. There is no land at this time. One of the lesser gods, Obatala, decides that it would be fun to create the earth. Following the directions of some of the other gods, he pours dirt into the water and land is formed. Essentially, he steals part of the Olokun's kingdom. Nowhere in the story does Obatala consult with Olokun about this action. Later in the story she gets angry and creates a big flood. Still, there is no discussion abnout resolving the issue fairly or appeasement going on. In the end, Olokun relents without any discussion and Obatala is not made to pay for stealing. I don't like the messages this myth sends out, but the discussions we had were interesting.
The abridgment isn't very good in this book, but it isn't terrible either. The editor writes/edits so the language is quite repetitive and leaves out some critical parts of the various stories. The abridgment (and translation of the Kotan Utunnai is particularly repetitive). The editing also has a lot to be desired. There are words that are obviously wrong (warned instead of warmed in the Liu Chun/Bao Chu myth from China). Still, this book is getting us ready for the full versions.
April 16, 2013
A pretty thorough compilation of various myths from all sorts of culture, reading through too quickly may even give you a bit of culture shock, not just about what's different but even more surprisingly what's similar. It seems to have some chronological ordering, starting with ancient Assyrian before moving on the old standby Greek and Roman myths, you don't get to the Norse ones until quite a bit further in, and it ends with some seemingly uncommon recitals, from Africa and the Americas. Each story is given a solid introduction, including the sort of society it was developed in, where certain themes might have come from, and often a list of characters and gods for reference. The stories themselves are edited and abridged to fit the tome, but not much is lost this way, it's the story this text is concerned with, the personal story arches, of heroes and gods alike. If you get assigned this book for reading in a class, smile, it might become your favorite, if you're enthusiastic enough to just keep reading.
Another text you might find perfect to keep around after it's typical life span, wonderful to reference just for fun, to sink your teeth into for a number of hours, and it gives you freedom readily without pushing you, to really think about the subject matter. It says, here's some facts about where it came from, and here's the story, consider at your leisure. Excellently put together.
Another text you might find perfect to keep around after it's typical life span, wonderful to reference just for fun, to sink your teeth into for a number of hours, and it gives you freedom readily without pushing you, to really think about the subject matter. It says, here's some facts about where it came from, and here's the story, consider at your leisure. Excellently put together.
September 21, 2024
A wonderful collection of some of the world's most famous myths, is a fantastic glance at the beliefs of so many different cultures.
Once I started this book in my senior year mythology class, I knew I had to buy it. It’s a wonderful collection for those just starting to study myths and legendary epics. I really enjoy the style in which translates these stories - simple, concise, yet in a way, fitting.
Some of these stories are very popular, and some were completely unknown to me; either way, it was so interesting to spend some time with each culture.
Once I started this book in my senior year mythology class, I knew I had to buy it. It’s a wonderful collection for those just starting to study myths and legendary epics. I really enjoy the style in which translates these stories - simple, concise, yet in a way, fitting.
Some of these stories are very popular, and some were completely unknown to me; either way, it was so interesting to spend some time with each culture.
March 1, 2018
Enjoyed the vivid writing which animates classic stories that far to often have the life recited out of them. It avoided the dullness of Edith Hamilton while avoiding the silliness Neil Gaiman's collection of Norse myths. Additionally, it was full of tales I'd never so much as heard of before. At times, it is easy to sense that pieces of a myth have been oversimplified, but of course, it is an anthology.
This book looks at myths in the sociological context of their region and time period. A reader cannot finish it without absorbing just as much cultural perspective as lore and fables. The majority of cultural focus compares the Creation, Fertility, and Heroic myths of each world region.
Overall I learned much more from this book than any other mythology/folktale book I have read in the past. It is a great introduction to students, a nice revision for review, and a very enjoyable study for anyone interested in myth, fable, or anthropology.
This book looks at myths in the sociological context of their region and time period. A reader cannot finish it without absorbing just as much cultural perspective as lore and fables. The majority of cultural focus compares the Creation, Fertility, and Heroic myths of each world region.
Overall I learned much more from this book than any other mythology/folktale book I have read in the past. It is a great introduction to students, a nice revision for review, and a very enjoyable study for anyone interested in myth, fable, or anthropology.
December 5, 2014
İnsanoğlunun evren ve yaşam konusunda çok daha az şey bildiği, boşlukları hayal gücüyle doldurduğu zamanlardan kalma hikayeler. Okuduğunuzda, günümüz bilimkurgu/fantastik eserlerinin aslında pek de yeni fikirler içermediğini, yeni zannetiğimiz her şeyin aslında eskinin çeşitlemeleri olduğunu görebiliyorsunuz. İnsan aklı, algılayabildiği evrenle sınırlı sonuçta. Bilgimiz arttı ama algılarımızda bin yıl öncesine göre ileri düzeyde bir değişiklik yok. Bu antoloji, mitolojiye giriş kitabı olarak da okunabilir. Farklı kültürlerin mitolojilerine, birer örnek mit ile bir değinme... Yunan, Sümer, Hint ya da Britanya söylencelerine dair daha kapsamlı eserler bulabilirsiniz ancak Afrika ya da Eskimo söylencelerine dair eser az. Bu kitap, az duyulmuş söylenceleri de içeren, sizi dünyanın farklı kültürlerinin düş dünyalarında dolaştıran doyurucu bir eser...
October 13, 2015
A very stunning compilation of the myths and epics around the world. I really love it! It's like a window to the past that shows us what the ancient people believed in, and how they lived with each other--of course, the written works were greatly influenced by what was happening in their environment and by their lifestyle during that time. I like how the book was made. I like that it gives us an overview of the tribe or country where the myth/epic belongs to. I like that it shows a brief introduction of the characters before the story which gives us an idea on what the characters' roles are throughout the story. We have actually only read about 30 stories from this book, in the class, but since it's in our library, I'm probably gonna read the rest of the stories
March 8, 2013
Amazing book! Wow. I feel as if I have time travelled over the past couple of weeks. I have read about the myths of Greece and Rome, The Middle East, Northern Europe, The British Isles, The Far East and the Pacific Islands, Africa and the Americas - quite the ride. Very sad I missed out on these earlier in life, but delighted to have discovered them now.
From The Ramayana: Sita to Rama: "Do not grieve over what you have had to do. Each of us must accept whatever life brings. Wherever there is growth, there is decay. Wherever there is birth, there is death. Wherever there is prosperity, there is poverty. Wherever there are friendship and love, there is separation."
From The Ramayana: Sita to Rama: "Do not grieve over what you have had to do. Each of us must accept whatever life brings. Wherever there is growth, there is decay. Wherever there is birth, there is death. Wherever there is prosperity, there is poverty. Wherever there are friendship and love, there is separation."
July 17, 2013
This one was ok. Sort of had to read it for some college work. It had some good myths but for the length of the book and the myths it chose to use for the longer ones compared to those it chose for the shorter ones, it really doesn't get over a three star. It's not evil bad, just could have been a lot better. If you have to read it and know nothing at all about mythology you will learn a lot about the most famous Greek and Roman myths along with the legends of King Arthur, but most of the other myths get very little attention.
July 11, 2008
The book goes into very high level detail about the most famous myths and gives a good overview of the most famous gods and heroes/legends. I probably wouldn't pick this one up on my own since it's a hard read at times. The book gave me a really good basic understanding of mythology from all cultures and I find myself going back to reference when I come across mythology references in other literature. Good to have on the shelf and a good starter if you're interested in studying it.
October 6, 2009
This is a great overview of general mythology. The synopses of various myths are accurate and each myth is preceded by a short introduction of sorts that explains important facts about the myth, its origin, its evolution over time, its importance to its culture of origin and any other cultures that may have adopted it. Anyway, I picked it up as a quick refresher of mythology and it was just right.
January 29, 2012
I have never read mythology ever, so I surprised myself when I started getting into the stories we were told to read in Advanced Literature from this anthology including Heracles, Sigurd the Volsung, and King Arthur. It was interesting. I don't know if I would, even now, just pick up a book pertaining to mythology, but I know that if I do read one, I can come to appreciate and enjoy it.
May 7, 2008
Read this one in high school, and was simply delighted when Mandie gave it to me for my birthday a few years back. It has reasonably well translated synopsized versions of archetypal myths (such as creation, deluge, and hero myths)from various cultures. I especially appreciated this arrangement.
January 13, 2011
It's great... that's what you can call for this book. Full of literature and information about great epic and mythology that you always hear when you were school in a very detail way.
I found this book useful because the complete story and explanation for every mythology.
I found this book useful because the complete story and explanation for every mythology.
July 3, 2012
Not what I thought it was going to be. Had more to do with how/where myth stories originated from. Gives you snipits of the greats like the Illiad. It was a good starter book for wanting to learn about mythology stories.
December 8, 2014
Short stories about different Mythological tales from around the world. Great detail and easy to learn about mythology. I would recommend this to anyone that loves to learn about Mythology but doesn't want to spend an outrageous amount of hours learning each tale.
January 1, 2016
I had to read most of this as a textbook for my mythology class and I loved it! Very well written except for the sheer amount of unneeded repetition in all of the stories. But a very good read if you are interested in world mythology and culture.
November 8, 2015
A good collection of world myths. They are broken down so you can read one area, or all. There is good information on how they compare. This is not an endpoint for learning about the myths and legends, but a tarting point to get the understanding and references to go deeper.
November 27, 2015
Read for Mythology class. Really nice! Lots of background info for each myth (historical & cultural contexts), with myths being grouped by geographical local and preceded by a general cultural introduction on the mythology of each particular region from which the stories come.
August 30, 2011
Summarizes all the major myths into digestible stories. So far have read through the Greek myths and am working on the next chapters.
October 13, 2012
This book had many new stories that I had not yet read and information that I had not known. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
January 24, 2015
It's one of those books that you don't read from beginning to end. But very well done regardless.
May 11, 2017
good for a quick summary of the different myths. very readable.
May 29, 2017
Great condensed versions of some of the greatest myths from around the world. Required reading for one of my classes, and one of the textbooks I actually looked forward to reading!
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