Mythology for dummies / Christopher W. Blackwell and Amy Hackney Blackwell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blackwell, Christopher W., 1968-

Contributor:

Hackney Blackwell, Amy.

Series:

--For dummies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology.

Physical Description:

xxii, 360 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hungry Minds, [2002]

Summary:

With cheat sheets and easy-reference charts, this book is a wonderfully readable introduction to gods, goddesses, and heroes from around the world.

Contents:

Part I Mythology and the Cradle of Civilization 5

Chapter 1 The Truth About Myths 7

How to Spot a Myth a Mile Away 8

Which Came First, the People or the Myths? 9

Looking at the Different Types of Myths 11

A Who's Who of Mythological Players 13

Two American Myths 15

Chapter 2 That's Our Story and We're Sticking to It: The Legacy 17

Around the Block and Through the Wringer: The Journey of One Myth 18

Pop Culture 20

Myths on the Page, on the Wall, and in the Concert Hall 22

Learn Your Myths, Earn $461,000,000! 25

Part II It Started Here, Folks: Greek Mythology 27

Chapter 3 Greek Creation Myths and Really Ancient Greek Gods 29

Here Comes the Sun (and a Whole Mess of Other Stuff): Creation At Last! 30

Gifts of the Stork: The Offspring of Mother Earth and Father Sky 31

The Third Generation of Gods: The Olympians 33

The Creation of People 35

The Love-Hate Triangle: Prometheus, People, and Zeus 36

The World People Lived in, Courtesy of the Gods 37

A Flood and Rebirth Story 40

Chapter 4 Taller, Younger, and Better Looking Than You: The Olympian Gods 43

Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades: Big Daddy and His Brothers 43

The Boys in the Band: Studly Young Gods 49

Chapter 5 The Fairest and Meanest of Them All: The Greek Goddesses 61

Hera, Aphrodite, and Demeter: The Dueling Diva Goddesses 61

Look but Don't Touch!: The Virgin Goddesses 68

Goddess Gangs: A Motley Crew 73

Chapter 6 So Fine and Half Divine: Heroes 77

Perseus, a Real Prince of a Guy 78

Box Office Gold of the Ancients: Heracles 82

A Home-Grown Hero: Theseus 86

Jason the Jerk 89

Chapter 7 The Iliad, the End of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey 93

Poems of Epic Proportions 94

Setting the Stage: Events Leading to the Trojan War 94

The Trojan War, Nine Years Later: The Iliad 99

The End of the Trojan War 102

A Hero Makes His Way Home after the Trojan War: Homer's Odyssey 105

Chapter 8 Greek Tragedy: The Days of Their Lives 113

What's On Today? 113

Send in the Clowns (Not!): Tragedy 101 115

Meet the Parents: The House of Cadmus 118

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: The House of Atreus 124

Part III The Cultural Spoils of an Empire: Roman Mythology 129

Chapter 9 Will the Real Roman Mythology Please Stand Up? 131

The Powers That Were: Before the Empire 131

Home-Grown Gods: The Original Italians 132

Making Way for Rome with a Very Big "R" 134

How It All Got So Darn Mixed Up 137

Down on the Farm: Roman Religion 140

Chapter 10 Begged, Borrowed, and Stolen: Roman Religion 143

The Greek-Roman Pantheon 143

Special Roman Gods 146

A God for Every Taste 150

Keeping It Real: The Goddesses 153

Chapter 11 Virgil's Aeneid and The Founding of Rome 159

Why the Romans Needed Another Myth: Down with Carthage! 159

Emperor Augustus and Virgil's PR Machine: The Aeneid 163

Romulus and Remus and the Founding of Rome 168

The Seven Kings of Rome 170

Chapter 12 Don't Go Changin': Ovid's Metamorphoses 173

Surprising Transformations and Heroic Hunters 174

Ovid's Lovers 176

Cupid and Psyche 182

Part IV One Big Family Feud: Northern European Mythology 185

Chapter 13 Snow, Ice, and Not Very Nice: Norse Deities 187

Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dwarves: Creation of the World 188

The Good, the Bad, and the Mortal: Norse Deities 189

A Big Tree House: The World They Lived In 197

Ragnarok: The End of the World 200

Chapter 14 Dragonslayers: The Big Northern European Sagas 203

Prime Time Programming: The Saga of the Volsungs 204

Something for Everyone: Beowulf 211

Chapter 15 A Seat at the Round Table: King Arthur and His Court 215

Searching for King Arthur 215

Who's Who in Camelot 218

A Medieval Daytime Drama

Arthur's Beginning 220

Sex, Lies, and a Good Jousting 223

Everybody's Working for the Weekend: Knightly Heroics 225

The Last Days of King Arthur 228

Part V Some Sunblock, a Sacrifice, a Monster, and Thou: Non-European Mythology 231

Chapter 16 Floods, Mud, and Gods: Mesopotamian and Hebrew Mythology 233

Gilgamesh: The Sumerian Creation Story 234

Enuma Elish: The Babylonian Creation Story 236

Mesopotamian Gods: Okay, We Fear You ... You Happy? 240

Hebrew Mythology: A is for Apple, B is for Babel 242

Common Threads in the Three Creation Myths 245

Chapter 17 Three Cheers for Egypt: Ra, Ra, Ra! 247

Write Me a Really Big River 247

Gods and Goddesses of the Sands 251

Religion in Egyptian Life 255

Death and the Afterlife 258

Chapter 18 Land of a Thousand Gods: India 261

The Vedic Invaders 261

Hinduism: Room for Many Gods 264

Competing Religions: Buddhism and Jainism 272

Chapter 19 China: Tao ... Wow! 275

How the World Began and Where Folks Came From 275

Effortless Effort: The Myths of Taoism 278

Confucianism: Myths of devotion 283

Buddhism 285

Chapter 20 Japan: Myths from the Land of the Rising Sun 289

The Creation of Stuff and Other Ancient Matters 289

Supernatural Beings: Materializing in a Folk Tale Near You 295

Japanese Rituals: A Little of Everything 297

Chapter 21 Latin America: It'll Tear Your Heart Out 301

Footprints of a Lost People: The Old Cultures 302

Maya 305

Aztecs 309

Incas 312

Chapter 22 Coyotes, Thunderbirds, and Bears, Oh My: North American Indian Myths 315

The Lush Green Forests of the East 316

Big Sky Country: The Great Plains 319

Saguaro Cactus Flower in the Southwest 323

The Wealthy Pacific Northwest 326

Chapter 23 Ten Mythological Monsters 331

Gorgons 331

Chimera 332

The Phoenix 332

Cerberus, the Hound of Hell 332

Dragons 333

Unicorn 333

Griffon 334

Sphinx 334

Chapter 24 Ten Mythological Places 335

Elysium, or Elysian Fields 335

Brigadoon 336

Xanadu 336

Shangri-La 337

Arcadia 337

Valhalla 338

Atlantis 338

The Kingdom of Prester John 339

Avalon 339.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0764554328

OCLC:

50590685