Mythology For Dummies

Amy Hackney Blackwell, PhD, has spent her career producing educational content on science, history, and the law. Christopher W. Blackwell, PhD, is the Louis G. Forgione University Professor of Classics at Furman University.

Introduction 1 Part 1: Mythology Basics and Why the Stories Endure 5 Chapter 1: The Truth About Myths 7 Chapter 2: Ancient Myths in Modern Culture: The Legacy 19 Part 2: Thunder and Lightning: Greek Mythology 29 Chapter 3: Greek Creation Myths and Really Ancient Greek Gods 31 Chapter 4: Taller, Younger, and Better Looking Than You: The Olympian Gods 45 Chapter 5: The Fairest and Meanest of Them All: The Greek Goddesses 61 Chapter 6: So Fine and Half Divine: Heroes 77 Chapter 7: The Trojan War, the Iliad, and the Odyssey 95 Chapter 8: Of Chorus They're so Dramatic: Greek Tragedy 115 Part 3: The Cultural Spoils of an Empire: Roman Mythology 131 Chapter 9: Will the Real Roman Mythology Please Stand Up? 133 Chapter 10: Virgil's Aeneid and the Founding of Rome 149 Chapter 11: Time to Change Things Up: Ovid's Metamorphoses 159 Part 4: One Big Family Feud: Norse and Northern European Mythology 169 Chapter 12: Snow, Ice, and Not Very Nice: Norse Deities 171 Chapter 13: Heroes and Monsters: The Big Northern European Sagas 189 Chapter 14: A Seat at the Round Table: King Arthur and His Court 201 Chapter 15: Myths from the Emerald Isle: Ireland and Celtic Mythology 217 Part 5: The Cradle(s) of Civilization: African and Near-Eastern Mythology 225 Chapter 16: Central and Southern Africa: The Bantu's Eternal Earth and Sly Animals 227 Chapter 17: Floods, Mud, and Gods: Mesopotamian and Hebrew Mythology 235 Chapter 18: Three Cheers for Egypt: Ra, Ra, Ra! 249 Chapter 19: North African Mythology: A Real Melting Pot 261 Chapter 20: One Thousand Tales: Persian Mythology 269 Part 6: Kashmir to Kyoto, and a Lot in Between: South- and East Asian Mythology 279 Chapter 21: Land of a Thousand Gods: India 281 Chapter 22: Get out the Fine China: Early Chinese Myth and the Three Teachings 293 Chapter 23: Japan: Myths from the Land of the Rising Sun 305 Part 7: "New World"? Says Who? Mythology of the Americas 317 Chapter 24: Central and South American Mythology: Civilizations, Cities, and Ball Games 319 Chapter 25: Sea to Sea, and Lots of Animals in Between: Indigenous Myths of North America 333 Part 8: The Part of Tens 349 Chapter 26: Ten Mythological Monsters 351 Chapter 27: Ten (Plus One) Mythological Places 357 Index 365