Great book for starters in Greek Mythology

Mythology by Edith Hamilton is a great book Greek Mythology novices (like me). It requires a certain amount of patience to stay with this book as it refers to a multitude of difficult to pronounce and even more difficult to remember names of characters from the Greek Mythology and of course there is the issue of remembering names of the same characters in Latin and in Greek. Having said that, this book does a very good job of introducing the different characters and their contexts to the reader. It also cross references characters playing small roles in a story to when to when their own stories are being told. The part that I probably enjoyed the most was the way Edith sets stage for the reader to understand the collective ideology and thought process of the times when these stories were told and the poets who told these stories in helping the reader understand and put in perspective the relative grandeur and treatment of the characters and incidents in the different stories.

Edith has picked up different stories in terms of detail, importance, grandeur and familiarity to the general population to define the sequence in which the book flows. What this results in is that the chronology of the events is severely impacted. The reader does have to stay alert in order to place certain events in the overall chronology of the single mythological fabric that is being woven by the writer. One can of course choose to ignore the mythology altogether and regale in the mysteries and the characters and their tales.

I would definitely recommend this one to any reader who is interested in the mythologies and wants a not too heavy introduction to some of the most seminal work from the 1000 years leading up to the advent of Christianity.

