GOOD READING MATERIALS

Now, this is by no means a comprehensive list. A quick browsing of the mythology/world religions section of your local bookstore or library will give you random small titles about demonic dictionaries or the mythology of angels or the gods of such-and-such a place. Here is just what I have sitting on my bookshelf now, and other books I find to be extremely fun mythological reading. Good enough? :D

Some of these books are just mythology compilations. Some are the original texts, translated, usually with some commentary/explanation. I'm sorry, I find commentary/analysis to be fascinating, so if that's not your bag...

RETELLINGS

Edith Hamilton

She's written a bunch of really good Greco-Roman history and mythology books. I have Mythology, The Greek Way, and The Roman Way. Extremely readable and entertaining. What truly endears Mythology to me is that she listed the sources for each myth, so I could hunt up the source material. :D

Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaires

Their books of Greek Myths and Norse Gods were my absolute favorite mythology books when I was younger. I know it says "ages 9-12" but screw that, these books are wonderful. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat. They're hand-illustrated, and contain both common and lesser-known myths, such as, say, the story of Melampus.

Gustav Schwab

Another staple of my childhood reading was his Gods and Heroes. My copy is 750 pages long and dates from the mid-seventies, and it's falling apart from constant use. This is crammed with good Greek mythology stuff. If you want basic mythology retold, I'd go with this book and/or Hamilton's Mythology.

Eric Flaum/David Pandy

When I received the Encyclopedia of Mythology, I thought it was going to be another one of those books with a shallow two sentences on a few of the major myths. Not at all. This thing is amazingly comprehensive, and full of gorgeous illustrations from paintings and pottery and scupture for almost every myth. It has entries on stuff like "Cinyras," for god's sakes. (Who's that? I had no clue! :D) It's also oversized and beautifully colored; the dustcover of mine is gilt.

Veronica Ions

Pity, it looks like many of my books are now out-of-print. Anyways, her Hamilton History: Mythology - a thematic comparison from primal chaos to the end of the world (I think this is the right link...couldn't find the exact one. Anyways, the ISBN is 0 600 59213 8.) Another oversized, beautifully-illustrated book with pictures of paintings and sculptures and all that to illustrate the myths. This one, as the title indicates, isn't so much a straight mythology book as a comparison of themes across different cultures - common themes in creation myths, spiritual animals, demons, and so on. Sounds boring and academic, but really, it's not. She seems to have written books about Egyptian and Indian mythology - perhaps those are worth a glance too.

Villy Sørensen

His Downfall of the Gods is my favorite revisionist retelling of Norse myths ever. Period. If you like taking a fresh look at old myths, get this if you can.

H.R. Ellis Davidson

When I took a Norse mythology class in college (man, mythology classes were the easiest A's ever, with my existing interest and background in the subject! :D), Gods and Myths of Northern Europe was one of the required readings. We almost never used it, though, but I read it on my own, and it's fascinating. It's more of a thematic look at the background and evolution of Norse gods, but man, if you love mythological analysis, this is a great book for you. It's not bone-dry and boring, but it is a non-fanciful analysis of the recurring themes in the Norse myths (such as the gods of death, of battle, the Vanir, and so on), so you'll actually learn something from this one. :D I'm sure I'd recommend any of this author's books. This particular tome is very small (250 pages, small paperback).

SOURCE MATERIALS

Ovid

The big guy. His book, The Metamorphoses, is the source for most of those common Greek myths you hear all over the place. It's a must-have if you're into Greek mythology. Buy whatever translation appeals to you the most. If you're into him at all, also check out his Amores. (Don't be put off by the title, okay? Really. I found his poetry to be more sly and amusing than bodice-ripping romance-novel stuff.)

The Elder (Poetic) Edda and The Snorra (Prose) Edda

If you're into Norse mythology, get these - whatever translation you want. The Elder Edda's author is traditionally unknown (or listed as "Edda Saemundar", apparently) but the Snorra Edda was written by Snorri Sturluson in Iceland in 1200-something. Great stuff, IMHO.

WAIT! WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER WORLD MYTHOLOGIES?

Damn, you caught me. Okay, well, I'm Hindu by heritage, so I picked up all that stuff by osmosis. Chinese and Japanese myths I found online or in a general Asian mythology book. Zoroastrian, Mayan, and all that? Got them out of a textbook. If you're desperate for a particular mythology book, mail me at jokersama @ livejournal.com and I'll give you specific references. :D

But here's a few tips anyways.

If you want to have a solid background in Hindu Mythology, you should read the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Srimad Bhagavatam. My favorite author for those three works is Dr. Kamala Subramaniam. (Amazon lies; she's done all three books.) But if you can't find them, go for C. Rajagopalachari. The retellings of the Ramayana and Mahabharata by William Buck are good, but they're new-age, fanciful, "based on the myths." That sort of approach. Reading them is fun - I like them - but you'd want to know how the story traditionally goes before reading his more fictional, story-telling approach, you know?

Ugh, that's all I can think of at this hour - I'll add more later, if anyone has any specific requests. I really recommend the reading of the classical Greek and Roman plays, medieval plays, Inferno, Purgatorio, etc. I love the classics. If you want suggestions on which of those to read, again - or you just want to chat - please email me, I'd love to discuss them with you. Mythology is fascinating and lots of fun, and if playing the Persona games or looking at this page inspires you to go get a mytholology book, I couldn't be happier.

Yellowish-blue, definitely not green!