I don't know if it's the translation of this book that's shit or if it's the book itself, but holy shit some parts of this are very painful to read. She jumps from one thing to another, adds things that aren't relevent to the main story mid-sentence, it's hard to keep track of what's really important. I know she mixed many stories from different authors together and that might be why everything is so noncoherent, but damn this is pretty bad.
it's a fun reference book, not a direct translation of stories. the jumping about is to give a sense of the interconnectedness of the world
>>7738929
Yeah I know. Thankfully I'm familiar with some of the stories so it's more of a reminder for me, but I don't know if I'd recommend this book to someone that wanted to get started with Mythology.
I don't like how much of a greekaboo she is.
I remember in the first chapter or so she was talking about how the greeks were the first people to have human gods and everyone before them just worshiped rocks and stuff.
>>7738938
Really? What an idiot. Egypt, India, and Mesopotamia all had pantheons of human and anthropomorphic gods, many with petty, human personalities. Like that bitch who got Enkidu killed.
Not worth reading, and useless as a reference book as you can get a similar level of information directly from the internet. I have no idea why /lit/ recommends this book so much.
>>7738920
There are actual spelling issues in my French edition. It's indeed quite painful to read.
>>7738971
Hamilton's Mythology is a staple for all literature majors. /lit/ is not unique in its love for this wonderful book.
I just finished reading it a few weeks ago and I really don't know what you mean. It's pretty dry, but I really wouldn't agree with what you said.
I don't know why anyone would read this or any book like it as an introduction to mythology. The greatest poets among the Greeks, the Romans, the Norsemen etc. produced wonderful poetic renditions of pretty much all of their important myths, and you're going to read an artless summary by some cultural historian or whoever? I mean, it's one thing if you've already read the original sources and want to study this shit on an academic level...
ITT:
>I have a contrarian opinion, and I demand to be heard!
>>7738992
Because you want a summary that is shorter than getting every single written source about multiple cultures mythologies?
>>7738971
>>7738985
Hamilton's Mythology is the primary source for the educated classes
In case the internet grid goes down, Hamilton will remain to be the standard introduction and reference.
It's shitty and a better compilation could be written, but this is the standard edition of classical myth worldwide.
I don't like it either. It's completely fucking artless. And she has the temerity to constantly shit on Ovid in her little intros, when she's not 1/10th the writer.
>>7739023
>worldwide
Are by chance implying that people in the most educated country of the west on the ancients uses that ridiculous book?
Fucking Englishcucks, I swear.
>>7739056
Well, considering you're from a poor country, and Hamilton is the most printed and purchased edition of Greek myth, yes.
>>7739072
Now you're implying UK and US aren't poor countries?
You can only hope to reach our level of knowledge on the matter, we study that shit in middle school here.
>>7738938
Did you even read it?
She says the Greeks were the first to make the gods in their own image. The gods before were incomprehensible beings and objects, horrifying and unknown.
>>7738971
The book is well-presented in a way Wikipedia could never match. Wiki pages are insular, and parochial. You don't own them, you need internet to access them, you have to sift through many webpages to get the same info in the book.
>>7739096
Are you on crack? They're by far the richest, and if they crash down, they're taking the western world with them, and then some.
Every child worth mentioning studies this in adolescence.
If you're trying to sound impressive, try harder.
>>7739122
>Did you even read it?
>She says the Greeks were the first to make the gods in their own image. The gods before were incomprehensible beings and objects, horrifying and unknown.
Did you even read Gilgamesh, dumbass? The gods in that legend are likewise akin to petty humans, and those legends are at least as old as Greece's.
>>7739141
I'm telling you that your representation of what she said was wrong. I'm not saying that what she says was true or not you retarded cunt.
>>7739154
Except that wasn't me, and you added that faggot Lovecraft's phrasing. So that makes you even more of a shithead, and in no position to criticize anyone.
Hamilton, that useless bitch, said, "Until then, gods had had no semblance of reality. They were unlike all living things." Then she discusses hybrid Egyptian and Mesopotamian gods, completely ignoring that gods like Ptah, Osiris, and Ishtar, another useless bitch, had human form.
>>7739136
>They're by far the richest
>>7739200
I was trolling for statistics, so thanks for being used.
>>7738992
This. The idea that there's a full corpus of mythology that you need to understand before exploring the myths themselves is idiotic. You don't need to know that Aphrodite was formed from the foam of Cronus' balls after Zeus cut them off to know Aphrodite's role in the Trojan war.
>>7739205
They were. They got drunk, insulted each other, and got jealous over idiotic love affairs. Some of them even cried over silly insults.
So much like us.
>>7739193
It wasn't necessarily physical human characteristics that Hamilton referred to. In action and thought the Greek gods were the first to be truly human. They had flaws, worldly desires. They were selfish and greedy. The Greek gods were the most human, as far as behaving as humans, in all of worldly mythology.
>>7739001
In most cases "every single written source" comprises one or two book-length stories per culture. The Iliad and the Odyssey, along with maybe Hesiod, are all you need to understand Greek myth, and they don't take long to read and understand.
>>7739222
But almost none of them truly cared about humanity unless the human in question was of divine origin.
>>7739234
Oh look, he's moving goalposts now.
Neither did the Greeks apparently.
If you've read Heisod, Ovid, Homer, Virgil, and the main Greek playwrights there is absolutely no reason to read this. If you're planning on reading Heisod, Ovid, Homer, Virgil, and the main Greek playwrights there is absolutely no reason to read this.
>>7739209
I was trolling for replies, so thanks for being used.
>>7739193
>Lovecraft phrasing
>useless cunt
>being this edgy
Alright, kiddo
>>7739229
>faggot nerd
People under the age of 18 aren't allowed here
What's an alternative to this book?
For anons who might be looking for advice, look into A Short Introduction to Classical Myth by Barry Powell.
It's a short take on classical myth in general, with a more historical and scholarly approach, rather than just a retelling of all the stories. It's a nice little introduction before getting into the primary sources, which I would highly recommend.
Bullfinch and Hamilton are garbage. Stick with the primary sources and scholarly works instead.
>>7738972
There are a bunch of spelling errors in the translation I've been reading too, which makes it even worse
>>7739743
I googled it and found Classical Myth by the same author really interesting. I want it although it's expensive as fuck.
>>7739743
Thanks for the rec.
Got anything else?
Is this any good?
>>7740244
you can get a slightly older edition of the same book for much cheaper. it's a textbook for college courses, so new editions come out frequently.
>>7739200
>not PPP adjusted
shit list senpai
>>7738929
this. It's recommended to people who want a quick intro to some of the stories
