Author Description

Most of the mythology books are boring. A Book of Myths is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. Rather is the book intended for those who, during their reading, frequently come across names which possess for them no meaning, and who care to read some old stories, through which runs the same humanity that their own hearts know. We might expect in the 21st century that the old gods of Greece and of Rome, the gods of our Northern forefathers, the gods of Egypt, the gods of the British race, might be forgotten. But even when we read in a newspaper of airplanes, someone is more than likely to quote the story of Icarus, the flyer, and in our daily speech the names of gods and goddesses continually crop up. We talk of "a panic," and forget that the great god Pan is father of the word. Here, the Author has endeavored to impart the pleasures of classical learning to the English reader, by presenting Greek and Latin myths (PYGMALION, PSYCHE, ICARUS...) in a form adapted to modern taste but also Celtic, Slavic, and Teutonic myths (BALDUR, BEOWULF, DEIRDRÊ...). Visit the table of contents to discover the wide range of subjects covered. Jean Lang interspersed the stories with her own commentary, and with quotations from writings by her contemporaries. This new edition (easy-to-read layout) contains illustrations or paintings.