Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [243]
Alighieri, Dante, translated by Robert Hollander and Jean Hollander. The Inferno. New York: Anchor Books, 2000. (Many other translations available.)
Apollodorus, translated by Robin Hard. The Library of Greek Mythology. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. A source book of Greek myths from the origins of the universe to the Trojan War, compiled in the second century BCE. This is the most significant source of Greek mythology after Homer and Hesiod.
Apollonius of Rhodes, translated by Richard Hunter. Jason and the Golden Fleece. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. A verse translation of the third century BCE poem about the quest for the fleece, the Argonauts, Jason, and Medea.
Bierhorst, John. The Mythology of North America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. A thorough and accessible “field guide” that breaks Native North American folklore into eleven distinct regions, with discussions of the shared mythologies, stories, and gods of each.
Birrell, Anne M. Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. English translation of some three hundred ancient Chinese myth narratives, with very scholarly notes and explanatory texts.
Birrell, Anne M. The Classic of Mountains and Seas. New York: Penguin Books, 2000. A treasure trove of colorful stories about more than two hundred Chinese mythical figures, most of them very unfamiliar to Western readers.
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable; The Age of Chivalry; Legends of Charlemagne. Available in various editions that appeared in 1855, 1858, and 1863, respectively.
Coomaraswamy, Ananda K., and Sister Nivedita. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. New York: Dover, 1967. Gathers the most important stories from Indian mythology, which is the source of the two major religions reflected in the title.
Crossley-Holland, Kevin. The Norse Myths. New York: Pantheon, 1980. Retelling of thirty-two classic tales from the Viking world.
Davis, F. Hadland. Myths and Legends of Japan. New York: Dover, 1992. Collected retellings of classical Japanese myths.
Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, editors. American Indian Myths and Legends. New York: Pantheon, 1984. A collection of 160 folk myths and tales from eighty different tribal groups.
Erdoes, Richard and Alfonso Ortiz, editors. American Indian Trickster Tales. New York: Penguin, 1998. A collection of more than one hundred tales from different tribes about the colorful, mischievous, and highly oversexed characters known as tricksters, from various American Indian traditions, including Coyote, Iktomi the Spider, and Rabbit. Colorful and very earthy.
Faulkner, R. O. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985. The religious and magical texts known to the ancient Egyptians.
Foster, Benjamin R., translator and editor. The Epic of Gilgamesh. New York: W. W. Norton, 2001. A recent translation of the Mesopotamian epic poem with critical notes and essays.
Gantz, Jeffrey, translator. Early Irish Myths and Legends. London: Penguin Books, 1981. First written down around the eighth century, these are early Celtic legends from Ireland.
Gantz, Jeffrey, translator. The Mabinogion. New York: Penguin Books, 1976. A collection of the eleven medieval Welsh prose tales, including some of the earliest written Arthurian legends.
Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Theogony and Works and Days. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Less known than Homer, the poet Hesiod wrote a systematic genealogy of the Greek gods, from the mythological beginnings of the world.
Homer, translated by Robert Fitzgerald. The Iliad and The Odyssey. New York: Vintage Books, 1961. (Many other translations and editions available.)
Husain, Shahrukh. The Virago Book of Erotic Myths and Legends. London: Virago, 2002. A compilation of modern retellings of some of the erotic tales from diverse cultures.