| Classical Mythology | 
 enlarge | Authors: Mark P. O. Morford, Robert J. Lenardon
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $79.95
Buy New: $37.99
You Save: $41.96 (52%)
New (31) Used (81) from $36.09
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 213326
Media: Paperback
Edition: 8
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 894
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 7.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0195308050
Dewey Decimal Number: 292.13
EAN: 9780195308051
ASIN: 0195308050
Publication Date: July 20, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Building on the best-selling tradition of previous editions, Classical Mythology, Eighth Edition, is the most comprehensive survey of classical mythology available in one volume. Featuring the authors' clear and extensive translations of original sources, it brings to life the myths and legends of Greece and Rome in a lucid and engaging style. The text contains a wide variety of faithfully translated passages from Greek and Latin sources, including Homer, Hesiod, all the Homeric Hymns, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Plato, Lucian, Lucretius, Vergil, Ovid, and Seneca. The authors incorporate a dynamic combination of poetic narratives and enlightening commentary to make the myths come alive for students. Offering historical and cultural background on the myths--including evidence from art and archaeology--they also provide ample interpretative material and examine the enduring survival of classical mythology and its influence in the fields of art, literature, music, dance, and film.
Classical Mythology, Eighth Edition, enables students to explore the fascinating nature of Greek and Roman gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, and to appreciate the most significant ancient sources of classical myths and legends. The book is beautifully enhanced by 22 color plates and 160 black and white illustrations with lucid explanatory captions, as well as maps, a glossary, a companion website, and an instructor's manual.
Classical Mythology, Eighth Edition, has been updated and revised to reflect recent scholarship, featuring:
* The most recent results of excavations at Troy and Orestes
* Expanded discussions of Asclepius, Antigone, and Orestes
* Many new text boxes including those on Homer, Hesiod, and the worship of Artemis at Brauron
* A new chapter (25) on Ovid's treatment of classical mythology
* Incorporation of local legends--for example, the myth of Bellerophon--in relevant myths and sagas (these legends, located in the former Chapter 25 in the previous edition, have now been distributed throughout the book where they best fit)
* An improved art program, with new images, better-quality reproductions, and improved maps
* Numbering of lines for all translations, for easy reference
* Improved indexes and updated bibliographies
* An improved and updated companion website, including images and maps
* An instructor's manual and test bank (available for the first time)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 The best Book on the Subject in my Opinion November 8, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have a great passion for Greek and Roman mythology. This came about because of my involvment in the Christian Church for ten years. After having lost my faith due to certain cosmological facts that I couldn't reconcile with Scripture, I left Christianity. However I never lost my love for theology, mythology and philosophy. Thus I continued in my reading. Having moved into the reading of the classics I found a new love. While I have not read everything on the subject, to date this is my absolute favorite book that strictly deals with Greek and Roman myth. It contains extensive translations of texts with excellent commentary and insights. The authors deal heavily with the psychological interpretations of Freud and Jung, which I enjoyed. This book is absolutely awesome. GET IT!
Excellent source January 17, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is the standard text for several of the Classical Mythology sections at my college. It is an excellent source for both basic and detailed information on Classical myths. Primary texts are quoted, and all parts of the book are easy to read. There is a select bibliography for each chapter. Has a glossary of words that may not be familiar to reader, as well as a glossary/index of all the gods and goddesses with a short summary of who they are at the back of the book for quick reference. Some color picture sections, as well as black and white pictures throughout. Highly recommended as a reference if you are unable to take a class on the subject.
thru a distant lens August 24, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This well honed 8th edition is an entrancing and beautiful description of the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome. The emphasis is Greece, naturally, since the Romans based so much of their beliefs on the Greeks. No prior knowledge of the subject is assumed. But the book is not some simple entry level exposition, like some freshman texts.
Instead, Morford goes into a fair amount of detail about what we know. He refers and quotes liberally from surviving manuscripts. So that, even though these are given in English, we get some flavour of looking thru a distant lens at how others saw their gods. Plus, he has kept up with the latest archeological discoveries and their interpretations. Reminding the reader that our knowledge of those times is still incomplete and changing.
The many photos and illustrations also help in giving flesh to the text. Some are of the European perceptions from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Several colour plates are quite lovely. We are looking at the subject through at least two viewpoints. Ours and those.
 Ridiculously expensive. January 9, 2005
45 out of 58 found this review helpful
This is not a bad book. It is a standard, fairly decent introduction to mythology that's a heck of a lot better than Edith Hamilton. The reason why I give it one star is the price. It is not worth more than 45 dollars. Very few books are, and the ones that are, have hard covers. This is a disgraceful ripoff and there is absolutely no excuse for it. Morford, Leonardson, and especially the PUBLISHER should be ashamed. Yes, the book is well-done, with pretty pictures, but it's SOFTCOVER. It's worth perhaps twenty dollars, maybe thirty at most. It is a very typical example of the utter sliminess of the textbook shell game. Years ago, it once had a reasonable price. Then, when the publisher realized that it was being assigned as a textbook, they raised the price to a ridiculous level, and produced - and continue to produce - more editions so that any old edition you get will be slightly off pagewise. A minor rearranging of contents occurs to justify dupes buying the new edition thus to make the old editions worthless. Take a stand. Do not buy this book. Professors, do not assign it. If your professor assigns it, request that you may use an old version which you will be able to find for five dollars online. The changes in the book are NOT essential enough to justify this gross piracy.
By the way -- I'm a graduate student studying Greek and Roman history, religion, and literature at Berkeley. I believe I am fairly qualified, then, to make this argument. The price of this book is a disgusting shame and should not be tolerated.
 Excellent overview of everything with Classical Mythology October 23, 2003
13 out of 17 found this review helpful
This was a textbook assigned to me in my Classical Mythology course in college. I very much enjoyed working my way through it. It talked about everything in extensive detail and is pretty much what you'd expect of a textbook on Classical Mythology. Rather, I would like to explain why it didn't get five stars. When the authors quote the translations they did of classical works like the Homeric Poems or Greek tragedies, they certainly took poetic license with some of the lines. It was a very mediocre job of translation and you can see a few lines of modern day slang thrown in here and there (ex. "decked out like a corpse"). Decked out? This isn't 2003, this is thousands of years ago for goodness sakes. The other problem is that every once in a while, the authors will slip in their opinions of Christianity and how it is rediculous, though they don't say that in so many words. This is a book about a dead religion, it is NOT about the origins of Christianity and I wish the authors would have remembered that. The comments that they make at the end of certain chapters can be very offensive to the religious Christian. If you can look past these flaws it is certainly a good overview of everything Classical Mythology.
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