Dictionary of World Myth by Bently

by Roy Willis

The Dictionary of World Myth is a scholarly, yet accessible ready reference to all of the places, figures & stories from all major mythological traditions. Entries are enhanced by over 200 reproductions of mythical figures & symbols as they appear on pottery, wall paintings, votive statuettes etc.ForewordAfterlifeAncestorsAnimals The Voyage of the ArgonautsBuddhism Cargo cultsChaos CosmologyCreation Culture Hero The origin of deathDragon Flood myths Greek and Roman deitiesHares and rabbits The labours of HeraklesThe origin of humanityIzanagi and IzanamiJaguarLion The Olympians The curse of the House of PelopsThe kings of RomeSacred mountains Snakes and serpentsSun, moon and starsTitan Trickster The heroes of the Trojan WarUnderworlds The avatars of Vishnu The aspects of Wakan Tanka The consorts of ZeusAcknowledgmentsBibliographyIndex of ThemesIndex of Supplementary Names

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Reference, History, Religion

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dictionary of mythology should be a part of any general reference library. It should, for convenience's sake, be alphabetized. The prefatory matter should spell out the plan of the book, defining the topic and the conventions of transliteration and citation to be employed. Cross-references should be noted in the text. A supplement should list any "names, pseudonyms, titles and places" not afforded separate entries. Although major subjects should be covered adequately, minor ones should not be ignored as it is precisely those more obscure topics which users are most likely to need to look up in such a book. Sources should be explicitly cited and the bibliography should allow readers to search them out. A general dictionary should, of course, cover all cultures and epochs. Such a general dictionary would, inevitably be an enormous undertaking, something like the Hastings' series of a century ago. Facts on File, "an Infobase Holding Company," has ostensibly taken on this ambitious product and has produced an extraordinarily poor product on almost all counts.

What Bently and his colleagues have produced does indeed make a show of covering all world myth, classing the stories as, variously, African, Arctic, Australian, Celtic, Central American, Chinese, Egyptian, Germanic, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Mongolian, Middle Eastern, North American, Oceanic, Roman, Slavic, South American, Southeast Asian and Tibetan. Naturally there is some confusion between regions and ethnicities here, but that may be unavoidable. Additionally, there is also an ambitious effort of thematization whereby short essays tackle major topics from cross-cultural perspectives.

Such global thematic treatments might be useful, allowing readers to test such theories and definitions of myth as various authorities such as Levi-Strauss, Freud, Jung, Campbell and Bastian--the only authorities mentioned in Roy Willis' short foreword--have adduced. But the essays are, like the topic entries, incredibly brief and inadequate. "Cosmology," a subject of some importance, is treated in three short paragraphs.

There are cross-references. There is a small bibliography of secondary sources. There is that supplement that lists topics not afforded individual entries. But the the general topic, mythology, is never defined. Transliterations are inconsistent. Obscure topics are not treated. Most importantly, there are no citations. One does not recognize, say, the beliefs of the Greeks so much as those of Edith Hamilton.

What is a myth anyway? Ironically, it seems that all cultures have always had them except for those peoples likely to buy this book. A myth is something not to be taken seriously, something beyond the pale. Hindoos have myths. The Peoples of the Book, we Jews, Moslems and Christians, do not. Krishna's antics with the gopis are myths. The antics of the sons of god with the daughters of men is, apparently, religion.

Beyond these impressive limitations what remains is virtually useless because of the lack of source references. Thus the stories associated with, say, the Kore seem to include a bit of Hesiod, a mention by Herodotus, a reference in Pausanias and a lot of Robert Graves. There are, in other words, no myths here at all except modern myths about myths.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be on every bookshelf

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool for a dictionary