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Myths and Legends Explained
Integrates works of art and artifacts with text while examining fifty of the most popular myths and legends from cultures and civilizations around the world.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
6 people are currently reading
111 people want to read
About the author
Neil Philip
119 books35 followersNeil Philip is a writer, folklorist and poet. He is married to the artist Emma Bradford, and lives in the Cotswolds, England. Neil loves words, poetry, and the art of storytelling in all its forms. Among his many books are A Fine Anger, Victorian Village Life, The Cinderella Story, The Penguin Book of English Folktales, Mythology (with Philip Wilkinson), The Great Mystery, War and the Pity of War, The New Oxford Book of Childrens Verse, The Tale of Sir Gawain, Horse Hooves & Chicken Feet, and The Adventures of Odysseus. Neil has contributed to numerous journals, including The Times, and Signal: Approaches to Childrens Books, and has also written for stage, screen, and radio. His work has won numerous awards and honours, including the Aesop Award of the American Folklore Society and the Literary Criticism Book Award of the Childrens Literature Association. Outside of the storied world, Neil is passionate about cats, art, music, France, food & wine, and friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 17, 2013
I saw this book at my library when they had a small mythology/magic/folklore display set up. I picked it up and flipped through a few pages, but immediately decided that this was not the type of book you check out.
This is the type of book you own.
I've yet to come across a better book for sampling mythology. Don't get me wrong, I positively love my The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Mythology , but that's the type of thing you use as a reference tool; you don't read it from cover to cover. (At least, I don't.) But Myths & Legends Explained is a different beast entirely, because it's just not designed like an encyclopedia, and is considerably more engaging.
Every entry in this book is a 2-page affair, generally centered around a lovely piece of art (paintings, statues, etc.) that tells the entry's tale. Surrounding the art is a series of notes pointing out the significance of its various features and giving a brief, caption-sized explanation of what they mean to the myth.
The art is fantastic, but you don't get there until you've read the paragraph at the top of the page, which gives an overview of the story in question--whether it's the exploits of the Greek hero Theseus, the origin of the Norse tree Yggdrasil, or a look at how Maui-of-a-Thousand-Tricks fished up the islands of Polynesia. The introductions are informative and concise and, as far as I'm concerned, perfect.
Any space not spent on the myth's introduction or the main art piece (and its captioning) is devoted to sidebar notes that give a quick synopsis of another (usually related) story. There are tons of fun facts to be had all over the pages of this book--it packs quite a punch for only ~124 pages!
If you're interested in checking out a number of different mythologies (Carribean, Japanese, Native American, etc.), you can't go wrong with this book. It's positively beautiful, and will serve as an excellent jumping-off point that might get you interested in further exploring the stories of the world.
This is the type of book you own.
I've yet to come across a better book for sampling mythology. Don't get me wrong, I positively love my The Ultimate Encyclopedia Of Mythology , but that's the type of thing you use as a reference tool; you don't read it from cover to cover. (At least, I don't.) But Myths & Legends Explained is a different beast entirely, because it's just not designed like an encyclopedia, and is considerably more engaging.
Every entry in this book is a 2-page affair, generally centered around a lovely piece of art (paintings, statues, etc.) that tells the entry's tale. Surrounding the art is a series of notes pointing out the significance of its various features and giving a brief, caption-sized explanation of what they mean to the myth.
The art is fantastic, but you don't get there until you've read the paragraph at the top of the page, which gives an overview of the story in question--whether it's the exploits of the Greek hero Theseus, the origin of the Norse tree Yggdrasil, or a look at how Maui-of-a-Thousand-Tricks fished up the islands of Polynesia. The introductions are informative and concise and, as far as I'm concerned, perfect.
Any space not spent on the myth's introduction or the main art piece (and its captioning) is devoted to sidebar notes that give a quick synopsis of another (usually related) story. There are tons of fun facts to be had all over the pages of this book--it packs quite a punch for only ~124 pages!
If you're interested in checking out a number of different mythologies (Carribean, Japanese, Native American, etc.), you can't go wrong with this book. It's positively beautiful, and will serve as an excellent jumping-off point that might get you interested in further exploring the stories of the world.
July 27, 2018
امتیاز: 3.5
کتاب راهنمایی برای شناخت نمونه هایی از اساطیر فرهنگ های گوناگون.
نویسنده از هر فرهنگی یک یا چند اسطوره را انتخاب کرده و هر کدام را بصورتی مختصر و مفید در دو صفحه تعریف می کند. تا این جای کار، کتاب به حجم انبوهی از کتاب های مشابه می پیوندد. اما وجه تمایز این اثر را در صفحه بندی آن باید مربوط دانست (آخه از کتاب های انتشارات "دی کی"مگر می شود غیر از این انتظار داشت).
هر کدام از افسانه ها یا اسطوره ها به شکلی جذاب برای خوانندگان و علاقه مندان معمولی اساطیر و البته با کمک یک اثر هنری معروف مربوط به واقعه یا شخصیت های آن اسطوره تعریف می شوند و این باعث جذابیت کتاب برای عموم و راحت تر به خاطر سپردن آن ها می شود.
اما یکی از ایرادات چنین کتاب هایی، این است که بیش ترین حجم اساطیر، به اسطوره های کلاسیک یونان و رم تعلق دارند، اما نویسنده کتاب سعی کرده است با آوردن افزودن حجم زیادی از افسانه و اسطوره ها از دیگر فرهنگ ها مانند ژاپن، هندو، و اساطیر اسلاو و اساطیر سرخپوستان امریکای شمالی، به تنوع و غنای اثر و جذابیت آن توجه کند (اگرچه هنوز مثلا با آوردن یک اسطوره از اسطوره شناسی زرتشتی و یک اسطوره از اسطوره شناسی بین النهرین، حق مطلب را به بعضی فرهنگ ها ادا نکرده است).
پیشنهاد می شود اگر حوصله ی کتاب های بزرگ تر و مفصل تر و تخصصی تر اسطوره شناسی را ندارید اما می خواهید تاحدودی با نام ها و داستان های مهم و اصلی آن ها آشنایی پیدا کنید، این کتاب مصور و جذاب را از دست ندهید.
کتاب راهنمایی برای شناخت نمونه هایی از اساطیر فرهنگ های گوناگون.
نویسنده از هر فرهنگی یک یا چند اسطوره را انتخاب کرده و هر کدام را بصورتی مختصر و مفید در دو صفحه تعریف می کند. تا این جای کار، کتاب به حجم انبوهی از کتاب های مشابه می پیوندد. اما وجه تمایز این اثر را در صفحه بندی آن باید مربوط دانست (آخه از کتاب های انتشارات "دی کی"مگر می شود غیر از این انتظار داشت).
هر کدام از افسانه ها یا اسطوره ها به شکلی جذاب برای خوانندگان و علاقه مندان معمولی اساطیر و البته با کمک یک اثر هنری معروف مربوط به واقعه یا شخصیت های آن اسطوره تعریف می شوند و این باعث جذابیت کتاب برای عموم و راحت تر به خاطر سپردن آن ها می شود.
اما یکی از ایرادات چنین کتاب هایی، این است که بیش ترین حجم اساطیر، به اسطوره های کلاسیک یونان و رم تعلق دارند، اما نویسنده کتاب سعی کرده است با آوردن افزودن حجم زیادی از افسانه و اسطوره ها از دیگر فرهنگ ها مانند ژاپن، هندو، و اساطیر اسلاو و اساطیر سرخپوستان امریکای شمالی، به تنوع و غنای اثر و جذابیت آن توجه کند (اگرچه هنوز مثلا با آوردن یک اسطوره از اسطوره شناسی زرتشتی و یک اسطوره از اسطوره شناسی بین النهرین، حق مطلب را به بعضی فرهنگ ها ادا نکرده است).
پیشنهاد می شود اگر حوصله ی کتاب های بزرگ تر و مفصل تر و تخصصی تر اسطوره شناسی را ندارید اما می خواهید تاحدودی با نام ها و داستان های مهم و اصلی آن ها آشنایی پیدا کنید، این کتاب مصور و جذاب را از دست ندهید.
December 26, 2016
"É da natureza humana contar histórias, e existem em todas as culturas histórias que chamamos de mitos - histórias da criação do mundo e da humanidade, dos feitos de deuses e heróis, e do fim dos tempos. (...) A melhor definição foi dada por Maya Deren: Mitos são fatos da mente manifestos na ficção da matéria."
March 17, 2018
This is more like a coffee table book than a narrative. Its a light reference, picture dense, and something you can jump in and out of in small bursts. Serious students of mythology would probably find it too basic, but since I knew basically nothing about a lot of mythology, I really enjoyed it.
TLDR: Something you'd pleasantly skim through in your dentist's waiting room.
TLDR: Something you'd pleasantly skim through in your dentist's waiting room.
May 27, 2021
It is an engaging book with more than 50 myths and legends told with works of art, informative text and comprehensive annotation. It guides the reader through the amazing world of mythical figures from Re to Shiva. It has been a joy to re-visit the amazing and ancient stories with brief but to the point information and wonderful images.
July 26, 2019
Libro, o mejor dicho, Atlas ilustrado, bastante completo. Me gustó tanto leerlo como hace unos años cuando al ojearlo por encima, se lo compré a un viejito que vendía libros usados en la calle. Las ilustraciones, sean del tipo que sean (pinturas, bajorrelieves, telares, etc) se comentan al detalle, expandiendo la ya de por sí, genial idea introductoria del capítulo en cuestión. Por no decir que pequeños apuntes a los lados termina de adentrarte un poco más en el mito que estés leyendo.
Quizás lo mejor sea eso mismo, que en poco más de 120 páginas es capaz de relatarte un poco de casi varias culturas, algunas incluso desconocidas para mí (en el sentido de que tuvieran religión o creencias propias). Desgraciadamente, no trata a todas por igual, parándose por una cantidad exagerada en el Mundo Griego antiguo y relegando otras a un segundo plano.
Además, y esto es meramente de la edición en sí, la traducción al español contiene numeras erratas gramaticales, tanto en nombres de dioses como palabras del mero idioma. Por todo lo demás, ampliamente recomendado para expandir la "culturilla general" de uno mismo.
Quizás lo mejor sea eso mismo, que en poco más de 120 páginas es capaz de relatarte un poco de casi varias culturas, algunas incluso desconocidas para mí (en el sentido de que tuvieran religión o creencias propias). Desgraciadamente, no trata a todas por igual, parándose por una cantidad exagerada en el Mundo Griego antiguo y relegando otras a un segundo plano.
Además, y esto es meramente de la edición en sí, la traducción al español contiene numeras erratas gramaticales, tanto en nombres de dioses como palabras del mero idioma. Por todo lo demás, ampliamente recomendado para expandir la "culturilla general" de uno mismo.
July 19, 2012
This book will be added to my research library. Not much to say about this book other than it tells tales of mythology by analyzing works of art that are dedicated to mythology. I am pleased to say that I learned a couple new things I can use in future stories.
The only cons of this book are that it read pretty dry and could not hold my interest very long. It is short and I should have burned through it in a few days. It was not organized very well also. Half the time I was not sure what region the mythology I was reading unless it was stories and characters I already knew. They just slapped a picture on the page, captioned everything out, and gave you a short paragraph. If you are like me and write books based in mythology, reading books like this is something you need to do. For the more casual students of mythology, there is better stuff out there.
The only cons of this book are that it read pretty dry and could not hold my interest very long. It is short and I should have burned through it in a few days. It was not organized very well also. Half the time I was not sure what region the mythology I was reading unless it was stories and characters I already knew. They just slapped a picture on the page, captioned everything out, and gave you a short paragraph. If you are like me and write books based in mythology, reading books like this is something you need to do. For the more casual students of mythology, there is better stuff out there.
December 24, 2022
A quick reference to those forgotten legends
The first thing you will notice is that this is a picture book. I have pictures of great works of art that depict different interpretations of great legends (and I believe them all) from around the world and throughout time.
This book is a keeper. As time passes and your interests move from one location to another this book will get you off the ground with the basics. I checked out Persephone as I have a copy of Dante Gabriele Rossetti's Persoperine in the library. I found references and related art peppered throughout the book. However, I seem to remember her eating six pomegranate seeds, not one.
The book has a clear well-organized table of contents (also with pictures), an extensive cross-referenced index, and easy to read layout.
The first thing you will notice is that this is a picture book. I have pictures of great works of art that depict different interpretations of great legends (and I believe them all) from around the world and throughout time.
This book is a keeper. As time passes and your interests move from one location to another this book will get you off the ground with the basics. I checked out Persephone as I have a copy of Dante Gabriele Rossetti's Persoperine in the library. I found references and related art peppered throughout the book. However, I seem to remember her eating six pomegranate seeds, not one.
The book has a clear well-organized table of contents (also with pictures), an extensive cross-referenced index, and easy to read layout.
July 16, 2009
mantab neh info2 dalam buku ini!
buku yang komprehensif dan informatif mengenai segala hal tentang mitos dan legenda dari seluruh penjuru. sangat berguna bagi cerita novel fantasi agar gak terlalu blank mengenai kehadiran makhluk2 'aneh' yang gak hanya khayalan para penulisnya semata, tapi juga berdasarkan mitos yang ada
Sebagai bacaan ringan juga sangat menghibur dan jelas menambah pengetahuan, apalagi banyak data dan fakta unik terselip di sana-sini :)
buku yang komprehensif dan informatif mengenai segala hal tentang mitos dan legenda dari seluruh penjuru. sangat berguna bagi cerita novel fantasi agar gak terlalu blank mengenai kehadiran makhluk2 'aneh' yang gak hanya khayalan para penulisnya semata, tapi juga berdasarkan mitos yang ada
Sebagai bacaan ringan juga sangat menghibur dan jelas menambah pengetahuan, apalagi banyak data dan fakta unik terselip di sana-sini :)
February 16, 2010
Everyone has heard of a myth or legend, and wondered what is the real story behind it. This book is the most amazing look at various myths. There were even some I hadn't heard of, so that aspect, for me, is exactly what I want in a book.
I love the layout of the book, complete with beautiful illustrations and photographs of relics.
A must have for any mythology lover, or even if you are just keen.
I love the layout of the book, complete with beautiful illustrations and photographs of relics.
A must have for any mythology lover, or even if you are just keen.
October 29, 2009
Hmm, baca punya temen waktu lagi kp...
Gambarnya keren2, apalagi emank suka banget soal mitologi jadi semangat bacanya :D
Gambarnya keren2, apalagi emank suka banget soal mitologi jadi semangat bacanya :D
February 19, 2015
Wonderful descriptive book about various cultures myths and legends. This book was a gift to my child and it is perfect for a child wanting to know more about the subject
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews