Mythology: Mega Collection: Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology

by Scott Lewis, Madison Neiderhauser (Narrator), Oliver Hunt (Narrator)

Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? 
Give your imagination a real treat. This Mythology: Mega Collection of eight audiobooks with more than 30 hours of listening time is for you.
Some of the topics covered are:
• Mount Olympus and the 12 Olympian gods and goddesses and then beneath the surface to the gloomy world of Hades
• Classic Celtic myths, such as "The Life of Cú Chulainn"
• How Odin formed the world from Ymir's body and make men and women from wood
• Who Loki's children are, and why Odin fears them
• And more stories of Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian, and Egyptian mythology
The eight books included in this collection are:
• Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of the Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Celtic Mythology: Classic Stories of the Celtic Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Norse Mythology: Classic Stories of the Norse Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Japanese Mythology: Classic Stories of Japanese Myths, Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Hindu Mythology: Classic Stories of Hindu Myths, Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Chinese Mythology: Classic Stories of Chinese Myths, Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
• Mesopotamian Mythology: Classic Stories from the Sumerian Mythology, Akkadian Mythology, Babylonian Mythology, and Assyrian Mythology
• Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Egyptian Myths, Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters

Genres: Mythology, Audiobook, Nonfiction, History, Classics, Religion

31 pages, Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Ciddi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really tried finishing this audiobook, but I couldn't. Just the pronunciation of names and places was terrible. And I couldn't trust most of the stories, since basically the first chapter said Hera was Persephone's mother. The Greek part repeated every story like 3 times. The mispronounciation of Nieflheim as NILFheim in the Norse part irked me. And the names in the Chinese part sounded as if they had been recorded from Google translate speech once and pasted into the recording. I have never given up on an audiobook before, but I couldn't take it anymore.

[Dina ElMaamoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much information.. some well written, some confusing, but all in all worthwhile

[Kevin Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really interesting introduction to the mythologies of several of history's most fascinating cultures.

First, the narrators. Honestly, it was a little strange going back and forth between two narrators between the different mythology books. It was minimally jarring though.

In both cases, the narration is skilled and the voices are pleasant to listen to. In the few cases where a character voice is needed, each one was unique and skillfully created.

Okay, the important thing to understand is this book is not a 30-hour dive into one mythology. Even though there is likely enough material in EACH ONE to offer that, this is a collection of introductions to the mythologies of the ancient Greek, Celtic, Norse, Mesopotamian, Japanese, Chinese, Egyptian, and Hindu worlds.

Each one is fascinating and informative in its own right, and has left me wanting to learn more.

Just a couple of cautionary points.

These stories, while accurate as far as I can tell, do not conform to modern sensibilities. Especially in the western mythologies, we are faced with rampant sexism, rape, incest, and other things that we might consider atrocity in the modern world but were commonplace and, in some cases, expected during their time.

And while it is not excessive and only mildly jarring, there are a number of typos and incorrect word usages (such as the word "imperical" when the author clearly meant "imperial"). I would say the occurrence is limited to an average of less than one per 30-60 minutes of the audiobook.

All in all, I really enjoyed this collection and I would really like to see the author expand these books to be deeper dives into the mythologies of each culture.

[Zina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting compilation. I was a bit confused on the Norse mythology as it sounded to me very close to Gaiman's "Norse mythology". but have not gone back to check. Hope somebody else does that.
It is exactly what it promises - a compilation of brief retelling of some key stories and characters from different people's myths, Sparks' notes of sorts. There is also a very brief set of comments on the historical context.
I recommend it to everybody interested in such things.

[Madelaine Pisani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection for learning new myths and refreshing old ones. Pretty bare bones retelling and moves through them quickly to pack a lot in. Not a ton of character development it’s more just to get the gist of the stories.

[Joey Snapp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s good but he totally ripped off the Bible

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

With the exception of the chapters on Norse mythology, which I found highly entertaining, I must admit that even my passion for mythology did not manage to make this book seem palatable. It is plainly bad writing. There is no life in the pages, and sometimes it just felt as though I was listening to (poor) dictionary entries. This wouldn't be so bad if the book wasn't full of mistakes - I could only spot them in Greek mythology, because I was already well-versed in it, but three times at least, the author mistakes one God for another (I can only remember one example, Athena being called the goddess of love instead of Aphrodite). Anyway, as the author repeats throughout the collection, there are many books out there about mythology. I reccommend any of these instead of this one.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is quite clear that the author did not do enough thorough research on the myths before attempting to retell them in this collection. I started with the Greek myths and found so many errors that I simply got fed up and stopped listening in frustration.

Also, the author can't seem to keep track themselves of details as stuff will change and change back again within the same passages. Penelope went from being Odysseus' wife, to being his sister, to being his wife again, and then implying that its both. Again, not sure whether to put this down as lack of research or the fault of the author or of the editor for not catching this.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good basic introduction to all these wonderful myths, though I listened to these on my way to work so I wasn't expecting anything extensive. However the text is more often than not summarizing and name dropping, making all the pieces hard to follow if you really want a full picture. If you're expecting a toe-dip into the different traditions I think this one is a safe bet.

What's also interesting is that there's little history lessons as well, how the narrative might have changed over time for example. I think how history is connected to these myths is an important element. How did these people live and view the world? Clearly their sensibilities were different, but I think it's important we separate ourselves from that expectation.

[Kylie Nicole Kipfer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm new to audiobooks and a die-hard fan of mythology since childhood, especially Greek and Roman (because that's what I learned in school.) I really enjoyed the portion on Norse mythology. I may have liked the Greek a bit better but, as stated, I've been obsessed since I was young so I'm a little too familiar. I think there may have been a better way to present pretty much all of the rest of the mythologies discussed in this collection. I've been inspired to read up on them separately - specifically because once you hit the Hindu mythology it starts to feel like a laundry list of facts more than the stories being given life. Maybe that's an issue of length (it's a 30 hour audiobook) or maybe, as I suspect, it's an issue of presentation. Good background noise and probably not bad as a starting point but definitely could be improved upon.

[Surya · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an excellent compendium of almost all the myths from the world. Narrated well.

Why 3 stars?

1. Stupid selection of myths from India - the author has made a long section on India and has chosen terrible ones or poorly edited them :(

2. The Buddhists/ Jain stories are missing

3. Where concepts have to be explained to make sense of the story, the author is MIA - e.g. Ying/ Yang/ Ba/ Duat/ Dharma/ Karma

4. I am not entirely sure names have been pronounced well

I realize these books are a gateway to myths and stories - but some basic explanations would make this book a far better starting point.

[Ian Yarington · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was exactly what I wanted out of a mythology book. I've already had a deep dive into Norse and Celtic mythology but what I was craving the most was the ones that were new to me. I definitely enjoyed the Japanese and Chinese part of the book but what was my absolute favorite was the Mesopotamian and Egyptian, followed closely by the Hindu parts. I was actually shocked with how many names and stories sounded familiar and how much I've heard randomly. That happened a lot with the Chinese part, I realized the monkey king and other deities were actually used a lot in pop culture, I just never realized they were from Chinese mythology.

[Rashmeet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very basic intro to several different mythologies - if you go in expecting something detailed and informative, skip this book. This feels like a history book with pointers compiled together - no fascinating story telling or good writing (sorry - not trying to bash the author but it was plain bad).

[Christopher Gillespie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of mythologies. Some of the stories do get rather repetitive. Some of the pronunciation is odd and it can feel like a bit of a slog to get through, especially books 7 and 8. However overall I felt I learned quite a bit, particularly about Celtic, Hindu, and Egyptian mythology, which I have not studied in the past.

[Prashant Houst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each book acted as a brilliant introduction to the various mythologies that the author was writing about. I can’t really speak on the accuracy of the stories told, but as jumping off points I thought they were really well told.

[Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection for anyone interested in mythology. It tells some of the most popular stories and gives a little context on the history of the myths. It's not comprehensive, but a good starter read to get a taste of each culture's myth cycles.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is more like a dissertation explaining the concepts of stories. It doesn't actually tell the stories.

[Mark Ames · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good background studies.

[Mordsith Cutler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it

[Jennifer Coughlan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories but the phrasing of some sentences doesn't make sense which hindered overall enjoyment.

[T. Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some odd parts ofnthe audio version.
There were also some direct mistakes in the text, with the ones I'm very familiar with, so it makes me unsure about the others.

[Jennifer Baratta · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrators are outstanding. Mythology fans this book is for you.

[Tweetybirdrobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and organized. Wish it could have been longer. Dosent go deep in depth with all the mythologys but dose give a basic telling of all of the ones that are in the book.

[Tori]

DNF just barely into the Celtic part. Can't believe I kept at it that long. I knew Hera wasn't Persephone's mother, and there were plenty of other mistakes in the Greek section.

[Ankur Chawla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler alert exhaustive read so peace yourself... All the superheros fans do read it this is the source of all the superheros... In case you wonder where did all these stories originated from

[Birch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok

[Hayley SG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great break down. Loved this. Audible version isn't exhausting boring

[N0rseG0d0din · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Could've been edited better. Sometimes names get mixed

[Sharmin F · Rating 1 out of 5]

It read like AI and a lot of the info straight away were incorrect???? Wasted money on this even if it were discounted 🙄🙄🙄

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF.

This isn't a bad book. It's chalk-full of good content and it's narration was decent. But the whole point behind mythology is that they are stories that help us come to the truths about ourselves, our lives, and our world. This book felt more like listening to someone read the encyclopedia - informative, but not captivating or entertaining.