Mythology Books

This is probably the best book about Pagan holidays that you can get. The first chapter gives a detailed account of the develoupment and rise of the ancient Goddess religion of Old Europe, and then with each chapter, tells just about everything there is to know about all eight of the holidays on the Pagan wheel. TONS of pre-Christian mythological legends are told about. And let that be a warning that this book should NOT be read by Christians. Although she never actually makes any slurs against Christianity, throughout the book, actually every four pagaes or so, she slowly and carefully pulls the Christian religion to pieces and then proceds to put it in a blender on the highest speed. And she does this with rich, pre-Christian history of everything that modern Wiccans hold sacred. She seems to ignore neoPaganism though, well, not ignore, she just tells a tale of history, and kinda leaves off when the iquisiton starts up. Another thing people might like about this book is that she rarely uses the "W" word to describe the practices. Today, all this stuff is lumped together under the title of traditional Witchcraft, with Wicca being defined as the revival of it. But anyone whose not well versed in the meaning of Witchcraft can read it without being confused and saying "don't Witchces worship Satan?" Go get this, it's a greatlooking hardcover book that should be displayed not on your shelf, but in the open where everyone can see it and enjoy, and it's also the best book there is for historical info concerning Pagan holidays.

Any student of mythology and women's issues should find this lyrical work most intriguing. Opening with the Celtic web of life as a metaphor, Diane weaves the magic of womanhood throughout mythological concepts of the moon, fertility, and the seasons, creating an intricate tapestry of enlightenment. The writing is simple, the style majestic. A good first source for understanding the impact of female power on Druid culture.

This is one of the best books about the wheel of the year. I would recomend this to some one who is converting from cristianity to some sort of pagan religion. This book explains the pagan influences in the christain year, mostly Catholic, in a clear informative way. This is also a great book to read if you are just plan interested in pagan customs. Now this doesn't give any riruals this is purely a scholarly work, but well worth the read. Blessed Be!

I am the 30 year old daughter of a retired Lutheran minister, raised in the church, baptized in the church, and named for a key character from the bible. I have a dear friend who is pagan, he has been for years. He loaned me this book, and I found it so incredibly insightful. I've often wondered how the "other" holidays fit in to the Lutheran religion. Now I know that my father's religion stemmed from the pagans. This book should be read by everyone who has any questions on religion. It is full of honest, documented, proven facts.

This book was more than I usually pay for a book,but it is hard cover and well worth it! I'm a Witch and proud of it so I keep this book on my coffee table for who ever wants to pick it up & look through.Like the one reviewer said Ms.Ferguson tears the christian religion apart.How? By revealing by way of history that our pagan ancestors (and we all have them) worshipped our Earth Mother/Father by way of rites & rituals that the church eventually stole and used to try to convert the "heathens".I LOVE when the truth is told! Thank-you Ms.Ferguson.This book also has besides alot of history & lore,beautiful pictures.I especially like the one on pg.98-99.She also gives info on Goddess& God and the Divine Child.As well as info on the Moon and Nature Spirits/Faeries,Holy Wells and the Sacred Marriage.I recommend this book to all pagans,and non-pagans(if they can bear the truth).

This book has a lot of great myths in it. I enjoyed using this book as a text book for a class.

This is a great book for an upper level anthropology class.
I'm reading it for my "Anthropology of Religion" class and it's been a very interesting book.

This was a book that I read for a Mythology and Folklore class. I liked the book because it was easy to read and it contained a lot of history. Having the background information to accompany the stories was helpful and made the reading more interesting. Highly recommended.

Though many have attempted such a feat, in Myth & Knowing, Leonard and McClure have finally written the foundational textbook for comparative mythologies, and, in doing so, have also created a remarkable text for exploring the transition from oral tradition to written text. As the title suggests, Myth & Knowing moves beyond a simple reiteration of the stories by grouping them into conceptual chapters (Creation Myths, The Female Divine, The Male Divine, Trickster Myths, and Sacred Places)which not only invites direct comparisons but creates archetypal structures that become the critical basis for analyzing modern mythologies and even modern epistomologies. I have used this text with great success in introductory mythology, religion, and literature classes.

Myth and Knowing was used for my Mythology in Literature class at University and it was a great book. The chapter divisions are helpful for the way my class was taught. The chapters are divded into groups like; The Male Divine and Creation Myths. In this format you can look at the many many different creation myths out there all in one section to see the differences and similarities. The book covers a huge range of cultures in the stories used for examples about the topic at hand. From Iceland to Africa and America it offers stories on how the many people groups of the world view the divine.

This wonderful book marries mythology with astrology in a clear concise readable tapestry. I've had my copy for 2 yrs now and I still refer to it and learn from it. It manages to explain both mythology and astrology in one effortless read. I'm constantly recommending it and lending it out to others who usually end up searching out their own copies. It's a must for anyone who enjoys reading their daily horoscope. You'll learn more about yourself and others than you thought possible, and along the way you'll learn about the ancient myths and astrology. Buy it and enjoy

If you have any experience or knowledge with mythology, the perfect starting place for astrology is this book.
Though it is OOP you may find a used copy running around, and I would advise grabbing it up.
The authors explain the mythological parallels of each sign and planet and off a unique manner for interpretting astrological placements based upon each sign.
Astrology didn't begin with mythology but the names given to planetary bodies did. And their relevancy to modern astrology is key in education.

This is an excellent book that ties in syncretically, astrology, the planets, the Gods and Goddesses for whom the planets are named and many of the myths relating to them and indiviual signs. In short, it is one of the few concise, deep accounts of archetypal astrology that I have read. The authors also pull a lot from depth psychology and the work of Carl Jung. It is an absolute MUST for any serious student of Astrology! You don't have to go out and buy a big book on Hellenic Mythology, just keep this and within it is all you need to know!

Mythic Astrology explores the relationships of mythical figures and how those relationships impact the symbolism of the planets and signs. The book is broken up into chapters about the planets and then chapters about the signs. It includes Ceres, Vesta, Pallas Athene, Chiron, the nodes, and Juno. Very good for a more in depth understanding of the mythology behind astrology.It also takes a moment at the end of each chapter to highlight the personal impact of the myth for the individual through the placement of the planets and signs. It includes a checklist to see how much a mythic figure may be influencing one's life.

This book is a perfect antidote to overly simplistic, "cookie-cutter", astrology books. This is because it delves into the deep mythological symbolism behind the planets and signs. It is an excellent reference for fleshing-out a written horoscope with more than the basics. This isn't a book that is going to teach you how to cast a horoscope, however, it will help you to interpret a horoscope in terms of the deep archetypical patterns and currents for which the stars and planets are merely visible markers.

Indeed, this book goes beyond providing mere historical details and trivia, it is a starting place for deep meditation on the underlieing meaning in a chart.

Profusely illustrated with brilliant, full color photography, Gary Wyatt's Mythic Beings: Spirit Art Of The Northwest Coast is a superb introduction to aboriginal art including totems, wood sculpture, masks, stone carvings and more. Wyatt's informative text is an outstanding survey placing each art piece within their cultural context, enhanced with the artist's own descriptions and commentaries. Mythic Beings is a very welcome addition to personal, academic, and professional Native American art and cultural reference collections.

Great color photos and and discriptions of the carvings and artwork. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that is interested in Northwest Coast art.

Mythic Beings is an unassuming but impressive book. The major organizing theme is that spirit art captures the rich cultural and aesthetic traditions that permeate regional artistic expression. Northwest Coast art can be intimidating because it has a complex cosmology and iconography. Wyatt, however, makes this complexity accessible by using two underlying principles. The universe consists of separate but interrelated realms (e.g., sky, underwater), and each realm has its characteristic real and mythical creatures. Mythical creatures have distinctive physical representations used in both sacred and secular representations.

Mythic Beings features 75 beautifully reproduced photographs of masks, robes, and rattles representing the work of 34 artists. Each artist provides a commentary about his/her piece. This provides an opportunity to become familiar with the physical depiction and mythological roles of the creatures depicted by the artists.

Mythic Beings is a gem. It is a wonderful gift book for anyone interested in indigenous art and First Nations peoples.

Great color photos and and discriptions of the carvings and artwork. I would definatly recommend this to anyone that is interested in Northwest Coast art.

I recently came back from a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. It isn't enough that it is some of the most beautiful landscape on Earth, but I also discovered the amazing artists of the Pacific Northwest community. The artworks within this book (as well as Spirit Faces also by this author) are so moving and beautiful, my only regret is that I am not able to start collecting on a massive scale.

Mr. Wyatt also allows the artists to describe for the readers their inspirations and ideas behind their products, which allows us to get to know them a little. After a short while I was able to determine the various artists based upon the varying styles of the pieces depicted here.

Highly recommended!

This book is great! So much information, I wish we had books like this when I was in school.

I saw this book at a relative's house recently, but could not find my own copy anywhere. I'm glad Amazon has it. Can't wait for it to arrive. From what I've seen and read, this is a top-notch book on the subject, and exhaustive as well. The illustrations are stunning. What a great find. I know I will be engrossed for weeks, months, even years to come with this gem of a book.

My 16 year old daughter has been in love with mythology since very young; she is a voracious reader and highly critical of books on Greek mythology. I gave this book to her for Christmas and she can't put it down! She keeps coming up to me and telling me various tidbits of myth and legend from places all over the world. That says a lot about the book! The illustrations are absolutely stunning and the text covers countries from all over the world. Highly recommended!

This book is not easy to find but is an excellent overview of world mythologies with beautiful illustrations. It contains 21 chapters devoted to the various mythologies of the world from ancient Greece and Rome, to Norse, Celtic, and other European, as well as Asian and American cultures. The illustrations are primary high quality reproductions of museum paintings that might justify the cost of the book on their own for many. The text provides comprehensive summaries of all of the major stories and legends. A wonderful gift for anyone interested in mythology and a essential addition to your own home reference library.

This item is quite difficult to obtain, however, should you find it manageable, it is quite a good read.

Almost of college text-book quality considering everything it lists, this work is heavily illustrated with what appears to be museum-quality reproductions. It is extremely well written, comprehensively covering all the major myths, their origins, and even discussing some of the historical implications of these myths. The coherent assemblage of this tome covers all the major pantheons, giving you a liberal coverage of the globe's myths.

If you desire to give yourself an (unaccredited) college-level knowledge of ancient mythology, I highly recommend this wonderful volume.

Myths of Light is a compilation of articles and lectures given over the years by Joseph Campbell. The topics explored in these pieces are quite varied. However, the main theme that ties these works together is that they all explore aspects of Eastern belief, mythology, iconography, and symbolism.

Written from the perspective of the outsider taking a look into the beliefs and mythology of the East, Campbell provides an insightful overview. Campbell takes the stance that whether our stories are based upon fact or are merely fiction meant to illustrate proper behavior really isn't the issue. The truly important thing is that within mythology, dogma, and ritual we see the remnants of belief.

I believe it is this viewpoint that allows Campbell to look within the various belief systems of the Eastern World with wonder and objectivity. Quite interesting. Perfect for new to the study.

This book was a lovely, focused introduction to Hinduism and Buddhism, with a little Jainism and Taoism thrown in for good measure. I loved Cambpell's ability both to find the lovely, telling details in each of these traditions, and to find the overarching themes--especially the idea of Brahman, which he sees as underpinning all of them. I also particularly loved Cambpell's sense of humor--in one section he's describing the reincarnation of the soul, and says it's putting on and taking off bodies "like a shopper at Macy's trying on scarves"! That page is marked in my copy by the tea I sputtered because I laughed so loudly.
The only downside from my point of view was an emphasis in the sections on Buddhism on Mahayana as opposed to Theravada Buddhism. Though he does discuss the older branch of the Buddhist tradition, it is somewhat in passing. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book enormously.

Having devoured Campbell's work in the nineties, I'd almost given up on his unpublished essays and lectures ever seeing the light of day. Then came Thou Art That and now Myths Of Light. These books are just perfect echoes of Campbell's comparative conclusions, only more concise. After a lifetime of work, his lectures honed his thoughts into great clarity. These two books are actually great introductions to Campbell's thoughts and work. They touch here and there on historical evidence, but mainly stay in the line of clarifying what occident and orient mythology entails.
If you've been waiting a long time to read more Campbell, you'll have bought these books already. And if you haven't, you'll be very surpised.

I heard about this book at the Campbell Foundations website and was very interested--I'd always wanted to learn more about Asian religions but had found the books I'd looked at either too hard-core academic or too new-agey or too obscure. I tried reading the Bhagavad Gita ten years ago, and thought it was cool, but couldn't really understand it.

This book really gave me an insight into the mindset that lies behind Buddhism and Hinduism. I'd always thought the emphasis on reincarnation was a little creepy, but now I have an idea of what its about. Campbell tells some wonderful stories and connects the dots between what seem like really random ideas. And the short section on the Bhagavad Gita was really eye-opening. I went back and reread the book and feel like I finally understand it.

This is a perfect book to start your exploration of Eastern Religion.

Having not much more background in Asian religion than a Zen Buddhism class I took to fulfill a distribution requirement in college 20 years ago, I approached this book with some anticipation and some anxiety. My main memory of those long-ago days in that lecture class was of reading and discussing religious texts that seemed to have been written by another species--the basic assumptions were beyond me, and my professor (who had spent his adult life immersed in the study of esoteric Buddhism) had a hard time understanding why we didn't just get it. But I'd been fascinated by what little I'd understood and always wanted to find a more accessible guide to the ins and outs of Asian myth. This book is it! Campbell, who I knew from Power of Myth, lays out the basic principles that underlie Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism (and he touches on Taoism too) with the same sort of humor and wisdom that I'd expected. What a fun book to start the summer reading season with!

Fun to read again and again. An uplifting story with beautiful illustrations...and who can resist a dragon tale?

We picked this up at the library, and it quickly became a favorite of both of our daughters (2-years and 4-years), and ours as well. So much so that we're making sure we buy it so it arrives before we have to return the library's copy.

The story is told in a very unpretentious style. Many of the recent children's books we see are so heavy with weight or wit that they are better for reading by yourself than to others. The simple sentences and matter-of-fact narrative in "Neem, The Half Boy" make it a pleasure to read aloud. It reminds me, in its honest simplicity of style, of Maurice Sendak's "Little Bear" stories and the writings of Arnold Lobel, and that's high praise for me.

Despite its simplicity however, there are powerful lessons here. The queen who starts eating a magic apple, only to lose focus and run off to do something else offers a familiar example for any child. "Do you know anyone who stops playing with a toy, and runs off to do something else, leaving the toy on the ground?" "Me." "Yup." The fact that it is also the cause of Neem's special condition makes the lesson memorable. Later, the Hich Hich fairies deliver a message from Arif the Wise Man to Neem incorrectly, with potentially dangerous results (Arif never says Neem has to drive the dragon away; the fairies add that themselves), and we were able to talk about the importance of saying what you mean and communicating what you hear accurately. Finally, the wisdom of the dragon in defusing Neem's aggressive approach with the simple question, "Why?", an honest explanation of his own situation and a willingness to share made the denouement of this book truly special and empowering. And, they all live happily ever after.

Bravo to Mr. Shah.

This is a charming folk tale of a boy who is only half a boy and needs to discover what it takes to become a complete person. Full of interesting suggested or symbolic meanings and at the same time a terrific story in itself for children who might appreciate fairy tale-type stories.

[....] It's clear that we need to provide our kids - especially boys - with tools to counter the violence and knee-jerk aggression ubiquitous in popular culture. These children's stories by Idries Shah are just this kind of tool. They're not preachy. They don't offer simplistic lessons or moral platitudes. They're more like exercises for "mental muscle groups" grossly underdeveloped in this culture: A strong sense of one's own value. Empathy. Flexibility in thinking and responding. Appreciating that not everyone is the same, not every outcome is predictable. Seeing that there are more than two sides to a situation. A sense that patience and perseverance can pay off, sometimes in unexpected ways. Not demanding easy answers. A sense that things are not always as they seem, that the viewpoint of "experts" - or even the whole community - is not always right. The experience of seeing something that even adults don't see, of creating clever solutions. The sense that taking positive action is possible and rewarding-even when one has to buck the tide. That help can come from where and when we least expect it. The sense that life has interesting "loose ends" for us to reflect on. And so much more. At least one of these books should be on every child's book shelf.

Last month I saw an amazing documentary ("Boys Will Be Men") about an intervention program for at-risk boys. The kids were told a adult version of this same story about a half-boy who is ostracized and searches for his other half. They were asked to interpret the story in the context of their own lives using poetry. The kids came together to perform the poems, astounding their parents. Clearly, the notion of being incomplete, of having to overcome great difficulties to find oneself, is very meaningful for kids today. And this wonderful book is a great way to bring the experience to even very young children. As a psychologist and a parent, I highly recommend it.

TASTE A HAPPIER REALITY
The Utopian fantasy is reinvented for the 21st Century
in this dazzling
collection of short stories detailing
the eternal life and times of the
denizens of Bullford, a place beyond our recycled human psyche
filled with laughter, hope, and eccentric wisdom.
Written and brilliantly illustrated
by international artist Melissa Henry.
A generous portion of food for hungry minds.

"A remarkable and revealing piece
of work."
(Professor Ronald Comer,
Princeton University).

Just have to say: I adore "THE NOBLE SOCIETY". These very unusual stories put me in a wonderful funny mood.

These "adult fairy tales from another dimention " have a quality characteristics of the best literature: they shimmer.You will get something different from them upon each new reading.

A wonderful exploration of human and social behavior. By brilliantly setting her stories in an imaginary place inhabited by unusual people, Melissa Henry provides readers with an endless stream of provocative insights about the potential and limitations of the human psyche. A remarkable and revealing piece of work.

This was a real surprise. I bought this because of the beautiful cover and the interior art plates, but the stories -- they really are "Adult fairy tales from another dimension!" -- totally captivated me. Set in a society that seems to exist in an altogether different time and space from our reality, the stories that comprise "The Noble Society" offer entertaining, amusing and beautifully written little parables about money, war, eternal youth and other contemporary obsessions. It's a little bit science fiction, a little bit fantasy, some sociology and a dollop of satire. Tasty indeed!

What I loved about Odysseus: A Life is that it indulges a desire to identify with this mythological character as if he were a person while simultaneously reminding one of the fundamentally Modern limits of this kind of identification. Along the way, Beye elaborates a breathtaking overview of Classical culture, vividly informed by his passionate knowledge of the literature. It is a highly enjoyable read, told with great irony and wit.

I knew when I read "Odysseus: A Life" that Charles Beye is no ordinary or academic academic. Once voted "Red Hot Prof" by the students at Stanford University, Beye is wonderfully skilled at blending his vivid imagination and his mastery of ancient Homeric poem, myth, and history. He re-creates the epic hero as a man you can't help but find fascinating and irresistibly appealing. This book is utterly satisfying!

The great thing about this book is that everyone can learn from it. Whether you are a junior high school student just embarking upon your own odyssey in the world of the classics, or a retired person trying to get back into the world of literature, or even a scholar with a good knowledge of Homer and his poems, Beye's book serves the useful function of creating a multi-dimensional character out of all of the available souces, not just a single one. In other words, Beye brings to life someone who is a mythic figure and endows him with a full set of human characteristics that allows us to recognize him as both an ancient hero and a contemporary. This is an enjoyable but also provocative and worthwhile reading and educational experience.

As someone who knows the ODYSSEY as well as a non-classicist can, before I bought this book, I asked myself: what is there to say, to add to what we have learned over the centuries about this great hero, and who would dare to try? Knowing other books by Beye, and having had the pleasure of hearing him talk in public forums, I should have known better than to ask. There is plenty to more to say simply because we know so little about Odysseus. The basic unanswered questions--who, what, where, when, and why--abound in any thoughtful reader's mind. He gives us his take on Odysseus' life from birth right up to the time that he leaves for his battles and wanderingss. Of course, much of this is speculation, but it's inspired and fascinating speculation, founded on Beye's vast knowledge of Homer and his times. Beye not only tackles these issues with thoroughness, and dazzling wit, but also contributes substantial psychological insights, some based solidly on how the ancients thought about their heroes, and others based on our modern notions. Women, who play such a major role in Odysseus's exploits, are also given new meaning in this book. Beyond psychology, we learn a variety of things about ancient Greece, things Homer does not give us: its look, smell, ways of building its structures and boats, eating habits, sexual customs, and more. Beye manages a very difficult balancing act: preserving the role of the distinguished scholar that he his with making Odysseus seem not only heroic, but human. He does that both with integrity and humor, reasons enough for anyone interested in the subject to read this book. And for those who haven't read the ODYSSEY, this perfect introduction will surely encourage them to turn to the classic once they've finished Beye's book. In my view, this is an thoroughly delightful, informative, and captivating book.

As someone who knows the ODYSSEY as well as a non-classicist can, before I bought this book, I asked myself: what is there to say, to add to what we have learned over the centuries about this great hero, and who would dare to try? Knowing other books by Beye, and having had the pleasure of hearing him talk in public forums, I should have known better than to ask. But why a new "life" of the great hero? Simply because there is plenty to more to say about him than we know. The basic unanswered questions--who, what, where, when, and why--abound in any thoughtful reader's mind. He gives us his take on Odysseus' life from birth right up to the time that he leaves for his battles and wanderingss. Of course, much of this is speculation, but it's inspired and fascinating speculation, founded on Beye's vast knowledge of Homer and his times. Beye not only tackles these issues with thoroughness, and dazzling wit, but also contributes substantial psychological insights, some based solidly on how the ancients thought about their heroes, and others based on our modern notions. Women, who play such a major role in Odysseus's exploits, are also given new meaning in this book. Beyond psychology, we learn a variety of things about ancient Greece, things Homer does not give us: its look, smell, ways of building its structures and boats, eating habits, sexual customs, and more. Beye manages a very difficult balancing act: preserving the role of the distinguished scholar that he his with making Odysseus seem not only heroic, but human. He does that both with integrity and humor, reasons enough for anyone interested in the subject to read this book. And for those who haven't read the ODYSSEY, this perfect introduction will surely encourage them to turn to the classic once they've finished Beye's book. In my view, this is an thoroughly delightful, informative, and captivating book.

I'd like my review to correct what seems to be an over-hasty, unreflective lionization of Golding's translation by the other reviewers. Yes, it is a "great translation," in the sense that Marlowe's translations from Latin are, or Motteaux' Don Quixote is, or Pope's Iliad, or Robert Lowell's Imitations, or Pound's Chinese "translations," or even Ted Hughes' Tales From Ovid: that is, it is an powerful, compelling, wholly literary work in its own right, but it is nowhere near the original in terms of accuracy. The Latinless reader would do much better to buy Melville's excellent Oxford translation (which lacks nothing in poetic splendor) or perhaps Allen Mandelbaum's. As for the poetic "quality" of Golding's verse, that's of course subjective, but I could easily think of at least ten Elizabethan poets who are more satisfying to my taste. Golding's chief literary interest, as Nims points out, is his absolutely odd-ball English; attentive readers will find him a veritable storehouse of strange, funny, quaint Elizabethanisms that didn't quite make it into Shakespeare or the other mainstream writers of the period. (Much of the same joy can be found in Chapman's marvelous translations of Homer, reprinted by Princeton.) And the much-quoted Pound maxim comes from his wonderfully cantankerous ABC of Reading, certainly a fascinating book, but one in which Pound indulges in various critical pronouncements that seem, at times, merely whimsical or rhetorical. Much of Golding is rough, much dull, much of its interest is linguistic rather than poetic. He also adds a lot to round off his fourteeners (which I can't imagine are palatable to most readers for long stretches): his additions are fun, but they're not Ovid. Golding "Englished" Ovid to a great degree: his imagery often comes from English culture, not Mediterranean. Of course, any translation is fallible, and Golding's faults as a translator are, in my view, his greatest strengths as a poet, but he's definitely not a good place to start reading what is certainly one of the world's greatest books. This is a fine book, well worth the five stars, but emphatically NOT for the reasons cited by my colleagues. If you want Ovid, go for the original; failing that, Melville's your man.

Buy this book before it goes out of print for another thirty-five years!

If Golding's Ovid is not, "the most beautiful book in the language," it's among the top two-dozen "most beautiful books" you can find in English. I've searched for a second-hand copy of the 1965 Simon and Schuster edition since the late sixties, ever since I read Pound's ABC of Reading. I never had any luck finding it, though I did come across a non-circulating copy in a university library once. Its title page explained that only 2500 copies had been printed and that the previous edition -- the one Pound must have used -- was a small, deluxe Victorian production, itself unattainable by 1965.

After all my years lurking in second-hand bookshops, Paul Dry Books has finally done the decent and brought Golding's Ovid out again, this time as a beautifully printed, well-bound, but inexpensive paperback. I grabbed up my copy at first sight.

Is this an "accurate" translation of Ovid? As a previous reviewer has said, if you really want accuracy, you should read Ovid in Latin and leave the wild Elizabethan translators alone. Unlike that reviewer though, I'd say that, if you want Ovid in perfectly accurate modern English, with his poetry and voice included, you should read him in Mandelbaum's beautifully rendered version; but if you want an accurate modern English translation -- the type of thing your Latin prof would give you excellent marks for -- then read him in Melville's able, though sometimes sightly flat translation.

But if you love Elizabethan literature, then you should read Golding. You read his Ovid for the ripe, quirky, full-on Elizabethan English, deployed in his long, rambling fourteeners. Golding's metre was becoming antiquated in his own day but, as with a good deal of his rustic vocabulary, he didn't seem to care much about literary fashion. Reading him now, I find it's his joy with his original that matters. Open the volume anywhere -- at the Cyclops Polyphemus singing to the Nymph Galatea for example -- and there is Golding rolling magnificently on:

"More whyght thou art then Primrose leaf, my Lady Galatee.
More fresh than meade, more tall and streyght than lofy Aldertree.
More bright than glasse, more wanton than the tender kid forsooth.
Than Cockeshelles continually with water worne, more smoothe."

Where "forsooth" is outrageous metrical padding, and "forsoothe/smoothe" was probably a forced rhyme even in 1567. But who cares? Golding's music carries the reader past any such concerns, and the beauty and energy of the thing are undeniable.

So buy the book! Make sure it sells tens-of-thousands of copies! Give the publisher a reason to keep reprinting, so it never disappears again.

For an account of Golding's Ovid, see Ezra Pound's essay on Elizabethan translators. Uncle Ez was excessive to call it "the most beautiful book in the English language," but not by as much as you'd think.

The De Vere comment by the previous reviewer is a reference to a fringe element that ascribes Shakespeare's writings to De Vere. Consider it to have the scholarly value of ascribing authorship to the Men in Black (see Schoenbaum's *Shakespeare's Lives* for an account of this movement).

A wonderful work of the imagination disassembles to a pit off cess when mundanely told. If one is seeking word - for - word accuracy in a translation, pass on, but if you seek the bowels of OVID but lack skill in Latin, as I do, tarry. If Pound's translation of CAVALCANTI and DANIEL `tickle your gizzard' this edition is sure to do so also. This translation is to others what a live performance of a Bach Concerto is to the drone in a bus depot. And who cares the translator. They are safely dead, anyway, and "One graveyard is as good as another if your dead." [Hemingway]

This is probably the most unique, nay, outrageous translation ever. (And it wasn't by Golding--it was primarily the work of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford [1550-1604]. Golding was as witty's a menu. Clears up some confusion in the prefatory material, eh?) I've wanted this translation for a long time; buy it now. Reading it aloud is the way to go, as the language flows along in a flood of words which will entertain till the world ends. Highest recommendation.