Bulfinch tells us straightaway why we ought to know the actual stories of myths and not just a few dry facts about the characters. And of course he was right. He says, in the preface to the large book :
" and what is a poetical myth when stripped of its poetry ? Our book is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement.
Before Disney there was Bulfinch, and the imagination was free to see each myth through our own lense not a camera lense.
"We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recrgnize the reference. "
Enjoy time away from the dramas on screens. Mythology envelopes the charm of a story book, yet from reading and experiencing the stories in our imagination a knowledge is retained of an important branch of education.
"In order to understand these stories, it will be necessary to acquaint ourselves with the ideas of the structure of the universe, which prevailed among the Greeks — the people from whom the Romans, and other nations through them, received their science and religion."
Read the stories.
Browse the rather long index of names to meet everyone behind the scenes.
Do You Know All These Characters?
