Full of intriguing facts and diverting stories—the ideal introduction to the myths and tales that lie at the heart of Western culture. Who was Pandora and what was in her famous box? How did Achilles get his Achilles heel? What exactly is a Titan? And why is one computer virus known as a Trojan horse? The myths of ancient Greece and Rome can seem bewilderingly complex, yet they are so much a part of modern life and discourse that most of us know fragments of them. This comprehensive companion takes these fragments and weaves them into an accessible and enjoyable narrative, guiding the reader through the basic stories of classical myth. Philip Matyszak explains the sequences of events and introduces the major plots and characters, from the origins of the world and the labors of Hercules to the Trojan War and the voyages of Odysseus and Aeneas. He brings to life an exotic cast of heroes and monsters, wronged women and frighteningly arbitrary yet powerful gods. He also shows how the stories have survived and greatly influenced later art and culture, from Renaissance painting and sculpture to modern opera, literature, movies, and everyday products.

Myths of the Greeks and Romans is an essential guide to ancient literature The myths told by the Greeks and Romans are as important as their history for our understanding of what they believed, thought and felt, and of what they expressed in writing and visual art. Mythology was inextricably interwoven with the entire fabric of their public and private lives. This book discusses not only the purely fictional myths, fairy-tales and folk-tales but the sagas and legends which have some historical grounding. This is not a dictionary of stories, rather a personal selection of the most important and memorable. Michael Grant re-tells these marvellous tales, and then explores the different ways in which they have appeared throughout literature. It is an inspiring study, filled with quotations from literary sources, which gives the reader a fascinating exposition of ancient culture as well as an understanding of how vital the classical world has been in shaping the western culture of today.

"Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome " is a comprehensive mythology collection, presenting all the major and minor gods of Rome and Greece, with descriptions of festivals and retellings of major mythological stories. The author, thoroughly details each Greek and Roman god, goddess, hero, demi-god and creature and gives the reader a clear and succinct idea of the religious beliefs of the ancients. An exceptional book for those interested in Greek or Roman mythology.

The first anthology to present the entire range of ancient Greek and Roman stories- from myths and fairy tales to jokes Captured centaurs and satyrs, talking animals, people who suddenly change sex, men who give birth, the temporarily insane and the permanently thick-witted, delicate sensualists, incompetent seers, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh-these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology-from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes.

Symbolic Mythology is the essential guide to understanding the myths of the classical world. Through the author’s unique mix of scholarly analysis and exciting storytelling, the divine, the heroic, and the monstrous become easily accessible to everyone from the casual reader to the serious student of myth. Revelations abound in this original, entertaining, and enlightening study of the myths of ancient Greece and Rome.

The classical gods of Rome uncoiled from the fertile imaginations of the ancient Greeks whose gods were passionate and violent, jealous of their powers and subject to both mighty outbursts of love and all-consuming bouts of vengeful war. The dark forces of the ancient world were held at bay by the resourceful and emerging civilisation that formed the basis of Western culture, providing a tradition of fabulous tales that are retold in this new book. FLAME TREE 451: From mystery to crime, supernatural to horror and myth, fantasy and science fiction, Flame Tree 451 offers a healthy diet of werewolves and mechanical men, blood-lusty vampires, dastardly villains, mad scientists, secret worlds, lost civilizations and escapist fantasies. Discover a storehouse of tales gathered specifically for the reader of the fantastic.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Stories of Old Greece and Rome" by Emilie K. Baker. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

The central figures of classical mythology are described by expert Arthur Cotterell in Classical Mythology with wit and authority, and ancient legends are re-told as spell-binding narratives that offer intriguing insight into accounts of past ages. The myths of the Classical world have inspired generations of painters and poets, and this beautiful encyclopedia is illustrated with a wealth of imagery created over a period of fifteen centuries; both fine art paintings and specially-commissioned contemporary works adorn these fascinating tales.

"It is often thought, for no good reason, that myth and history are mutually exclusive. But most mythic stories were believed by their tellers, and some of them were true. Was Lucretia a real woman, raped by the king's son? Did Horatius really hold the bridge alone against an army? Nobody knows; but figures like Spartacus, Cleopatra, Caligula and Nero were certainly real flesh and blood before they became figures of myth. The long history of the Roman People and their city - whether under the kings, the free republic, or the Caesars - generated countless stories, no less mythic than the tale of Troy." --Book Jacket.