Mythology Sources

Contents

• General
• Near East
  • Mesopotamia
  • Egypt
  • Canaanite/Phoenician
  • Hittite
  • Miscellaneous Near East
• Indo-Iranian
  • Persian
  • Hindu
• East Asian
  • Japanese
• Greek & Roman
• Norse
• Celtic

General

Carlyon, Richard, A Guide to the Gods, Quill, William Morrow, New York, 1981.

Dictionary format, not always reliable. This work is divided into regional sections, first by continent and then, usually by culture.

Mythologies (2 volumes in hard cover, 4 or 5 in paperbound), Bonnefoy, Yves (compiler), The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1991.

This handful of topically focused articles provides depth in some areas of a wide variety of ancient religions, but often lacks an overall picture as Bonnefoy's work was designed for an encyclopedic format and was reformatted for English translation.

Sykes, Edgerton, Who's Who in Non-Classical Mythology, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993.

Dictionary format, not always reliable.

Near East

Mesopotamian mythology:

Dalley, Stephanie (trans.) Myths from Mesopotamia Oxford University Press, New York, 1991.

This inexpensive volume contains all of the major Assyro-Babylonian (Akkadian) myths, including the epic of Gilgamesh and the Enumma Elish along with brief introductions, footnotes, and a glossary.

Gardner, John & Maier, John Gilgamesh :Translated from the Sin-Leqi-Unninni Version, Vintage Books, Random House, New York, 1984.

A column by column translation with notes and commentary following each column, by the late author of Grendel.

Hooke, S. H., Babylonian and Assyrian Religion, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman Oklahoma, 1963.

Jacobsen, Thorkild, The Treasures of Darkness, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1976.

A good alternative to Kramer, Jacobsen explores Mesopotamian religious development from early Sumerian times through the Babylonian Enuma Elish. Most of the book winds up being on the Sumerians.

Kinnier Wilson, J. V., The Rebel Lands : an Investigation Into the Origins of Early Mesopotamian Mythology, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1979.

Kramer, Samuel Noah, and Maier, John, Myths of Enki, the Crafty God, Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.

The most recent work that I've been able to find by Kramer. They translate and analyze all of the availible myths which include Enki and include a moderate Sumerian/Akkadian/English glossary. I've only seen it availible in hardcover and I haven't seen it in a bookstore yet - I hear it will be out of print for a couple of years.

Kramer, Samuel Noah The Sumerians The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1963.

This is a more thorough work than Kramer's section at the end of Inanna, but the intervening 20 or so years of additional research and translation allow Inanna's section to be perhaps more updated, if less comprehensive, regarding mythology.

Kramer, Samuel Noah, Sumerian Mythology, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1961.

This slim volume contains much of the mythologic material that wound up in The Sumerians but has it concentrated in one spot and without much cultural or historical detail. It is more extensive in some places than The Sumerians, but less up to date, as the bulk of this was written in 1944.

McCall, Henrietta, Mesopotamian Myths University of Texas Press, Austin, 1990.

A summary account of Dalley's book with nice pictures more cultural context.

Wolkstein, Diane and Kramer, S. N. Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth, Harper & Row, NY, 1983.

Ms. Wolkstein's verse translations (based mostly on Kramer and partially on Jacobsen) of the Inanna/Dumuzi cycle of myths are excellent, and Kramer gives a 30 or so page description of Sumerian cosmology and society at the end.

Egyptian Mythology:

Well, I've heard others mention more modern works in the past, but you can still find a lot of good information in the works of E.A.Wallis Budge, the turn of the century Egyptologist. Try the two volume The Gods of the Egyptians. Let the serious scholar be warned that Budge's translations have fallen out of favor with modern Egyptologists.

Canaanite/Phoenician Mythology:

John C.L. Gibson Canaanite Myths and Legends, T & T Clark Ltd., Edinburgh, 1977.

Parallel Ugaritic transliteration and English translation of the myths found at Ugarit. Gibson also includes thorough notes, myth summaries, some more puzzling untranslated texts, and an Ugaritic/English glossary.

Day, John, Molech:A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1989.

This slim volume seeks to find the origin of this deity and examines many conflicting theories.

Hittite Mythology:

Gurney, O. R. The Hittites, Penguin Books, New York, 1990.

Gurney's work is a solid overview of Hittite history, culture, religion, and mythology.

Hoffner, Harry Hittite Myths, Scholars Press, Atlanta, Georgia, 1990.

Intended to be a more idiomatic translation, Hoffner's work also includes material more recent than Goetz's work in Pritchard's ANET (See below).

Near East - General

Hooke, S. H. Middle Eastern Mythology, Penguin Books, New York, 1963.

This work covers Sumerian, Babylonian, Canaanite/Ugaritic, Hittite, and Hebrew mythologic material in brief and with comparisons.

Pritchard J. B., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, Princeton, 1955.

There is also a 1969 supplement to this work. It seems to be the authoritative source for all complete texts of the Sumerians, Babylonians, Canaanites, Hittites, and perhaps other groups as well. It's pricy but many libraries have a copy.

Indo-Iranian

Persian Mythology:

Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh Persian Myths, The Bath Press, Avon, 1993.

One of the few inexpensive volumes on the subject that is currently in print, this is really a brief work with lots of pictures, but it covers the gods, demons, and heroes of this region from pre-Zoroastrian days to the dawn of Islam.

Zend-Avesta

The core text of Zoroastrianism, its transcription is attributed to Zarathushtra. There are a handful of translations availible, but all of the affordible ones are abridged. A healthy library may have J. Darmesteter's exhaustive translation.

Firdowsi (Firdausi) Shahnameh 'The Book of Kings'

Ferdowsi The Epic of the Kings: Shah-Nama by Ferwowsi, Arkana, Penguin Books, New York, 1990. ISBN 0-14-019231-X

Written in AD 1010, this book reaches to legends before Islam. A recent check in Books in Print showed a four volume translation availible, but at over US $40 per volume. However, I recently picked up a paperback that had been put out by Penguin, in a used bookstore for less than $10 US.

Hindu Mythology:

O'Flaherty, Wendy Doniger, Hindu Myths, Penguin Books, New York, 1975.

This work contains excerpts from and commentary on mythic aspects of various major Hindu works including the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Puranas.

East Asian

Japanese

Aston, W. G., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, Charles E. Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont & Tokyo, Japan, 1972 (1998) ISBN 0-8048-0984-4 Original translation: 1896.

The Nihongi or Nihonshoki was completed in the early 8th century C.E. and, along with the Kojiki represents the earliest written works of Japanese myth and history. The first two books of sixteen are titled "The Age of the Gods" and are of main interest to mythology ienthusiasts. Aston's edition has copious footnootes, a good introduction and a workable index.

Philippi, Donald L. Kojiki, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1968. ISBN 4-13-9897004-1

The Kojiki was completed in 712 C.E. and along with its contemporary work, the Nihongi represents the earliest written works of Japanese myth and history. The first book of the three comprising the Kojiki will be of primary interest to those interested in mythology. Philippi's translation also includes a sound introduction and an extensive glossary/index of characters and locations. A later version of Kojiki was translated into modern Japanese by Motoori and is known as Kojiki-den.

Greek & Roman Mythology:

Bulfinch, Thomas The Age of Fable

This work is also part of Bulfinch's Mythology which includes his books on Arthurian and Carolingian legends. This is a nineteenth century digest form of the myths, using the Roman names. It is fairly comprehensive and the modern publications include additional information on Egyptian and Norse mythology.

Powell, Barry B. Classical Myth, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995. ISBN 0-13-143470-5 (707 pp.)

Powell's text is intended for an undergraduate level course on mythology, but should be easily approachable by interested high school students as well. While, as the title suggests, the bulk of this text is centered on the stories of Greece and Rome, Powell sets up that study by a survey of Near Eastern mythology, referring back to those tales when parallels arise withing the Greek and Roman ones. Powell also discusses the cultural context of those myths and concludes his work with a chapter on the theories of myth interpretation - from Classical times to the 20th century. While some myths are necessarily retold and condensed, Powell, when possible includes long direct translations of Classical sources. Also featured are artistic depictions, side essays, and concluding each chapter - recommendations for further reading.

Lattimore, Richard (trans.) Homer, The Illiad

The middle of the Trojan war. Don't look for the horse here though.

Fitzgerald, Timothy (trans.) Homer, The Odyssey

Odysseus's journeys after the Trojan war.

Hesiod, Theogony

The creation of the universe and the generation of the titans and gods. Probably the oldest written work of Greek mythology.

Ovid,

Metamorphosis

Apollodoros

Virgil, Aeneid

Hector's travels after the Trojan war.

Norse Mythology

Young, Jean, (trans.) Sturlason, Snorri The Prose Edda of Snorri Sturlason

The first section of this work, 'The Deluding of Gylfi' hits many of the Norse myths. As was the case with many of the literate people of the time, Snorri was a cleric and some feel that his faith colored his representation of the myths.

Terry, Patricia, (trans.) anonymous Poems of the Elder Edda.

This work presents portions of the Poetic Edda (aka Edda Saemundar), which, while written down after Snorri's Edda may tap into older sources.

Celtic Mythology:

Delaney, Frank Legends of the Celts, Sterling Publishing Co. Inc., New York, 1992 (1989), ISBN 0-8069-8351-5

Delaney presentes a nice overview of Irish and Welsh mythology and of 'Tristan and Iseult'.

Kinsella, Thomas (trans.) The Tain

Widely regarded as the best translation of 'The Cooley Cattle Raid', this work translates the Ulster cycle of Irish mythology, featuring Cu Chulain of Muirthemne.

Lady Augusta Gregory - Gods and Fighting Men

This turn of the (previous) century work tells of the Tuatha de Danaan, of Finn MacCumhal, his son Ossian, and of Diarmuid.
She also wrote Cuchulain of Muirthemne which also tells the Ulster cycle.

The Mabinogion

This collection of Welsh tales (usually including a handful of tales of King Arthur's knights) has many translators. Penguin puts out an inexpensive one by Jeffrey Gantz.