Mythology (Cliffs Notes)

I bought this thinking it dealt strictly with Greek mythology and was pleasantly surprised to find out it covers several old mythologies including Egyptian and Norse.

This is the second copy of this book that I've owned. I bought the first twenty years ago, and used it enough that I wore it out. As a resource for quickly looking up a basic detail of mythology, it is unsurpassed.

I've loved this book since I was a kid!! So happy to find it!! My only gripe is that it's not on Kindle, so I can't put it in my tablet!!

I like the cliff notes because they give me a quick way to find a reference I'm looking for. The elderly gentleman I purchased the second cliff notes for likes it very much too.

Good go to book for quick reference information.

Very helpful!

This is an unusual publication for the Cliffs Notes folks. It is neither a book summary or literature review nor for standardized test prep. Unlike the Sparks Notes, this is not a summary of Edith Hamilton's famous book "Mythology". This is an original standalone summary piece on mythology. It is very accessible to a wide audience and thus functions as a great "introduction to" text, especially for Greek Mythology.I am a college Philosophy instructor. I have assigned it in the class I teach on ancient philosophy. I do not want to take them too deep into Greek Mythology per se. The goal is just to present it as an important part of the backdrop underlying Greek Philosophy. Weigel does a good job in his commentaries of tying things together and capturing the "morals of the stories". He is also a bit of philosopher. Case in point, he draws a helpful connection between the Greek mythical sensibility and the famous sophist mantra, "Man is the measure of all things." Bottom line, it is great for a college class where you just want to "intro" Greek Mythology.On the other hand, I once was a middle-school Language Arts teacher many, many moons ago. Again, when teaching eighth graders about the mythologies of the world, I used this text with great success. It was not too much to digest for the kids. It allows for the stories to be told in lay language on the fly. In other words, it gives the basics, and then the teacher can fill in the story in a "fast-forward", "contemporary-to-the-kids" kind of way. Yet, it is a serious text. It is not some kiddish Pixar-esque crap.I would recommend this book both as a handy resource book for scholars in fields for which Greek Mythology is peripherally relevant to have in their personal libraries as well as those from twelve-or-so-years-old on up who have a budding interest in the Greeks and their famous-the-world-over mythological tradition.

This book was a great basic introduction to the world's great mythological systems. For those who want to know more about mythology, I definitely recommend it. My only complaints are that I wish the book would have included at least a couple of the Native American and Far Eastern mythological systems, such as the Aztec and the Chinese, and that I think the author relies upon some dated anthropology in his view of the development of the "patriarchal" mythologies from a universal "matriarchal" system. Neither of these flaws taints the work much, though, and overall it is, as I said, a great introduction to the great mythologies of the world.

good