Xanikk's thread got me thinking.

I would like to know what books should i read when trying to learn about a certain mythology.

The main reason is that there is a book around here written by a romanian, called "Legends of Olympus". And trust me, if you read that, then you KNOW greek mythology.
The book is not huge, and it's wonderfull. It even has shortened versions of the Ilyad and Oddysey.

The reason why i said Epitome in the title, is exaclty that. I want to know if there are books out there that really make everything clear about a certain mythology. Like the Legends of Olympus summarises everything in about 400 pages, maybe there are others like this that show other mythologies.

I'll take these from his thread.

Norse - ? (luceafaru's threads ? :mischief:)
Christian - Bible
Jewish - Talmud ^
Islamic - Koran
Greek - Legends of Olympus
Sumerian - Epic of Ghilgamesh ?
Babylonian - ?
Zoroastrian - ?
Hindu - Mahabharata ? It's too big. :p Something smaller.
Buddhist - ?
Daoist - ?
Shinto - ?
Indonisean or smthing, i don't remember, it had a specific name ... - ?
Egyptean - ?
Slavic mythology - ?
Gaelic/Celtic mythology - ?
Any of the 3 large mesoamerican cults - ?
Native American - ?
Native Australian - ?
Bon - ?

Please help me "fill in the blanks".

I know there are a lot missing from that list, feel free to add more.

EDIT: added 1-2 more

Xanikk's thread got me thinking.

I would like to know what books should i read when trying to learn about a certain mythology.

The main reason is that there is a book around here written by a romanian, called "Legends of Olympus". And trust me, if you read that, then you KNOW greek mythology.
The book is not huge, and it's wonderfull. It even has shortened versions of the Ilyad and Oddysey.

The reason why i said Epitome in the title, is exaclty that. I want to know if there are books out there that really make everything clear about a certain mythology. Like the Legends of Olympus summarises everything in about 400 pages, maybe there are others like this that show other mythologies.

I'll take these from his thread.

Norse - ? (luceafaru's threads ? :mischief:)
Christian - Bible
Jewish - Talmud ^
Islamic - Koran
Greek - Legends of Olympus
Sumerian - Epic of Ghilgamesh ?
Babylonian - ?
Zoroastrian - ?
Hindu - Mahabharata ? It's too big. :p Something smaller.
Buddhist - ?
Daoist - ?
Shinto - ?
Indonisean or smthing, i don't remember, it had a specific name ... - ?
Egyptean - ?
Slavic mythology - ?
Gaelic/Celtic mythology - ?
Any of the 3 large mesoamerican cults - ?
Native American - ?
Native Australian - ?
Bon - ?

Please help me "fill in the blanks".

I know there are a lot missing from that list, feel free to add more.

EDIT: added 1-2 more

I'll take these from his thread.

Norse - ? (luceafaru's threads ? :mischief:) Too many to list.
Christian - Bible, story of moses, david and goliath, others somewhere. Jewish - Talmud
Islamic - Koran
Greek - Tons, just tons more. Search online.
Sumerian - Epic of gilgamesh is the only one i know of.
Babylonian - Pretty much the same as sumerian.
Zoroastrian - Creation myth and the ending myth.
Hindu - Look for stuff like shiva or kali.
Buddhist - They dont really have mythology, the story of the buddha is legendary though. I forgot his birth name though.
Daoist - Dont know.
Shinto - The japanese creation story comes to mind.
Indonisean or smthing, i don't remember, it had a specific name ... - Theres some but i dont know of any.
Egyptean - Tons, type in egyptian mythology in wikipedia or google.
Slavic mythology - Dont know.
Gaelic/Celtic mythology - Read about chuchullin.
Any of the 3 large mesoamerican cults - Theres one about quetzocoatl, search for that.
Native American - Search the internet by typing in "native american mythology", there is more mythology of this category then any other!
Native Australian - Dreamtime.
Bon - What is bon?

@Xanikk - well i know i can find tons of stuff online. But aren't there books like the one everybody here knows.
The problem with things online is that you find to many. Besides - i hate reading on the computer. I like books. :)
I've read basic things about all of the mythologies that i posted. (i've read History of Religion by Mircea Eliade) But i'm looking for "central" books.
Things that are internationally known to teach the most important things about certain mythologies.
Most of the things you posted are short stories that are part of the mythology. The Legends of Olympus is a collection of tens of stories.

Bon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bön) is the ancestral religion in Tibet before Buddhism. (it is also the posibility that this religion came after the ancestral religion)

Any of the 3 large mesoamerican cults -
there was a book called the popol vuh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_vuh), which was a mesoamerican religious book translated into roman letters so the priests wouldnt burn it.

Gaelic/Celtic mythology - Read about chuchullin. I'd also suggest that you read about Fionn MacCool, and the Fianna. These stories are particularly rich in mythology, especially the tales about Fionn's son Oisin (both his birth, and his departure to Tir Na N'Og).

The Mahabharat is the mythological text to read if you want a good overview. If you want to see mythology in its more absolutist formative stage, read the Ramayana.

Coincidentally, I just purchased the Mahabharat. The whole thing weighs in at a whopping 7000+ large pages of small text. It'll take me a long time to read it, but it'll be immensely enjoyable.

If you want to know Christian mythology, you shouldn't read the Bible, because that's just one of the foundational texts of that mythology, much of which developed later on. I'd say that Milton's Paradise Lost would be a much better and fuller summary of Christian mythology (or, rather, of seventeenth-century Puritan mythology in mock heroic form). If you want a modern epitome of Christian mythology, that's harder... I could recommend my own books, but that would probably break the site prohibition on advertising!

Other suggestions: for Celtic/Gaelic, try the Mabinogion, which is great fun.

For Taoism, try the Zhuangzi. The Laozi is more foundational but the Zhuangzi has more of the stories that became central to Taoist thought.

You've missed out the Anglo-Saxons, so you should include them and read Beowulf, which is fantastic, especially if you get a good translation such as that by Francis Gummere, which is available online. The Wanderer and The Seafarer are also excellent and much shorter. I put extracts from these and other Anglo-Saxon works in the pedia for The Rood and the Dragon.

Firstly, thanx to whoever moved it. :goodjob:
there was a book called the popol vuh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popol_vuh), which was a mesoamerican religious book translated into roman letters so the priests wouldnt burn it.
I don't know much about the quiches...
I'd also suggest that you read about Fionn MacCool, and the Fianna. These stories are particularly rich in mythology, especially the tales about Fionn's son Oisin (both his birth, and his departure to Tir Na N'Og).
I'll look around.

Why does Tir Na Nog sound INCREDIBLY familiar. :hmm: Was it also in a computer game/movie ?
7000+ large pages of small text
:sad:
The Ramayana was a bit too small. :crazyeye:
If you want to know Christian mythology, you shouldn't read the Bible, because that's just one of the foundational texts of that mythology, much of which developed later on. I'd say that Milton's Paradise Lost would be a much better and fuller summary of Christian mythology (or, rather, of seventeenth-century Puritan mythology in mock heroic form). If you want a modern epitome of Christian mythology, that's harder... I could recommend my own books, but that would probably break the site prohibition on advertising!
Well, i didn't even read the Bible yet, so ... :blush:
Paradise Lost seems like a great book - i'll look around for it. Thanx. :goodjob:
Well, i doubt your books got to the far away Romanian libraries ... i doubt even Milton's book got here.

EDIT: ah, you edited your post ... i'll have a look.

Xanikk's thread got me thinking.

I would like to know what books should i read when trying to learn about a certain mythology.

The main reason is that there is a book around here written by a romanian, called "Legends of Olympus". And trust me, if you read that, then you KNOW greek mythology.
The book is not huge, and it's wonderfull. It even has shortened versions of the Ilyad and Oddysey.
EDIT: added 1-2 more

Most greek mythology wasn't religious: many of them were just stories that had gods in them, and many authors said that they invented many of the characters. For example, saying 'Pygmalion and Galatea' is a myth,because it has Aphrodite/Venus in it, is like saying 'Touched by An angel'(TV) is part of the christian bible, because its main characters are angels.
If you want another exellent source on Classical(Greek)mythology, try Edith Hamilton's very famous Mythology. A good source for Norse mythology are the Two Eddas, but you might have trouble reading them because the language is archaic.

Norse - ? (luceafaru's threads ? :mischief:)

That's a good source! Or ask him for the references he used. Knowing luc I doubt that he would refuse to cooperate.

Don't hesitate to ask me either. But be warned, I'm not exactly an expert on this particular topic.

I can visit my local bookstore to give you some booktitles if you like.

That's a good source! Or ask him for the references he used. Knowing luc I doubt that he would refuse to cooperate.

Don't hesitate to ask me either. But be warned, I'm not exactly an expert on this particular topic.

I can visit my local bookstore to give you some booktitles if you like.
I'd love to ask, and i may do so one day; but i couldn't find Bewolf at bookstores and even at the public library. I'll have to look at old book shops.
I doubt i could find anything more on the topic. :(

You can find Beowulf here (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/beowulf.html).

There's an easier to read, though less poetic, version here (http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/).

Norse- The havamal.
Greek- Illiad, and oddysey. Ovid maybe.
Dao- Read the Tao te Ching

Nice links Plotinus. :goodjob: The less poetic version is great. :D The original one is, well ... kinda funny to read. :lol:

Thanks for the links; now all i have to do is cope with the discomfort caused by reading on the computer and read them. :(

The main reason is that there is a book around here written by a romanian, called "Legends of Olympus". And trust me, if you read that, then you KNOW greek mythology.
The book is not huge, and it's wonderfull. It even has shortened versions of the Ilyad and Oddysey.

It's a bit off-topic, but not very much, I hope.

If you mean the book by Alexandru Mitru ("Legendele Olimpului"), then trust me it's FAR from the best book we have. I recommend reading "The Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" by N. A. Kun. ("Legendele si miturile Greciei antice")
I read a lot of Greek mythology, and The Legends of Olympus is exactly the book that I don't recommend.

It's a bit off-topic, but not very much, I hope.

If you mean the book by Alexandru Mitru ("Legendele Olimpului"), then trust me it's FAR from the best book we have. I recommend reading "The Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" by N. A. Kun. ("Legendele si miturile Greciei antice")
I read a lot of Greek mythology, and The Legends of Olympus is exactly the book that I don't recommend.
Yes, i was talking about Alexandru Mitru's book. Why would you not recommend it.

It might not be as comprehensive as that other book but i was looking for this "effect":

I've read Legendele Olimpului and i know a decent amount of greek mythology - a lot more than most people.
I've read the Ramayana and i know a very very very very very very very very very very little amount of indian mythology and it's only a little more than the people who know nothing.

See what i mean ?

Yes, i was talking about Alexandru Mitru's book. Why would you not recommend it.

It might not be as comprehensive as that other book but i was looking for this "effect":

I've read Legendele Olimpului and i know a decent amount of greek mythology - a lot more than most people.
I've read the Ramayana and i know a very very very very very very very very very very little amount of indian mythology and it's only a little more than the people who know nothing.

See what i mean ?
This just shows that the Ramayana book you read is a bad one. ;) Seriously, The Legends of Olympus offered that effect, but there are others that you can read for an even better effect.

Mitru's book omits many facts, and is not structured as well as the other ones. Most of the times, the descriptions of events are much more accurate and presented on a much more adequate tone in other books. Kun's book presents the Greek Genesis much better, and has much clearer information about the Greek Parthenon, mentioning exactly about each god what powers he/she had, when they appeared, and has separate small chapters for each (important) god, hero (person that is half human half god), and mythical character. Also it shows connections between myth and reality, what inspired the Greeks to these myths, and it doesn't alter the stories.

Overall, I have 3 books about Ancient Greek religion, excluding the 2 dictionaries, and the many history books about Greece that have 1-2 chapters about mythology, and I find "The Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece" best (that's why this was my example here), and I find "Legendele Olimpului" in third place. ;)

Cata, there is always Mircea Eliade's "History of Religious Ideas" or "Istoria religiilor". You should find it in a decent book store.

Cata, there is always Mircea Eliade's "History of Religious Ideas" or "Istoria religiilor". You should find it in a decent book store.
I have that. One of the best books ever written. It's the only book that changed me. :)
So sad he did not finish writing it. :(

But it doesn't go very indepth with the mythologies. It is great however, if you want to get a general view of each.