Bulfinch's Mythology

For almost 150 years, Bulfinch’s Mythology has been the text by which the great tales from classical antiquity, the Norse and Asian traditions, and the age of chivalry have been known.

Here are lively versions of the myths of Zeus, Hera, and their cohorts on Mt. Olympus; the legends of the Trojan War and the epic wanderings of Ulysses and Aeneas; the tales of the joys of Valhalla and the furies of Thor; the adventures of King Arthur and his knights; and the sagas of Beowulf and Robin Hood.

As Thomas Bulfinch himself wrote, “Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood and appreciated.” With stories that are eminently readable, Bulfinch’s Mythology gives us just that knowledge.Thomas Bulfinch (1796–1867) was an American writer, Latinist, and banker who wrote and collected the first popular English-language retellings of Greek, Roman, Eastern, Scandinavian, Arthurian, and medieval myths in his famous three-volume compilation, Bulfinch’s Mythology. "Without a knowledge of mythology," he wrote, "much of the elegant literature of our own language cannot be understood or appreciated." He added: "We trust our young readers will find it a source of entertainment," and his trust seems to have been justified, judging from the many generations who have found his books an enthralling and loving introduction to the worlds of classical and medieval myth and legend.