Mythology: Folklore, Myths & Legends: The History of Gods, Men and the Mythologies of the World

By: Michael J. Stewart

Narrated by: William Bahl

Length: 1 hr and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

When is a story more than just a story? When does it become a myth? When it holds a piece of truth about our history, our morality, and the cosmos. Throughout history, humankind has use stories to explain the unknown. From the cycle of the moon to the changing of the seasons, tales about supernatural beings and events have served to account for the purpose of the cosmos. But mythology isn’t entirely fiction, these stories have been passed down for generations for a reason. They also hold a kernel of truth about our ancestors and our world. You’ll: - Take a peek at the stories on ancient Jewish scrolls that became the cornerstone of Jewish traditions, teachings, and laws. - Listen to ancient Egyptian tales of Ra, Isis, Osiris, and Horus and glimpse the core of Egyptian understanding of the cycles of nature. - See how the myths of the Norse and Vikings are tied to the growth of life and seafaring raids. - Glimpse the development of Christian faith and belief through the ancient stories of creation, floods, and Armageddon. - Learn how the Romans wove the tales of their people into lessons of morality, integrity, and politics. - Watch the Greeks capture their ideas and beliefs into narratives and poems of heroes, tragedy, and victory. Start your journey through humankind’s oldest tales with Folklore, Myths & Legends: The History of Gods, Men and the Mythologies of the World and learn how ancient humans understood and explained the questions of the universe.

©2017 Lean Stone Publishing (P)2017 Lean Stone Publishing

Such a wonderful resource

What a wonderful resource for those who seek an encyclopedic knowledge of world mythos. This is superb for high school students and undergraduates as an addition to a literature collection. An excellent volume for a fair price.

Very useful

This is a very useful and informative reference guide introducing the history of Gods, Men, and the Mythologies of the World. Has a lot of details about the ancient cultures and stories. Without a doubt, there is a lot of information. In one series, the listeners go around the world to realize how different groups reasoned the creation, death, the misery or injustices of daily lives, the environment, other animals, and other vagaries of our existence. The scope of the series is absolutely breathtaking as professors make us travel to almost every corner of the pre-modern world. All in all, this was a really great reference for my purposes - delving into various world myths as an amateur. It only gets four stars because it could be a little more comprehensive, but it is definitely worth picking up if, like me, you're a mythology buff.

Very informative and useful

Very informative and useful. Much nicer copy than I expected. This is a college-level textbook with good illustrations and broad coverage. I like the organization by theme and geographic regions and appreciate the attempt to draw parallels when appropriate.

Very good book

Very good book. I enjoyed all of the lessons and I've learned a lot. One of the nicest courses I have ever heard. I have been using Audible for a long time now, and this book is comprehensive. The author is really knowledgeable.

Love it!

I have used this text in my World Mythology college classes for several years now and expect to continue for some time. I like the way it is set up, with the overview of common mythological themes, then covering each of several world myths in separate chapters. The text is easy to follow - let's face it, today's college students are visual learners - and has many illustrations and examples of art for the various cultures. Several students have told me they also like the text and intend to keep it. They also appreciate the reasonable price.

Clearly explained

I had this book for a comparative mythology course. It was one of the three assigned books and I can't think how else would have that worked. This book is more like an encyclopedia containing only brief information about various world mythologies. It contains abridged versions of mythological stories and their characters. In my opinion, this book cannot work as a standalone for an analytical study of world mythologies. However, it is a good reference book. I like how each mythology is explained

Fascinating series on the mythologies

This was a fascinating series on the mythologies of world cultures and not just the usual treatise on Greek and Roman Mythology. I enjoyed learning about Jewish cultures and myths, the Roman gods and the building of Rome, Egyptian Gods and Folklore, Celtic Mythology, The Norse Gods of Power, Myths of the Christian World, Romanian Mythology, and Greek Mythology. In each of these sections of mythology, the origins and stories were told through the knowledge and understanding of the time. These stories were seen as an inspiration for people to read and cultures to grow upon. The body of myths related to the collection of superficial beliefs, religious beliefs, and a set of particular people. The tales collected as a form of explanation to understand how the world worked. Overall, so much interesting information!

Totally worth it

Totally worth it. This book gives great stories for many different eras and explains why they are important to literature and tells you that most myths have similar concepts to their stories.

Concise yet detailed

This book covers a wonderfully broad range of world mythologies and is already becoming a favorite of mine. It covers key themes that repeat across world mythologies as an introduction to the area (with notes for cross-references in later chapters in the book - very handy), then delves into separate mythologies from around the world in more depth, outlining the key beliefs encompassed by that culture/mythos. The book is also replete with illustrations, and more detailed featurettes on key individual myths. It serves as an excellent reference guide to help you get your bearings - particularly useful for looking up mythologies that are unfamiliar to you, so you can have a good grounding for further research into favorite areas. It manages to be concise yet detailed.

Happy for the purchase

I'm very happy with my purchase of this book overall. The first thing I will say though is it is not a book for experts on mythology. It is more a book for beginners or for those who like to extra source material for research. I bought this so I could introduce my grandkids to mythology and teach them about all the different types of mythological stories and gods. This book is perfect for that and the illustrations are very bright and vibrant.