Introduction to Mythology

This Introduction to Mythology is intended as a teaching and student resource consisting mainly of extracts translated directly from primary source-texts by the author.

The first eight chapters provide a pedagogical introduction, explaining core concepts in the academic study of myth, together with short sketches of key names in the subject’s evolution and the key contributions of these individuals, including ways in which their ideas can still be applied constructively.

Chapters 9-13 present short examples plus questions which can be used for class discussion, ranging from basic comprehension and subjective interpretation, to the importance of understanding the times, geographical & social circumstances of each source’s personal background and reasons for specific choices in the presentation of each narrative. Two of these chapters contain material already familiar from such sources as Grimm & Perrault, while two others were gathered from Northern Michigan in the early nineteenth century by Henry Schoolcraft.

Chapters 14-29 consist mainly of fuller extracts, ranging from Homer and Hesiod to sources from the mediaeval period in Northern Europe, such as Snorri Sturluson and Saxo Grammaticus. These readings are interspersed with additional explanatory sections and study questions. The translations from ancient sources, together with footnotes to amplify meanings in context, are the work of the author.