Don't Know Much About Mythology: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Stories in Human History but Never Learned

by Kenneth C Davis

Hardcover, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

201.3

Publication

Harper (2005), Edition: First Edition, 560 pages

Description

Where do we come from? Why do stars shine and the seasons change? What is evil? Since the beginning of time, people have answered such questions by crafting imaginative stories that have served as religion, science, philosophy, and popular literature. In his irreverent a question-and-answer style, Davis introduces and explains the great myths of the world, as well as the works of literature that have made them famous. He tackles Mesopotamia's Gilgamesh, the first hero in world mythology; Achilles and the Trojan War; Stonehenge and the Druids; Thor, the Nordic god of thunder; Chinese oracle bones; the use of peyote in ancient Native American rites; and the dramatic life and times of the man who would be Buddha. Ever familiar and instructive, Davis shows why the ancient tales of gods and heroes--from Mount Olympus to Machu Picchu, from ancient Rome to the icy land of the Norse--continue to speak to us today, in our movies, art, language, and music.--From publisher description.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member kaelirenee

This book goes beyond the basics or Roman gods and goddesses. It looks at many cultures, their myths, what they meant to the people, and how they influenced behavior. A good overview of mythology. Like the rest of the Don't Know Much About books, this is a good introduction to the topic of world

myths.

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LibraryThing member Jthierer

A really good introduction to the myths and religions of a wide variety of cultures. I found this book to be easy to read and understand with terminology explained in a way that should be clear to most lay readers. My one complaint was that Davis over relies on making parallels with the Christian

Bible, but I understand why he chose this strategy.

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LibraryThing member oxlena

The first chapter is basically an introduction to what mythology is. Okay, great, I don't care, put that in the introduction where it belongs. I know what mythology is, and it didn't say anything I didn't already infer. The actual chapters on mythology didn't go into enough detail for me to

actually be interested. I had to skim through 3/4 of the chapters because I just couldn't get into it. In the end, I think I only thoroughly read the chapters about stuff that I already knew. 1.5/5 wasted hours I could have spent reading about mythology on the internet instead of picking apart a book.

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LibraryThing member SamTekoa

Imagine having a guy working with fine china while wearing boxing gloves. Davis knows his subject well but does serious damage to the product while he handles it. He seems much too confident that he knows why people believed like they did. He maintains a modern skeptical view of the existence of

God. He can't seem to accept the possibility that there might be a real God and that some myths may be saying something about that.

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LibraryThing member beckymmoe

This book is an intersting blend of history and mythology--and really does prove that most of us don't know much about either! Each section of the book starts with a timeline of events for the part of the world being discussed (ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Americas, Pacific

islands, and more) and then follows with information on the myths of each in a question-and-answer format, including a "who's who" of gods and goddesses for each region. Sprinkled throughout each section are "mythic voices", brief segments from sources as varied as the Bible, Egypt's Book of the Dead, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung that serve to renforce the primary text. Overall a fascinating book, it really is a bit too much to read in a short period of time. We listened to the audio version while driving in the car--it was well read by John Lee, though at times his British accent and slightly different pronunciations got to be a bit distracting--over about three months. Definitely recommended, though it is not for young children, as quite a bit of awkward explanations would be needed. Ancient myths are not at all G-rated!

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LibraryThing member benuathanasia

This was an audiobook and the reader was just shy of terrible. Every word he could butcher, he did. The worst was when he pronounced the same word multiple ways (eg. shaman: shah-mən, shah-man, shay-mən).

The book itself was really fascinating. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I go out of my way to read

about mythology, but I must admit there are many mythologies that I'm just not very familiar with.

A critique on the book itself - the author really should have stuck with discussing the myths themselves and tried to get involved in modern controversial topics (which he did significantly with Native Americans and their myths).

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LibraryThing member jguidry

This book was very detailed so it's an investment of time. However, I thought the history of the cultures mixed in with various myths was worth reading. I love how Davis explored all cultures equally, not just focus on the traditional Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology. I would have loved more of

the myths to be included, but that would have made it an even more lengthy time investment so I understand edits had to be made.

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