What are good books to help you study greek mythology?
I’m 15 and i’ve been studing mythology since I was eleven and i really do love all kinds of mythology but greek is my favorite.
The most well known is Mythology by Edith Hamilton. It’s been pretty much the standard since 1942.
I’d also throw out Bulfinch’s Mythology (which also covers Norse, Egyptian, and other mythologies, as well as King Arthur stuff) and The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (usually in two volumes, but occasionally published in a combined edition).
When I was in college my professor in Ancient History didn’t recommend Robert Graves’ version of the myths. Too free an interpretation, according to him. “A good read, but not good enough for studying,” is what he said.
He was putting it extremely mild, but the OP is 15, may not really want/need the Gantz books which are the most important egkheridia. The best option here is just to tell said OP to read actual texts in translation. If you must have a compilation there’s a translation of both Hyginus and Apollodorus in one volume somewhere, try that.
Things like Graves, Bullfynch etc are crap/outdated, the German stuff full of really poor scholarship and the Gantz books brilliant but maybe a touch heavy going. At this stage its best to read and enjoy.
Myths of the Ancient Greeks by Richard P. Martin is a good modern retelling of the myths.
If you are interested in reading what the Greeks themselves wrote there is a nice anthology edited and translated by Stephen M. Trzaskoma, R. Scott Smith and Stephen Brunet: Anthology of Classical Myth:Primary Sources in Translation.
Both of the above books can be had for less than $20 each at Amazon.
You may want to try “The Library of Greek Mythology” by Apollodorus. It has influenced writers and scholars, and has been a primary source. The book also includes notes, a map, and genealogical tables.
“The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind” by Julian Jaynes is one of the most intriguing books on the origins of religion and the gods:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Origin-Consciousness-Breakdown-Bicameral-Mind/dp/0618057072
His ideas are very controversial, but it’s a book which everyone interested to know why gods even ‘exist’ in the first place, ought to read. You might find the first chapters a bit heavy-going, but as soon as he gets on to the Homeric gods and heroes, I’m sure you will be fascinated.