Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, 75th Anniversary Illustrated Edition

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Although Hamilton's reputation as an author is closely tied to her writings about Greece, much of her professional life focused on Latin. Hamilton "claimed special expertise in Greek," but after her graduation from Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in Greek and Latin, she spent another year at the college as a fellow in Latin and another year studying Latin in Germany. Hamilton also taught Latin to girls in the senior class during her 26-year career at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. However, with the exception of The Roman Way, Hamilton's written works primarily focused on fourth and fifth century BC Athens. [46] Hamilton's correspondence and papers are held at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College. [30] Honors and recognition [ edit ] a b c d e f g h i j Janice Lee Jayes, "Hamilton, Edith (1867–1963)" in Anne Commire, ed. (2002). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Vol.6. Detroit: Yorkin Publications. p.728 . Retrieved April 19, 2017.

a b c d e f g h i j Judith P. Hallett, "Edith Hamilton" in Linda C. Gugin and James E. St. Clair, ed. (2015). Indiana's 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. p.150. ISBN 978-0-87195-387-2. Edith Hamilton, the eldest child of American parents Gertrude Pond (1840–1917) and Montgomery Hamilton (1843–1909), was born on August 12, 1867, in Dresden, Germany. Shortly after her birth, the Hamilton family returned to the United States and made their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Edith's grandfather, Allen Hamilton, had settled in the early 1820s. Edith spent her youth among her extended family in Fort Wayne. [6] [7] So, I thought I'd throw in these words about this quite wonderful book, most of which I've never read in the decades that I've owned it (basically having used it as a reference book). What's more (displaying my ignorance here) I was confused over the title of the play, and some of the main protagonists of the play, the Furies. They are represented by a chorus, pursuing Orestes for his murder of his mother. But where does the title come from?Hallett, Judith P. (2015). "Edith Hamilton". In Gugin, Linda C.; St. Clair, James E. (eds.). Indiana's 200: The People Who Shaped the Hoosier State. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society Press. pp.150–51. ISBN 978-0-87195-387-2.

Hamilton was long recognized as a great classicist of her era. Her best-selling books were especially noteworthy for their accessibility to a wide readership and for "representing the Greeks in particular as a prestigious source of cultural inspiration for American society during the decade before and the two decades after World War II." [1] Along with Circe, Medea is one of two famous sorceresses in Greek myth. Medea selflessly helps Jason defeat her own father and obtain the Golden Fleece. After Jason turns on her, she kills his new wife and then her own children. Only after retiring did she start to write books, which explains why this book was published only when she was 62! Hamilton proves herself extremely knowledgeable, not only with regard to the Greek Myths but, about the times in which they were composed as well. More often than not she shares with us the particular poet’s version she has taken inspiration from in her retelling and any others she has borrowed from as supplementation. You actually finish the book with a pretty good idea of who all the major authors of Greek and Roman Mythology were and some of their storytelling traits. She is the subject of a biography by Doris Fielding Reid, Edith Hamilton: An Intimate Portrait. [4]Edith was the oldest of five siblings that included three sisters ( Alice (1869–1970), Margaret (1871–1969), and Norah (1873–1945)) and a brother (Arthur "Quint" (1886–1967)), all of whom were accomplished in their respective fields. Edith became an educator and renowned author; Alice became a founder of industrial medicine; [14] Margaret, like her older sister, Edith, became an educator and headmistress at Bryn Mawr School; [15] and Norah was an artist. Hamilton's youngest sibling, Arthur, was nineteen years her junior. He became a writer, professor of Spanish, and assistant dean for foreign students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Arthur was the only sibling to marry; he and his wife, Mary Neal (d. 1965), had no children. [6] [16] Education [ edit ] I have this now on Kindle, I come across this book constantly referenced in other books, so got my own copy. One the great kings who leads the Greeks in the Trojan War and whose story continues in the Oresteia. Agamemnon’s stubbornness toward Achilles almost costs the Greeks the war, and his cold-hearted sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia ultimately costs him his life. Achilles Hamilton and Doris Reid remained in New York City until 1943, then moved to Washington, D.C., and spent their summers in Maine. In Washington, Reid was in charge of the local offices of Loomis, Sayles and Company, an investment firm that had been her employer since 1929; Hamilton continued to write and frequently entertained friends, fellow writers, government representatives, and other dignitaries at her home. Among the eminent and famous were Isak Dinesen, Robert Frost, Harvard classicist Werner Jaeger and labor leader John L. Lewis. [1] How can you have any pudding, if you don’t eat your kids?” I mean, you can’t fault the logic, dessert’s delicious but not nearly as nutritious as human flesh. Cronus (Saturn), father of Zeus, learned from Gaia and Uranus that one of his own children would overthrow him as he did his own father. So, he devoured them all as soon as they were born to prevent the prophecy, as you would. Anyway, Zeus escaped the same fate as his siblings for… reasons, the prophecy was fulfilled, the kids were regurgitated etc. etc.

Roman name: Jupiter or Jove. The sky-god Zeus rules Mount Olympus. His weapon is the thunderbolt, and his bird is the eagle. The central figure of the myths, Zeus epitomizes their complexity. At times he is divine and represents a pure, eternal sense of justice; at other times, he is capricious and cruel. Roman name: Saturn. Cronus becomes the ruler of the Titans by overthrowing his father Ouranos. He swallows each of his children as his wife Rhea gives birth to them. Rhea is able to save one, Zeus, who forces Cronus to vomit up his siblings, with whom he defeats the Titans for control of the universe. Prometheus Fortunately, Edith Hamilton is no prude. Her enthusiasm for the stories in "Mythology" is evident throughout the book. At times, she comes across as a woman on a mission - her conviction about the importance of these myths in Western culture is so passionate that she is determined to spread the message to a broader audience. She is scrupulous about identifying her source materials (on this point Bulfinch is, sadly, more dilettante than scholar). She knows how to structure a narrative. Her prose is clear and reasonably accessible - slightly dated, but largely unburdened by archaic language or academic jargon. "Mythology" even comes with a bunch of nifty illustrations, done by someone with the improbable name of Steele Savage (with a great fondness for winged horses, apparently). Though her first book wasn't published until she was in her sixties, her work achieved great popular success. Book-of-the-Month Club selection in 1957, honorary citizenship of Athens, a highly laudatory obit in the New York Times when she finally died at age 95 - what's not to love? Three mysterious sisters who affect the paths of all in the universe. Clotho spins the thread of life, Lachesis assigns each person’s thread, and Atropos snips the thread of life at its end. Since fate is the only force to rule above both gods and men, the fates arguably have more power than anyone else in the Greek universe. Odysseus I was stressing out last night over trying to get a handle on the third part of Aeschylus' Oresteia, The Eumenides. I'd started reading the introductory material by the translator, but it was so long, so involved ... almost as if it were a postmodern retelling of the play.

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Singer, Sandra L. (2003). Adventures Abroad: North American Women at German-Speaking Universities, 1868–1915. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-09686-0. Fearsome one-eyed giants, of whom Polyphemus is the most famous. In some myths they are the children of Heaven and Earth; in others they are the sons of Poseidon. They forge the thunderbolts of Zeus, who favors them. Polyphemus Sicherman, Barbara (1984). Alice Hamilton, A Life in Letters. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-01553-3. I was also amazed how listening to this audiobook gave me insight to how the physical book would be organised - later looking at its Kindle samples* I was impressed – and (also to my delight) noticed the book includes illustrations, and so now I’ve added it to my list to buy in the future.