"Handbook of Classical Mythology" offers newcomers and long-time enthusiasts new ways to navigate the world of Greek and Roman myths. Written by a foremost mythologist, the book begins by exploring the sources and landscapes from which the myths emerged. It then provides a richly detailed timeline of mythic episodes from the creation of the cosmos to the end of the Heroic Age--"plus" an illustrated mythological dictionary listing every significant character, place, event, and object.

Whether exploring the world that gave rise to ancient mythology or researching a specific piece of the...

Compiled from ancient and scattered texts and based on revelatory new research, "Handbook of Chinese Mythology" is the most comprehensive English-language work on the subject ever written from an exclusively Chinese perspective.

This work focuses on the Han Chinese people but ranges across the full ethnic spectrum of ancient and modern China, showing how key myths endured and evolved over time. A quick reference section covers all major deities, spirits, and demigods, as well as important places (Kunlun Mountain), mythical animals and plants (the crow with three feet; Fusang tree), and...

Full of hard to find information, "Handbook of Inca Mythology" provides an accessible introduction to the rites, beliefs, and spiritual tales of the Incas. It provides a concise overview of Incan civilization and mythology, a chronology of mythic and historical events, and an A-Z inventory of central themes (sacrifice, fertility, competition, reversaldualism, colors, constellations, giants, and miniatures), personages (Viracocha, Manco Capac, Pachackuti Inca), locations (Lake Titicaca, Corickancha), rituals, and icons.

The last Native American culture to develop free of European...

Handbook of Japanese Mythology makes it easy to travel this vast yet little-known mythological landscape. The book reveals the origins of Japan's myths in the very different realms of Buddhism, Shinto, and folklore, and explores related mythologies of the Ainu and Okinawan cultures and recent myths arising from Japan's encounters with modernization. It then offers vivid retellings of the central Shinto and Buddhist myths, plus descriptions of major historical figures, icons, rituals, and events.

For students or long-time enthusiasts, it is the ideal guide for...

Encounters with the West introduced Polynesian mythology to the world--and sealed its fate as a casualty of colonialism. But for centuries before the Europeans came, that mythology was as vast as the triangle of ocean in which it flourished, as diverse as the people it served, and as complex as the mythologies of Greece and Rome.

Students, researchers, and enthusiasts can follow vivid retellings of stories of creation, death, and great voyages, tracking variations from island to island. They can use the book's reference section for information on major deities, heroes, elves, fairies,...

The book describes the pagan origins of Scandinavia, the interaction between the Vikings and other Europeans, and the concept of time in Norse mythology, and gives a dictionary of deities, themes, and concepts. With 200 entries of up to four pages each, the dictionary includes both well-known characters like Thor and minor figures such as Gleipnir, the "fetter with which the wolf Fenrir was finally bound." It also includes further references about Viking and medieval Scandinavia, archaeology, etymology, the conversion of Iceland, other encyclopedias, and more.

Critically acclaimed introduction of broad scope to the myths of Mesoamerica from ancient times to the present.

Bibliography of print and nonprint sources for further research

Introduction placing mythology in social and historical context"