BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY Thomas Bulfinch Author
- nouveau livreISBN: 2940012352729
AUTHOR'S PREFACEIf no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that whichhelps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station insociety, then Mythology has no claim to the app… Plus…
AUTHOR'S PREFACEIf no other knowledge deserves to be called useful but that whichhelps to enlarge our possessions or to raise our station insociety, then Mythology has no claim to the appellation. But ifthat which tends to make us happier and better can be calleduseful, then we claim that epithet for our subject. For Mythologyis the handmaid of literature; and literature is one of the bestallies of virtue and promoters of happiness.Without a knowledge of mythology much of the elegant literature ofour own language cannot be understood and appreciated. When Byroncalls Rome the Niobe of nations, or says of Venice, She looks aSea-Cybele fresh from ocean, he calls up to the mind of onefamiliar with our subject, illustrations more vivid and strikingthan the pencil could furnish, but which are lost to the readerignorant of mythology. Milton abounds in similar allusions. Theshort poem Comus contains more than thirty such, and the ode Onthe Morning of the Nativity half as many. Through Paradise Lostthey are scattered profusely. This is one reason why we often hearpersons by no means illiterate say that they cannot enjoy Milton.But were these persons to add to their more solid acquirements theeasy learning of this little volume, much of the poetry of Miltonwhich has appeared to them harsh and crabbed would be foundmusical as is Apollo's lute. Our citations, taken from more thantwenty-five poets, from Spenser to Longfellow, will show howgeneral has been the practice of borrowing illustrations frommythology.The prose writers also avail themselves of the same source ofelegant and suggestive illustration. One can hardly take up anumber of the Edinburgh or Quarterly Review without meetingwith instances. In Macaulay's article on Milton there are twentysuch.But how is mythology to be taught to one who does not learn itthrough the medium of the languages of Greece and Rome? To devotestudy to a species of learning which relates wholly to falsemarvels and obsolete faiths is not to be expected of the generalreader in a practical age like this. The time even of the young isclaimed by so many sciences of facts and things that little can bespared for set treatises on a science of mere fancy.But may not the requisite knowledge of the subject be acquired byreading the ancient poets in translations? We reply, the field istoo extensive for a preparatory course; and these verytranslations require some previous knowledge of the subject tomake them intelligible. Let any one who doubts it read the firstpage of the Aeneid, and see what he can make of the hatred ofJuno, the decree of the Parcae, the judgment of Paris, andthe honors of Ganymede, without this knowledge.Shall we be told that answers to such queries may be found innotes, or by a reference to the Classical Dictionary? We reply,the interruption of one's reading by either process is so annoyingthat most readers prefer to let an allusion pass unapprehendedrather than submit to it. Moreover, such sources give us only thedry facts without any of the charm of the original narrative; andwhat is a poetical myth when stripped of its poetry? The story ofCeyx and Halcyone, which fills a chapter in our book, occupies buteight lines in the best (Smith's) Classical Dictionary; and so ofothers.Our work is an attempt to solve this problem, by telling thestories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source ofamusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according tothe ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds themreferred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference.Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as arelaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book,yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch ofeducation. The index at the end will adapt it to the purposes ofreference, and make it a Classical Dictionary for the parlor.Most of the classical legends in Stories of Gods and Heroes arederived from Ovid and Virgil. They are not literally translated,for, in the author's opinion, poetry translated into literal proseis very unattractive reading. Neither are they in verse, as wellfor other reasons as from a conviction that to translatefaithfully under all the embarrassments of rhyme and measure isimpossible. The attempt has been made to tell the stories inprose, preserving so much of the poetry as resides in the thoughtsand is separable from the language itself, and omitting thoseamplifications which are not suited to the altered form. Digital Content>E-books>Graphic Novels>Comics Literature>Comics Lit Y,Z, SAP Digital >16<
| | BarnesandNoble.comnew in stock. Frais d'envoizzgl. Versandkosten., Livraison non-comprise Details... |
(*) Livre non disponible signifie que le livre est actuellement pas disponible à l'une des plates-formes associées nous recherche.
THOMAS BULFINCH:BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY
- livre d'occasion ISBN: 2940012352729
THOMAS BULFINCH, NOOK Book (eBook), English-language edition, Pub by SAP EBooks, Books, BULFINCHS-MYTHOLOGY~~THOMAS-BULFINCH, 999999999, BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY, THOMAS BULFINCH, 0012352721,… Plus…
THOMAS BULFINCH, NOOK Book (eBook), English-language edition, Pub by SAP EBooks, Books, BULFINCHS-MYTHOLOGY~~THOMAS-BULFINCH, 999999999, BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY, THOMAS BULFINCH, 0012352721, SAP, , , , , SAP<
| | BarnesandNoble.comMPN: , SKU 2940012352729 Frais d'envoizzgl. Versandkosten, Livraison non-comprise Details... |
(*) Livre non disponible signifie que le livre est actuellement pas disponible à l'une des plates-formes associées nous recherche.
THOMAS BULFINCH:BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY
- nouveau livre ISBN: 2940012352729
BULFINCH'S MYTHOLOGY BULFINCHS-MYTHOLOGY~~THOMAS-BULFINCH Graphic Novels>Graphic Novels>Graphic Novel A NOOK Book (eBook), SAP
| | BarnesandNoble.comnew Frais d'envoimás costos de envío, Livraison non-comprise Details... |
(*) Livre non disponible signifie que le livre est actuellement pas disponible à l'une des plates-formes associées nous recherche.