Edith Hamilton’s Mythology is available on Audible as a 14 hrs 34 mins unabridged audiobook, narrated by Suzanne Toren.
Publisher’s Summary
Dive into the timeless tales of gods and heroes in this bestselling A-to-Z encyclopedia detailing classic myths and legends—perfect for curious readers and academics alike.
Edith Hamilton’s mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture-the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover the origins of the names of the constellations. And we recognize reference points for countless works for art, literature and culture inquiry-from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra
Both a reference text for scholars of all ages and a book to simply enjoy, Mythology is a classic not to be missed.
Audiobook Details
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs 34 mins
- Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
- Release year: 2013
- Audible category: History / Ancient / Greece
Listener Ratings
Mythology holds an average listener rating of 4.3/5 from 1807 Audible ratings.
On Audible, ratings for this title break down into narration performance and story separately:
- Performance (narration): 4.4/5
- Story: 4.3/5
- 5-star ratings: 55% of all ratings
What Audible Listeners Are Saying
4/5 stars — “Actually Greek with Roman versions and a few Norse”
This is an old book, published around 75 years ago, but still rates as one of the best on its topic. If you want to better understand the stories you’ve heard of Narcissus, Hercules, Poseidon, Cupid, and much more, then this is a good book to read. Since we’re talking about stories from a few thousand years ago, it’s not surprising that there is more than one version of the story and often there’s a Roman one adapted from the original Greek one. The author tells the stories from the most reliable sources, talks about the family relationships of the gods in the pantheon, and gives some of the context of the stories. By reading the myths, you can better understand the people and culture that produced them. However, you’ll also find how much our own stories are based on those of the Greek gods or sometimes their Roman versions.And that points out the main weakness of the book. It makes it seems that myths are solely the product of Greece and Rome, with a few thrown in from Norse mythology. And, the section on the Norse gods is very brief and seems to be just tacked on as an afterthought. So, the book title is a bit misleading in that it doesn’t let you know that we’re really only talking about those that had the most influence on western culture. Of course, those are the ones that its target audience would likely be most interested in, especially considering when the book was published. And, a book that broadened out to even a few of the other major cultural traditions would encompass much more than one volume. Still, the title should state what it is really covering.
That doesn’t detract from the content, however. It is well-researched and interesting to read. It is written for a general audience, not for scholars, and doesn’t get bogged down in detail or boring analysis. It’s for us.
— William, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “I listen over and over”
Mythology by Edith Hamilton, will last you a lifetime. Every story carefully recorded and beautifully narrated.— Rivera Fam, Audible listener
5/5 stars — “The definitive work on Greek Mythology for casual fans. “
This is a classic for a reason. If you are looking for an introduction to Greek mythology, this is your best option. Edith Hamilton was a very well regarded classicist in her day, and she did a fantastic job of making the myths easily digestible while remaining true to the source material.— Charity H, Audible listener
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