Thank you, bluegoat, for the thoughtful reply.
There seems to be a misunderstanding in the responses here regarding what my intentions were in asking the question I did. Please know that I am not the sort of parent who intentionally wants to "keep my children ignorant" - if I were, I wouldn't be on this particular forum. Everything that everyone has said so far I agree with and I fully plan on exposing my children to mythology, in full, when my particular children are at an age and maturity level where I, their mother, feel that they are *ready* for that exposure. My 9 yo is ready, my 7yo and 5yo I'm not sure if they are or not. I completely agree that it is important for them to have this knowledge for understanding of both other cultures and of the underpinnings of our own culture.
With that out of the way, the reason I asked the question was I wondered if there was anyone but me who had wrestled with the question and what others' conclusions were, in particular regarding the question of age of introduction. I was not asking, should I keep my children ignorant of this material until they're eighteen ;)
Perhaps it would help others to understand why I am more worried about this than most folks if I shared a story from my own childhood. I was raised in a thoroughly nonreligious home as a young child. NO exposure whatsoever to ANY religious material of any kind. I really didn't even have much exposure to fairy tales. In third grade I discovered the fairy tale section at our local library and Edith Hamilton's classic Mythology that my mom just had on her shelf. I was enthralled, and I *really* *actually* believed what I was reading to be true! I remember one day during recess at school, running by myself off in a corner of the field, spontaneously raising both arms to the sky and worshiping the sun and Zeus the Father, intentionally and consciously worshiping gods I thought were real. I had a desire to worship. Some folks may think this is a cute little story, and some will think the problem was not my exposure to myth but the fact that I had no parental guidance. For me, having been that child and having that memory, I can't help feeling a little disturbed - a little sad for the child I once was, and a little worried for my own children who are growing up with one parent a Christian and one an agnostic. Perhaps I'm worried where I don't need to be, but I'm just wrestling with my feelings about it.