Mythology

[Chris in PA]

I am considering a mythology course for my dd. I would need to design it for her. Does anyone have some suggestions for a spine, works to cover, any supplements to use? I appreciate any help.

 

Thanks

[Jane in NC]

Perhaps you will want to consider having your daughter take the Medusa Mythology Exam. (Note: the National Mythology Exam is for students in grades 6 - 9. The Medusa is far more comprehensive.)

 

You can download the syllabus for the 2011 Medusa here. This year's theme is “Old School Olympians.†Questions will focus on the myths about and stories involving Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Hestia and Hades.

 

Suggested study materials are provided on the website.

 

You may also want to consider The Teaching Company's mythology class with Vandiver--or any of her ancient literature lectures for that matter.

[flyingiguana]

Edith Hamilton's Mythology? It does an overview, while citing where a lot of the stories come from (if I remember correctly).

 

Vandiver's lectures are great. Get them from the library, if you can. Teaching Company is kind of overpriced. There is, now and then, the mention of sex, so be prepared if that will bother you. We've also been through her lectures on Greek theater, Herodotus, and The Iliad. They both also cover a lot of mythology material. (I suspect The Odyssey one does too.)

 

I don't know how this is, but there might be some good resources:

http://www.outreach.washington.edu/openuw/asp/transform.asp?course=Greekmyth&xml=greekmyth_intro1

 

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/literature/21l-707-arthurian-literature-and-celtic-colonization-spring-2005/

 

The MIT site has lots of courses. You might find something there that's more helpful than this one. Many have reading lists, even if they don't have actual lectures.

 

You could try reading some of Joseph Campbell (The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is one example) because he does cover more than just classical Greek mythology. However, he tends to tell the stories in bits and pieces and he couches it in a lot of Freudian theory which I've found a little tiresome. He's also more popular than scholarly. In other words, I don't know that he's taken very seriously in professional mythology circles.

 

There is an abridged version of The Golden Bough which covers world mythology in a fairly exhaustive way, but the interpretations may be a little outdated (?). It's probably not something I'd give to a high schooler unless they were really interested. It just goes on and on....

 

I mentioned the last 2 because I'm trying to come up with something that covers more than Greek mythology. I'm kind of drawing a blank, though. You could just read mythology from other cultures and not worry about lectures or readings on the material. I don't have a good list, though. I know it's been talked about before on this forum. I wonder if a search would pull anything up.

Edited September 12, 2010 by flyingiguana

[Kareni]

There were some good suggestions in this thread:

 

Mythology..anyone study this?

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Alphabetika]

Edith Hamilton!

[pqr]

Ovid's Metamorphoses

Campbell's The Power of Myth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Frazer's The Golden Bough

Bullfinch's Mythology

Homer's Odyssey and Iliad.

[flyingiguana]

Most of the suggestions have been for classical mythology (of Greece).

 

Padraic Colum did a children's version of Norse myths:

The Children of Odin

 

I also ran into this website, which might have some ideas:

http://www.timelessmyths.com/norse/