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Material Detail

Bulfinch’s Mythology

Bulfinch’s Mythology

This is a free, online textbook that is now offered to the general public.  The original purpose of this book was to provide those who read English literature an understanding of the allusions made by others to mythological figures.  The author claimed to have written the stories "adapted to modern taste." 

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More about this material

Material Type:
Open (Access) Textbook
Date Added to MERLOT:
February 18, 2010
Date Modified in MERLOT:
September 2, 2021
Author:
Submitter:
Cathy Swift
Asian American, Native American, Pacific Islander Serving Institution Hispanic Serving Institution
Primary Audience:
College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional
Technical Format:
PDF
Mobile Compatibility:
Not specified at this time
Language:
English
Cost Involved:
No
Source Code Available:
Unknown
Accessibility Information Available:
Unknown
Creative Commons:
Unknown

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Comments

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Rebecca Wall
Rebecca Wall (Faculty)
8 years ago
Thomas Bulfinch lamented that readers in "a practical age like this" (the mid-nineteenth century) had no time to learn ancient languages but could not understand allusions in modern languages because they did not know the stories told by writers like Ovid. His solution was "to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation 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 of education." It worked for me--Bulfinch's Mythology was one of my favorite books as a teenager, and the stories it taught me have served me well in years of reading and teaching literature written in English.