Ancient Myths

The ancient Romans have one of the richest collections of myths of all the early civilizations. In this book you can discover all the most important Roman gods, important Roman myths, the history of Rome, and much more.

An undeniable masterpiece of Western Civilization, The Metamorphoses is a continuous narrative that covers all the Olympian legends, seamlessly moving from one story to another in a splendid panorama of savage beauty, charm, and wit. All of the gods and heroes familiar to us are represented. Such familiar legends as Hercules, Perseus and Medusa, Daedelus and Icarus, Diana and Actaeon, and many others, are breathtakingly recreated.

Discover Ancient Greece and Rome like never before with this compendium that begins with creation myth of Uranus and Gaea and includes descriptions and tales of gods both major and minor, as well as mythical creatures and other divinities. Author and scholar E.M. Berens also details how the people of ancient Greece and Rome worshiped, covering sacred sites and customs, as well as their significance. Berens's seminal work offers something for anyone interested in Greek and Roman mythology, whether they are just beginning to learn or are looking to add to already established knowledge.

Gelya is a Vessel, a girl who channels the word of the One True God through song. Cloistered with the other Vessels of her faith, she believes - as all Ovinists do - that a saint imprisoned Elath the Great Demon centuries ago, saving humanity from temptation. When Gelya stumbles into a deadly cover-up by the Ovinists’ military, she reluctantly teams up with Tavik, an enemy soldier, to survive. Tavik believes that Elath is actually a mother goddess who must be set free, but while he succeeds in opening her prison, he inadvertently turns Gelya into Elath’s unwilling human vessel.

Space is vast, but rarely do we think that time is vast, too. Are we the first to visit Earth? Are we the only ones to ever do so? Since ancient times there have been strange stories of strange visitors from the stars. Ancient man often referred to these beings as gods and goddesses, but with a more modern perspective, many have begun to see these age-old myths and legends much differently. One of the most remarkable new interpretations is the ancient astronaut theory.

Unveil the secrets of an ancient civilization renowned for its mystique and splendor through E.A. Wallis Budge’s unabridged collection. This expertly curated trilogy, featuring Legends of the Gods, Egyptian Magic, and The Book of the Dead, invites you to explore the depths of Egyptian mythology, magic, and the afterlife.

Have you ever felt drawn to the allure of Celtic mythology but found it difficult to navigate through the vast and often fragmented collection of stories and legends? The complex web of Celtic myths, with their intricate genealogies and regional variations, can be a daunting challenge to unravel. Fear not! This comprehensive book understands your desire for clarity and provides the perfect solution.

Two thousand years ago, 967 Jewish men, women, and children reportedly took their own lives rather than surrender to the Roman army. This dramatic event, which took place on top of Masada, a barren and windswept mountain overlooking the Dead Sea, spawned a powerful story of Jewish resistance that came to symbolize the embattled modern State of Israel. Jodi Magness, an archaeologist who has excavated at Masada, explains what happened there, how we know it, and how recent developments might change understandings of the story.

Award-winning storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith breathes life (albeit a wizened Texan version) into the old Greek myths. With her incurable Texas drawl, she spins the Greek myths as you've never heard them before, rendering them 99% more fun while retaining 100% of their original insights into the crooked ways of the human heart and the no less crooked ways of the ancient Greek gods.

The book contains the myths about the "Heroes" set out on the works of Hesiod, Ovid, Aeschylus, Homer, Moschus, Sophocles, Pausanias, Pindar, Euripides.

Greek mythology continues to appear in popular movies and books today, but have you ever wondered about where these characters started out? Discover the origins of your favorite characters from Greek mythology with this collection of profiles to tell you who’s who in classical lore! In Greek Mythology, you will discover the backstories of the heroes, villains, gods, and goddesses that enjoy popularity in today’s shows and films.

You may have studied the ancient Persian Empire in school, but have you ever wondered what kinds of stories the ancient Persians told to themselves and their children? The roots of Persian myth extend back more than five thousand years to the culture of the Aryan people who migrated into Iran from India. Ideas from this ancient culture have enjoyed amazing longevity and are alive even today as part of the Zoroastrian faith, which is still practiced in Iran, India, and several other places around the world.

Philosophy, art, democracy, language, even computers—the glories of Greek civilization have shaped our world even more profoundly than we realize. Pericles and the Parthenon may be familiar, but what of Epaminondas, the Theban general who saved the Greek world from Spartan tyranny? Alexander the Great's fame has rolled down the centuries, but the golden Hellenistic Age that followed is largely forgotten. "Byzantine" conjures decadence and deadly intrigue, yet the thousand-year empire that ruled from Constantinople and saved Europe twice from invasion was, in fact, Greek.

The book contains myths of the Trojan cycle outlined by the poem of Homer's "Iliad," the tragedies of Sophocles, poems of Virgil, Ovid's "Heroines", and fragments of other works.

Before time as we know it began, gods and goddesses lived in the city of Asgard. Odin All Father crossed the Rainbow Bridge to walk among men in Midgard. Thor defended Asgard with his mighty hammer. Mischievous Loki was constantly getting into trouble with the other gods, and dragons and giants walked free. This collection of Norse sagas retold by author Padraic Colum gives us a sense of that magical time when the world was filled with powers and wonders we can hardly imagine.

The siege of Troy has lasted almost ten years. Inside the walled city, food is becoming scarce and the death toll is rising. From the heights of Mount Olympus, the gods keep watch.

Many ancient civilizations have influenced and inspired people in the 21st century. The Greeks and Romans continue to fascinate the West today. But of all the world's civilizations, none have intrigued people more than the Mayans, whose culture, astronomy, language, and mysterious disappearance all continue to captivate people. In 2012 especially, there was a renewed focus on the Mayans, whose advanced calendar led many to speculate the world would end on the same date the Mayan calendar ends.

Greek myths and legends have inspired men and women around the world for hundreds of years. The stories of Apollo, Perseus, Achilles, and others have sustained the imaginations of old and young alike, even into the present. In fact, characters of Greek myth and legend have found their way into mainstream culture in the form of popular television and film characters. Greek mythology was so influential that even formed the basis of Roman myth. Here, you will be exposed to the exciting tales of gods and heroes that formed the canon of the ancient Greek religion.

Do you know that the Sumerians believed that: The moon was actually a god child conceived unintentionally by the God Enlil and a maid? Or that humans were first created to do the chores on earth for the Gods and Goddesses? The ancient Sumerians lived a difficult life, and this is reflected in their myths. However, also reflected in their stories is their love for justice and the values which they most supported, among them beauty, honor, and truthfulness.

Greek myths were full of powerful witches, unpredictable gods and sword-wielding slayers. They were also extreme: about families who turn murderously on each other; impossible tasks set by cruel kings; love that goes wrong; wars and journeys and terrible loss. There was magic, there was shape-shifting, there were monsters, there were descents to the land of the dead. Humans and immortals inhabited the same world, which was sometimes perilous, sometimes exciting.