Quotes from book
Mythology

Mythology
Edith Hamilton

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is a book written by Edith Hamilton, published in 1942 by Little, Brown and Company. It has been reissued since then by several publishers, including its 75th anniversary illustrated edition. It retells stories of Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology drawn from a variety of sources. The introduction includes commentary on the major classical poets used as sources, and on how changing cultures have led to changing characterizations of the deities and their myths. It is frequently used in high schools and colleges as an introductory text to ancient mythology and belief.

Edith Hamilton photo

“Love and the Soul (for that is what Psyche means) had sought and, after sore trials, found each other; and that union could never be broken. (Cupid and Psyche)”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Edith Hamilton photo

“Love cannot live where there is no trust.”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Edith Hamilton photo

“The mind knows only what lies near the heart.”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Edith Hamilton photo

“Love, however, cannot be forbidden. The more that flame is covered up, the hotter it burns. Also love can always find a way. It was impossible that these two whose hearts were on fire should be kept apart. (Pyramus and Thisbe)”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Edith Hamilton photo

“The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

Edith Hamilton photo

“The greatest hero of Greece was Hercules. He was a personage of quite another order from the great hero of Athens, Theseus. He was what all Greece, except Athens, most admired. The Athenians were different from the other Greeks, and their hero therefore was different. Theseus was, of course, bravest of the brave, as all heroes are; but, unlike other heroes, he was as compassionate as he was brave, and a man of great intellect as well as great bodily strength. It was natural that the Athenians should have such a hero, because they valued thought and ideas, as no other part of the country did. In Theseus their ideal was embodied. But Hercules embodied what the rest of Greece most valued. His qualities were those the Greeks in general honored and admired. Except for unflinching courage, they were not those that distinguished Theseus. Hercules was the strongest man on earth, and he had the supreme self-confidence magnificent physical strength gives. He considered himself on an equality with the gods.”

Edith Hamilton book Mythology

Source: Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes (1942), Ch. 11

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