Books with title How the World Began: World Myths

A treasure trove of stories from the ancient world, retold by one of Ireland's greatest storytellers. This classic collection of myths and legends includes stories from all the major ancient civilizations, and some lesser known ones: Egypt and Greece, and Babylon and Rome, alongside Ireland and Iceland, India and Finland, China and Japan, Mexico, Peru and Polynesia. The tales range from creation stories to heroic epics, and feature Isis, Gilgamesh, Hercules and Pandora, to name but a few. This edition faithfully preserves Padraic Colum's original language. His lyrical rhythm and melody represent the very best of traditional storytelling. Includes Padraic Colum's essay, 'The Significance of Mythology'.

Here is a magnificent collection of the world's great myths, culled from the rich mythologies of seventeen peoples and as many civilizations. Religious in origin and poetic in substance, these dramatic myths range from ancient Babylon to the Indian pueblos of America, from the Icelandic gods of the stark northern cold to the Polynesian in the lush settings of the South Seas, tales as different in mood and spirit as the Celtic from the Aztec. Yet the truths they express possess a surprising unity and coherence, particularly when set beside what we hold as truths today. Through his art, Padraic Colum has brought to new life the stories of Osiris, Gilgamesh, (star, Prometheus, Pandora, Apollo, Mars, Cupid, Bran, Math, Loki, Damayanti, Quetzo¬coati and many more to make a magnificent and comprehensive collection. Some of the stories have not been previously accessible. Few of them, certainly, have been so well told before. Boris Artzybasheff's twenty bold and brilliant illustrations enhance the drama of these ancient tales, which have all the terrible beauty and mystic fascination of religion as conceived from the dark beginning in the heart of any race.