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Mythology & Folklore

It's easy to dismiss myths simply as lies. After all, did Apollo really pull the Sun around in a chariot? Did Coyote really create the Indian tribes by flinging a defeated monster in several directions? Did Onamuji really die twice and have to be rescued by his mother? Who on earth is Onamuji? As children of the Enlightenment we have little patience for such absurd stories, condescendingly studying them (if we pay attention at all) as artifacts of primitive societies, or simply transforming them into comic book adventures.

Which is probably exactly what most of the originators of the myths would have wanted, at least the comic book part. As the great Roman poet Ovid demonstrated in his masterful Metamorphoses, myths aren't about telling what actually happened or describing the physical realities of the world so much as they're concerned with renewal, transfiguration and change.

There is a sense in which myths are intended to explain some perplexing aspect of the known world, as when the Scandinavians attributed lightning and thunder to Thor charging around in his goat-drawn chariot. But there's another sense in which it didn't really matter if they believed the stories they told at religious gatherings or by the fire at night; the mythologies of the Greeks, Chinese, Sioux tribes, Congolese and Slavs were all intended to impart to their listeners particular ideas about the world, about justice, about life and death, and about themselves.

Postmodernists like to call this sort of thing metanarrative, a universal story that imparts meaning on the chaos of existence. Men like G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien preferred to call it a search for truth. It was in this sense that Chesterton called the Christian Gospel a Myth—not because it was in any sense not true; quite the opposite, because it is perfectly true. Old mythologies worked hard to discover truth, while the Christian myth (the only completely true myth, as C.S. Lewis would say) is truth.

This is not to undermine the Christian narrative as found in the Bible, nor is it to apotheosize the ancient myths. There's plenty the old mythologists got wrong, and nothing untrue in the Word of God. Not only that, whereas the old myths are complete fabrications, the narrative of Scripture presents real historical events that actually transpired.

What is also true, however, and what is often ignored, is that what the Bible does for real, the myth-writers were trying to do. They wanted understanding, and the often bizarre stories they conjured weren't weird for the sake of weirdness: they were attempts at building a framework that would make sense of everything they knew existed, its origins, and its ultimate destiny.

Folklore shares a similar goal, though it's generally less universal, more homespun and culture-specific. Zeus is a mythic figure; Paul Bunyan is a folk hero. The folk hero is generally a national symbol, a human distillation of the peoples' spirit, someone they can identify with while looking up to them at the same time. Mythology and folklore often merge, especially in places with a long and deep heritage. The United States has no mythology, but its people have developed a rich folklore to make up for it.

At its best, mythology promotes noble conduct, self-sacrifice, and peacefulness. At its worst, it depicts a universe at the hands of capricious deities with appetites only different from ours in that they're bigger, more depraved, more destructive. We don't suggest building a worldview out of ancient myths, but if you have any desire to understand how people of the past thought and what motivated them, we do suggest starting with their stories.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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Active Filters: Mythology, 4th grade (Ages 9-10)
Aeneas: Virgil's Epic Retold for Young Readers
by Emily Frenkel(translator and reteller), Virgil (original text), illustrated by Simon Weller
2015 Reprint from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Stories of Life OSI
by Cynthia Rylant
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$2.00 (3 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Eastern Fairy Tale for 3rd-6th grade
1931 Newbery Medal winner
$5.94 $3.20 (4 in stock)
Cat Who Went to Heaven
by Elizabeth Coatsworth
PF from Collier Books
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$9.34
Children of Odin
by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Willy Pogany
from Macmillan
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
$32.00 (1 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.99 $11.20 (3 in stock)
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
Greek Mythology for 4th-9th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$25.49
D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Audio CD OSI
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from Yearling
Greek Mythology for 4th-8th grade
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths - Memoria Press Package
from Memoria Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Memoria Press Classical Studies (Location: HISCUR-MP)
$64.30
D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
from New York Review of Books
Norse Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$25.46
Demetrius and the Golden Goblet
by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Michael Hague
from Harcourt
for 2nd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Egyptian Myths
by Jacqueline Morley (reteller), illustrated by Giovanni Caselli
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 2nd-5th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
Enchantment Tales for Children
by Margaret Evans Price (reteller & illustrator)
from Rand McNally
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Favorite Greek Myths
by Bob Blaisdell
from Dover Publications
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (1 in stock)
God Beneath the Sea
by Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen, illustrated by Zevi Blum
from Pantheon Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Maya
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
Grain of Rice
by Helena Clare Pittman
from Yearling
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 2nd-4th grade
$6.79 $3.20 (3 in stock)
Greek Gods
by Bernard & Dorothy Evslin, Ned Hoopes, illustrated by William Hunter
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (16 in stock)
Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edouard Sandoz
from Houghton Mifflin
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$9.34 $4.00 (4 in stock)
Greek Myths
by Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 3rd-6th grade
Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge
from Houghton Mifflin
Greek Mythology for 4th-6th grade
Hercules and Other Tales from Greek Myths
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by David Lockhart
from Scholastic Inc.
Greek Mythology for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Heroes of Asgard
by A. & E. Keary
from Yesterday's Classics
$13.56
Iliad (retold)
by Rosemary Sutcliff & Alan Lee
from Frances Lincoln
Greek Mythology for 3rd-8th grade
Imitation in Writing: Greek Myths
Imitation in Writing Series
by Matt Whitling
2nd edition from Logos School
Writing Curriculum for 4th-9th grade
in Imitation in Writing (Location: WRI-LSIW)
$15.00
Imitation in Writing: Greek Myths
Imitation in Writing Series
by Matt Whitling
3rd edition from Logos School
Writing Curriculum for 4th-9th grade
in Imitation in Writing (Location: WRI-LSIW)
$20.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Jason and the Argonauts
by Felicity Brooks (reteller), illustrated by Graham Humphreys
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
Korean Children's Favorite Stories
by Kim So-un, illustrated by Jeong Kyoung-Sim
for 3rd-6th grade
Korean Cinderella
by Shirley Climo & Ruth Heller
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from PaperStar Books
Fairy Tales, Fables, and Legends for 1st-4th grade
1990 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.94 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Macmillan Book of Greek Gods and Heroes
by Alice Low
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
Mythology: Daedalus, Echo and Narcissus, the Fortunate King, Atalanta's Lovers
by Olivia Coolidge & Katharine Pyle, illustrated by Jaclyne Scardova
from Silver Burdett Press
Greek mythology for 4th-6th grade
Norse Gods and Goddesses - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Jeff A. Menges
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Literary & Fantasy Coloring Books (Location: COL-LIT)
$4.24
Norse Myths
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-8th grade
Norse Myths
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-8th grade
Odin's Family
by Neil Philip, illustrated by Maryclare Foa
from Orchard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Odyssey (retold)
Puffin Classics
by Geraldine McCaughrean retells Homer
Puffin Classics from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.34
Odyssey Graphic Novel
by Homer, adapted by Gareth Hinds
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$16.99 $9.60 (1 in stock)
Rise of the Thunderer
by Tom Galt, illustrated by John Mackey
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Tales from Japan
by Helen & William McAlpine
from Oxford University
for 4th-6th grade
Tales from the Mabinogion
by Gwyn Thomas and Kevin Crossley-Holland
from Overlook Press
for 4th-Adult
Tales of a Korean Grandmother
by Frances Carpenter
from Tuttle Publishing
Eastern Fairy Tales for 1st-6th grade
Tales of Troy and Greece
by Andrew Lang
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-6th grade
$14.41
Tales of Troy and Greece
by Andrew Lang
from Wordsworth Editions
for 3rd-6th grade
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Tanglewood Tales
Windermere Series 1
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tanglewood Tales
Windermere Series 2
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tanglewood Tales
Windermere Series 3
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tanglewood Tales
Windermere Series 4
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Thunder of the Gods
by Dorothy Hosford, illustrated by Claire & George Louden
from Henry Holt and Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Trojan War
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edouard Sandoz
from Houghton Mifflin
Mythology for 4th-6th grade
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Urashima and the Kingdom Beneath the Sea
by Ralph F. McCarthy
from Kodansha
for 4th-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne Greek Myths
by Heather Amery
from Usborne
for 2nd-3rd grade
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Usborne Illustrated Guide to Greek Myths and Legends
by Rodney Matthews
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Usborne Illustrated Guide to Greek Myths and Legends
by Rodney Matthews
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Viking Tales
by Jennie Hall
from Living Book Press
for 1st-4th grade
$7.64
Weaving of a Dream
by Marilee Heyer
Reissue from Puffin Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Wonder Book
Windermere Series 1
by Nathaniel Hawthorne, illustrated by Milo Winter
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wonder Book
Windermere Series 2
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wonder Book
Windermere Series 3
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wonder Book
Windermere Series 4
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Wonder Smith and His Son
by Ella Young, illustrated by Boris Artzybasheff
2025 Reprint from Unknown Publisher
for 3rd-6th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
$9.99
Yu the Great Conquering the Flood
by Paul D. Storrie
from Graphic Universe
for 3rd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
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