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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, 6th grade (Ages 11-12)
Adventures of Ulysses
World Landmark #40
by Gerald Gottlieb, illustrated by Steele Savage
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
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)
Atlantis Rising
by Robert Sullivan, drawings by Glenn Wolff
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-12th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Aztec and Maya Myths
by Karl Taube
from British Museum Press
for 6th-12th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beautiful Stories of Life OSI
by Cynthia Rylant
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 4th-7th grade
Bulfinch's Medieval Mythology
Dover Thrift Editions
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Dover Publications
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$8.50
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)
Classical Mythology & More
by Marianthe Colakis and Mary Joan Masello
from Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Classical Literature Guides (Location: LIR-CLA)
$15.00 (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
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)
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
Heroes & Monsters Of Greek Myth
by Bernard Evslin, Dorthy Evslin, ned Hoopes
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-7th grade
$2.00 (1 in stock)
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
Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: Age of Fable
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Macmillan
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: Legends of Charlemagne
by Thomas Bulfinch
from Macmillan
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Illustrated Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Chivalry
by Thomas Bulfinch, illustrated by Giovanni Caselli
from Macmillan
for 6th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
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
King of Men
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Ellen Raskin
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Korean Children's Favorite Stories
by Kim So-un, illustrated by Jeong Kyoung-Sim
for 3rd-6th grade
Legends of the North
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Edouard Sandoz
from Houghton Mifflin
Norse Myths for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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
Myths and Folk Tales Around the World
by Robert R. Potter
from Globe Book Company
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Myths of Greece and Rome
by H. A. Guerber, revised by Dorothy Margaret Stuart
Revised edition, 1960 printing from George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Myths of the Norsemen
Puffin Classics
by Roger Lancelyn Green
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.64
Myths of the Norsemen
by H.A. Guerber
from Dover Publications
for 6th-10th grade
$12.71
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)
Starry River of the Sky
by Grace Lin
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-7th grade
$10.19
Story of Siegfried
by James Baldwin, illustrated by Peter Hurd
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Story of Siegfried
by James Baldwin, illustrated by Peter Hurd
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
$16.95
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 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)
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
Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys OSI
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
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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