Edith Hamilton – Monday 12 August 1867 – Friday 31 May 1963

Introduction

I have always enjoyed the mythology presented in various cultures around the world, but I have especially loved the stories of the Greek and Roman Gods and Goddesses. Not exactly sure what about them appeals to me. Perhaps it is the adventures and exploits they have with each other and humans; or their amazing abilities and recognizable flaws; or maybe it is simply that they are immortal and I found that completely intriguing. In any case, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, is a wonderful book full of the myths surrounding the deities of an earlier time and in a fantastical place.

Excerpt from The Lesser Gods of Olympus in Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

“THE GRACES were three Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne (Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer). They were the daughters of Zeus and Eurynome, a child of the Titan, Ocean. Except in a story Homer and Hesiod tell, that Aglaia married Hephaestus, they are not treated as separate personalities, but always together, a triple incarnation of grace and beauty. The gods delighted in them when they danced enchantingly to Apollo’s lyre, and the man they visited was happy. They “give life its bloom.” Together with their companions, the Muses, they were “queens of song,” and no banquet without them could please.

THE MUSES were nine in number, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Memory. At first, like the Graces, they were not distinguished from each other. “They are all,” Hesiod says, “of one mind, their hearts are set upon song and their spirit is free from care. He is happy whom the Muses love. For though a man has sorrow and grief in his soul, yet when the servant of the Muses sings, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles. Such is the holy gift of the Muses to men.”

In later times each had her own special field. Clio was Muse of history, Urania of astronomy, Melpomene of tragedy, Thalia of comedy, Terpsichore of the dance, Calliope of epic poetry, Erato of love-poetry, Polyhymnia of songs to the gods, Euterpe of lyric poetry.”


Yesterday’s writer – Mollie Gregory
Tomorrow’s writer – Lorraine Hansberry

Source: Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Mentor Books, 1963. Excerpt: page 37

Images:
Left: Front cover of my personal copy of Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Center: Edith Hamilton from the back cover of my personal copy of Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes