Mythology by Edith Hamilton
"Mythology" by Edith Hamilton is a widely acclaimed introduction to Greek, Roman, and Norse myths, published in 1942. Aimed at general readers rather than specialists, the book is noted for its eloquent storytelling and absence of footnotes, allowing the myths to resonate without extensive commentary. Hamilton’s primary focus is on Greek mythology, aligning with her belief that these legends reflect profound truths, while her treatment of Roman sources is limited and she provides only a brief overview of Norse mythology. The text is structured by summarizing each myth’s plot and occasionally analyzing its significance, showcasing the literary sources predominantly from classical Greek authors like Homer and Hesiod. While Hamilton's work has been instrumental in popularizing classical studies, particularly among women, it presents traditional perspectives on gender roles reflective of its time. Despite her influence as a pioneering educator, Hamilton's insights do not challenge the established norms of her era, instead portraying male figures more prominently than female deities and heroes. Overall, "Mythology" serves as both an accessible entry point into ancient legends and a reflection of the cultural values surrounding its creation.
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Subject Terms
Mythology by Edith Hamilton
First published: 1942
Type of work: Literary criticism
Form and Content
In 1958, when Edith Hamilton was ninety-one years old, Life magazine declared her to be the world’s “greatest living woman classicist.” One of the reasons for this extraordinary tribute was Hamilton’s publication, more than fifteen years earlier, of Mythology, a popular account of Greek, Roman, and Norse legends. Unlike many handbooks of classical mythology, Hamilton’s work was intended for the general reader rather than for specialists in the field. Mythology contains no footnotes and extremely little commentary, in accordance with Hamilton’s view that myths should be allowed to speak for themselves. Moreover, Hamilton’s focus in the book remained firmly fixed upon literature: She tended to exclude any legend that was not treated in antiquity by a major author of epic, lyric, or tragic poetry.
Almost immediately after its publication, Mythology gained the reputation of being a readable and highly eloquent introduction to the legends of antiquity. The book proved to be especially popular with high school students, the very age group that Hamilton had taught for twenty-six years while she was headmistress of the Bryn Mawr School for Girls in southeastern Pennsylvania (1896-1922). Although it is nominally about legends from all over the world, Mythology clearly reflects Hamilton’s primary interest in the Greeks, a society that she regarded as a model for later peoples. Hamilton relies upon Roman sources only when Greek equivalents are not available, and her section on Norse mythology is extremely brief. Hamilton devotes relatively little attention to the myths preserved by the Roman poet Ovid (43 b.c.e.-c. 17 c.e.) in his epic poem the Metamorphoses. Hamilton argued that, to Ovid as to most other Roman authors, myths were “sheer nonsense,” stories told not because the writers believed in them but because they were entertaining. Ovid’s approach thus tended to reduce mythology to the status of mere fable, according to Hamilton. For her own sources, she preferred classical Greek authors, especially Homer, Hesiod, and Aeschylus, who still accepted myths as fact and saw in them a source of eternal truth.
Hamilton uses a single principle of organization throughout Mythology. After a brief discussion of a myth’s literary sources—usually set off from the rest of the text in italics—she summarizes the plot of the story in some detail. On a few occasions, she concludes the myth with a brief analysis of its importance or possible origin. Certain legends (including those of Arachne, Orion, and Sisyphus) that Hamilton regards as insignificant are condensed to a paragraph and presented alphabetically in a concluding chapter.
Since Hamilton was less familiar with German sources than with classical texts, she confines her section on Norse mythology to two major stories and an overview of the principal gods of northern Europe. This section of Mythology also includes a discussion of cultural differences between the Greeks and the Scandinavians. The Norse outlook, Hamilton argues, was far gloomier than that of the Greeks. The classical authors, she continues, also developed a more dignified view of the human condition than did their German counterparts.
Context
Edith Hamilton saw herself neither as a feminist nor as a leading figure in advancing the cause of women. Nevertheless, by earning her reputation as a learned, eloquent, and successful teacher in a discipline largely dominated by men, Hamilton began to attract large numbers of women to the study of the classics. Both as head-mistress of the Bryn Mawr School—the first women’s high school in the country with an exclusively college preparatory curriculum—and then, after her retirement, as the author of The Greek Way (1930), The Roman Way (1942), and Mythology, Hamilton devoted her entire life to introducing young students to the challenges and rewards of studying classical civilization.
Little in Mythology can be regarded as written from a feminist perspective. In fact, Hamilton’s presentation of men’s and women’s roles in the book is highly traditional. For example, in her account of the myth of Demeter, Hamilton explains that women would naturally have been drawn to the devotion of this earth-mother goddess because of their domestic roles on the farm. While men were occupied with war or hunting, she says, women would have been close to nature, tending the fields and performing “every humble act that made the farm fruitful.” These views are indicative of the time in which Mythology was written. The greater attention that Hamilton devotes to such male figures as Zeus, Hercules, and Siegfried, rather than to such female characters as Hera, Atalanta, and Brynhild, results not necessarily from Hamilton’s own preferences but from the values of the societies that produced these stories. In her own life, Hamilton was a pioneer in advancing the academic reputation of women and securing the higher education of her female students.
Bibliography
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology. New York: Modern Library, 1934. The most popular handbook on mythology before Hamilton, this book originally appeared as three separate works: The Age of Fable (1855), The Age of Chivalry (1858), and Legends of Charlemagne (1863). Bulfinch was the first to produce the modern compendium of legends that Hamilton updated in Mythology.
Edman, Irwin. “Mythology: Western Imagination in the Making.” The Nation 155, no. 12 (September 19, 1942): 239-240. An analysis of Mythology shortly after its publication, this article treats Hamilton as a “Bulfinch for our time.” Edman discusses Hamilton’s view of myths as explanations of natural events.
Edmunds, Lowell, ed. Approaches to Greek Myth. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. A thorough discussion of various theories of myth interpretation and the origins of Greek mythology. An excellent supplement to Mythology.
Hallett, Judith P. “Edith Hamilton 1867-1963.” Classical Outlook 70 (1993): 56-57. This brief portrait of Hamilton, written by a woman classicist, provides a summary of the scholar’s life and offers a brief critique of her works.
Hamilton, Edith. “Aged Lover of Ancients.” Life 45, no. 11 (September 15, 1958): 76-80. This interview with Hamilton, conducted when she was ninety-one, examines the author’s belief that Greek society emphasized the individual, whereas modern society emphasizes “the masses.” In it, Hamilton also contrasts the impact that women are able to have in the modern world to their limited role in ancient Greece.
Reid, Doris Fielding. Edith Hamilton: An Intimate Portrait. New York: W. W. Norton, 1967. A full-length biography of Hamilton, written by her close friend and companion of more than forty years.
Sebeok, Thomas A., ed. Myth: A Symposium. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1958. This compendium of nine essays explores various theories about the origins of mythology and the interpretations of particular legends. Contributions are generally made by experts in the field, including Claude Lévi-Strauss on structuralism, Stith Thompson on mythic story patterns, Philip Wheelwright on semantics, and Lord Raglan on ritual.
Stoddard, Hope. “Edith Hamilton.” In Famous American Women. New York: Crowell, 1970. This profile of Hamilton explores the author’s developing interest in the classics, the reasons she began writing, and her belief in the Greek ideal of “excellence.”