Born in Germany and raised in the United States, Edith hamilton (1867-1963) was a celebrated classicist and teacher. In this volume, she retells the great stories from Greek mythology (as well as Roman and Norse myths) that are the foundation for much of the literature that we know today. She draws from tales written by ancient Greek writers over 2,000 years ago - Herodotus, Hesiod, Pindar, Homer, Lician, Aeschylus, and others who actually beleived in what they wrote.
These stories reflect a great deal of what the early Greeks, our intellectual forebears, were like. In them, we see their worship of gods made in their own image, their celebration of human beings, their love of rationality, their explanantions of the natural world. From Greek myths, we get an idea of what the Greeks beleived and what they valued. These myths live on in our literature and art today. Knowing and thinking about them is important to our understanding of the rich cultural heritage we have acquired from ancient Greece.
from "About the Author" In Novel Units' teacher guide to Edith Hamilton's Mythology