Here are some of our favorite mythology-related books and select articles from our own home library. We first list general books about mythology and then works by categories, some of them conceptual and others concerning the mythologies of various geographies and times. We don't list published texts of particular myths, except for some compilations. Our aim is not to be exhaustive but to provide a selective list of works that we consider to be most useful for research in each category. Within each category, we list the works alphabetically by author's last name, or by title if a name is lacking. We will update and expand this list as we go along, so we welcome suggestions regarding additional books and articles to include.
General Books and Articles on Mythology
David J. Burrows et al, eds., Myths and Motifs in Literature - A compilation of excerpts from ancient and modern myths and works of literature, organized around 15 important motifs with several examples of each. Introductory chapter contains essays explaining the underlying theory. Glossary and selected bibliography at the end.
Joseph Campbell, Historical Atlas of World Mythology - A well-illustrated masterpiece in two volumes, focusing respectively on the mythologies of hunter-gatherers and of early agricultural societies. Volume One is The Way of the Animal Powers, in two parts, and Volume Two is The Way of the Seeded Earth, in three parts.
Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God - A four-volume set covering world myths from myth's beginnings through the present day. The volumes are: Primitive Mythology; Oriental Mythology; Occidental Mythology; and Creative Mythology. The information is dated in some places, but the work remains immensely valuable and insightful.
Joseph Campbell, The Mythic Image - A well-illustrated general discussion of myth revolving around mythological images.
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth - The famous interviews of Campbell by Bill Moyers on Public Television in book form, including much material not included on television.
Joseph Campbell, Transformations of Myth Through Time - A series of lectures by Campbell on various mythological subjects, with illustrations. The lectures are also available on video.
Laurence Coupe, Myth - Discusses approaches to myths and some of the basic questions addressed in myths.
William Doty, Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals - A magisterial study of the methodologies that mythologists and other scholars employ to interpret myths. Essential for the serious student.
Mirccea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return - Discusses how worldwide myths revolve around a culture's fundamental creation myth and the human need to periodically return to and re-experience that sacred modality.
G.S. Kirk, Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient & Other Cultures - Written by a famous classicist, discusses mythological theories as applied mainly to myths of the ancient Near East and ancient Greece.
Samuel Noah Kramer, ed., Mythologies of the Ancient World - Helpful set of introductory essays covering the myths of the ancient Near East, Iran, Egypt, Canaan, Greece, India, China, Japan, and Mexico.
Claude Levi-Strauss, "The Structural Study of Myth," Journal of American Folklore 86:428-44 (1955) - This contains his classic statement of his structuralist theory of myth, later applied in more detail in his book, Structural Anthropology.
Bronislaw Malinowski, Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays - The title essay contains his classic treatment of the functionalist perspective on myth, focusing on pre-literate cultures.
Jaan Puhvel, Comparative Mythology - Useful survey of bodies of myths over time and geographies.
Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction - A short introduction to mythological studies focusing on the various approaches/schools of mythology and the relationship of myth to other disciplines in humanities and social sciences.
Robert A. Segal, ed., Theorizing about Myth - Valuable collection of essays comparing approaches to myths.
General Reference Works (subject-specific dictionaries are below)
Udo Becker, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols - Short entries without references, but still a useful work.
Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons & the Meanings Behind Them - An excellent reference with medium-sized entries and taking a more analytical approach.
J.E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols - A standard and insightful work.
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend - The most comprehensive dictionary out there, including some long entries that are essays on particular topics such as summaries of bodies of mythology and folklore.
J.C. Cooper, Dictionary of Symbolic and Mythological Animals - A useful reference focusing on animals and hybrid beasts and birds that appear in myths.
Jane Garry and Hasan El-Shamy, eds., Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature - A useful compilation and review of a few dozen common mythological motifs, organized around the much larger classic Motif-Index of Folk Literature by Stith Thompson. Has bibliography for each entry.
James Hall, Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art - Focusing on symbols that appear in art and iconography.
Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore - Short entries but many of them, and some illustrations. A useful starting point for items not found elsewhere.
The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology - A well-illustrated reference work categorized by the mythologies of various cultures.
Ami Ronnberg, ed., The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images - A handsome, recent edition with a page or so about each symbol in small print with accompanying images on the opposite page. Some bibliography for each symbol.
Creation Myths
David Leeming with Margaret Leeming, A Dictionary of Creation Myths - Short accounts of creation myths and subjects of and characters in creation myths.
Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: Creation Myths from Around the World - Well-chosen collection of global creation myths, both original texts and retellings.
Marie-Louise Von Franz, Creation Myths (revised edition) - Written from the depth psychology perspective, covers the psychological basis of creation myths and several examples from world mythology.
See also Allen; Blenkinsopp; Clifford; and Westermann below
The Hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces - The classic, groundbreaking study on the subject.
Keiron Le Grice, The Rebirth of the Hero - Discussing the hero quest's meaning for us in the modern world.
Goddess Studies
Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image - Detailed and well-illustrated discussion of various goddesses and goddess myths from the ancient Near East, Egypt, and Europe and the Mediterranean.
Sandra Billington and Miranda Green, eds., The Concept of the Goddess - Collection of essays on goddesses in various mythologies, each with bibliography.
Joseph Campbell, Goddesses; Mysteries of the Feminine Divine - A series of Campbell lectures on goddesses and the feminine edited into a cohesive book version. Click here to buy it.
Christine Downing, The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine - An interesting personalized encounter with various goddesses from a depth psychology perspective.
Cynthia Eller, The Myth of Patriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won't Give Women a Future - Challenges the notion of a politico-societal matriarchy based on the evidence.
Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess - Written more from an archaeological than mythological studies perspective, it provides a detailed and well illustrated account of goddess symbols that appear in myths and goddess iconography.
Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris, eds., Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence - Stimulating collection of essays by scholars about various ancient goddesses, often critical of traditional assumptions in the goddess literature.
Edwin James, The Cult of the Mother-Goddess: An Archeological and Documentary Study - Focuses on the ancient Near East with some attention to other cultures.
Erich Neumann, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype - Written from the depth psychological perspective, discusses the evolution of the goddess image in the human psyche. It compliments his earlier Origins and History of Consciousness, mentioned below.
See also Roberts below.
Depth Psychology and Mythology
Carl G. Jung, ed., Man and His Symbols - A valuable collection of essays by Jung and others on mythological symbols, focusing on their ties to modern humans and society.
Erich Neumann, The Origins and History of Consciousness - The groundbreaking study of how the path of our unconscious into ego consciousness has affected the development of mythology.
Robert A. Segal, ed., Jung on Mythology - A valuable compilation of extracts from Jung's writings outlining his views on various topics in mythology. Also includes extracts from Erich Neumann, Marie-Louise Von Franz, and James Hillman discussing Jung's views on mythology.
Dennis Patrick Slattery and Glen Slater, eds., Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture - Collection of insightful essays on mythological topics by authors with a depth psychology background.
Ken Wilber, Up from Eden - Modern treatment of the relationship between the evolution of human consciousness and the myths we live by.
Classical Mythology
Walter Burkert, Greek Religion. An erudite treatment of Greek religion and mythology.
E.R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational - A famous look at the irrational side of the Greek psyche that produced myths and symbols.
Edward F. Edinger, The Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology - A valuable take on the myths from the perspective of depth psychology, with insights into the relevance of the myths for people today.
Fritz Graf, Greek Mythology: An Introduction - A good and manageable introduction to the subject.
Robert Graves, The Greek Myths - A quirky and fascinating look into the myths and their characters; but quirky and not always reliable.
W.K.C. Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion - The classic study of the Orpheus myth.
Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion - A classic work and essential reading in order to understand pre-Olympian Greek mythology and the Olympian changes.
Jane Ellen Harrison, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion - Another classic work by Harrison, oriented more toward myth and society.
Carl Kerenyi, The Gods of the Greeks - A classic work on Greek deities and myths.
Carl Kerenyi, Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life - A classic study of the god and related myths.
Mark. P.O. Morford and Robert J. Lenardon, Classical Mythology (8th edition) - Detailed and comprehensive textbook account of the myths, quoting extensively from the original sources.
Dora and Erwin Panofsky, Pandora's Box: The Changing Aspects of a Mythical Symbol - A classic study of the myth.
Canaanite and Biblical/Hebrew Mythology
Bernard W. Anderson, Creation Versus Chaos: The Reinterpretation of Mythical Symbolism in the Bible - A valuable study of how the biblical creation myths relate to other material in the Hebrew Bible, with special attention to the tension between creation and chaos.
Bernard Batto, Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition - A groundbreaking study of the archetypal dragon fight creation myth as it appears at various points in the Hebrew Bible.
Joseph Blenkinsopp, Creation, Uncreation, Re-Creation - An up-to-date and insightful treatment of the biblical creation and flood myths.
Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic - A classic analysis of the roots of biblical accounts in Canaanite myths.
John Day, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan - A valuable study of biblical appropriation of Canaanite deities and mythology. Is an update to and, to some extent, a response to William Foxwell Albright's earlier classic, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan.
Arthur George and Elena George, The Mythology of Eden - Our own book with illustrations, examining the biblical creation and Adam and Eve stories from a mythological perspective, covering also the goddess Asherah. Click here to buy it.
Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis - An entertaining but speculative and unreliable work, but we include it because it is well-known, entertaining, and still contains many valuable insights and references.
Hermann Gunkel, Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton - The classic study by the great German biblical scholar, focusing on mythology in Genesis and Revelation.
Jon D. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence - A terrific treatment of the interrelationship between creation, chaos and the phenomenon of evil.
Susah Niditch, Chaos to Cosmos: Studies in Biblical Patterns of Creation - A short, insightful study of the subject.
Raphael Patai, The Hebrew Goddess (3rd revised edition) - Useful introduction to goddesses in ancient Israelite culture and later Judaism.
Henricus Renckens, Israel's Concept of the Beginning - A somewhat dated but still valuable description of the Israelite world view pertaining to creation.
Mark Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel - A valuable scholarly history of the rise of Yahweh and of the other deities he had to deal with.
Claus Westermann, Creation - Short, insightful treatment of the biblical creation accounts by a famous German biblical scholar.
See also Gray, below.
Ancient Near Eastern Mythology (Mesopotamia)
Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary - A handy reference work with many illustrations.
Richard J. Clifford, Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and the Bible - Good scholarly survey of creation accounts of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and the Israelites.
Stephanie Dalley, ed., Myths from Mesopotamia - A compact translation of the principal Mesopotamian myths with notes and commentary.
John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology - A well illustrated introduction to the myths of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Israel.
S.H. Hooke, Middle Eastern Mythology - Useful introductory summary of Mesopotamian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Hebrew, and Egyptian mythology.
Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion - A classic treatment of the subject by a leading scholar.
E.O. James, Myth and Ritual in the Ancient Near East - A valuable survey by a prominent scholar, covering Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Greece.
Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology - The pathbreaking book on the subject by one of the leading Sumer experts of the 20th century. The translations and analyses are now somewhat dated, but the book remains an essential introduction to the subject.
Gwendolyn Leick, A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology - A useful reference work with some illustrations and bibliography.
Egyptian Mythology
James Allen, Genesis in Egypt - A valuable work that pieces together Egyptian ideas on creation from the numerous relevant texts, written by a prominent Egyptologist and linguist.
R.T. Rundle Clark, Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt - A wonderful analysis with many illustrations.
Henri Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion - A short treatment with many interesting insights, no illustrations.
Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many - A valuable, insightful treatment of the subject.
Manfred Lurker, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt - A helpful reference work with illustrations.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction - A helpful basic introduction.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt - A combination of a general survey and dictionary-type entries and glossary for the principle deities and concepts, with some bibliography.
Stephen Quirke, Ancient Egyptian Religion - A good survey by a prominent scholar, with good illustrations.
Alison Roberts, Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient Egypt - An interesting and thoughtful take on goddesses and serpent power in Egyptian myth.
Richard H. Wilkinson, TheComplete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Introductory chapters followed by dictionary entries. A beautiful edition with numerous illustrations, many in color.
See also Rudolph Anthes essay in Kramer, ed., above. Warning: Do not use Budge for translations or anything!
Mythologies of Asia
Alain Danielou, The Myths and Gods of India - The classic work by a French scholar.
Cornelia Dimmit and J.A.B. van Buitenen, eds. and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas - A valuable compilation of Hindu myths focusing on the Puranas.
Akira Sadakata, Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins - Excellent overview of the conceptual cosmological background to Buddhist and other Asian myths.
E.T.C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China - An early 20th-century classic that still reads well.
Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization - A classic study edited by Joseph Campbell, with numerous illustrations in the back.
Norse, Icelandic, and Celtic Mythology
Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings - A well-rounded retelling of the standard myths, with an introductory chapter for background.
Peter Berresford Ellis, Celtic Myths and Legends - A lively retelling of the stories, with introductory summaries where needed and a selected bibliography.
T.W. Rolleston, Celtic Myths and Legends - An early 20th-century classic that has withstood the test of time, with many illustrations.
The Sagas of the Icelanders: A Selection - Though labeled as only a selection, this Penguin edition runs nearly 800 pages. It is a compilation of the most essential Icelandic tales, translated by various scholars, with supporting background material in the back.
The Americas
Martha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology - An excellent, comprehensive study.
Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan, Dictionary of Native American Mythology - This Oxford edition contains short but useful entries, some illustrations, and extensive bibliography in the back.
Roberta H. Markman & Peter T. Markman, The Flayed God: The Mythology of Mesoamerica - An excellent account of the Mesoamerican myths, with illustrations and bibliography.
Paul Radin, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology - The classic study of the trickster figure, with commentaries by Karal Kerenyi and Carl Jung.
Lewis Spence, Myths and Legends of the North American Indians - Useful general summary of native American myths, with bibliography at the back.
David J. Burrows et al, eds., Myths and Motifs in Literature - A compilation of excerpts from ancient and modern myths and works of literature, organized around 15 important motifs with several examples of each. Introductory chapter contains essays explaining the underlying theory. Glossary and selected bibliography at the end.
Joseph Campbell, Historical Atlas of World Mythology - A well-illustrated masterpiece in two volumes, focusing respectively on the mythologies of hunter-gatherers and of early agricultural societies. Volume One is The Way of the Animal Powers, in two parts, and Volume Two is The Way of the Seeded Earth, in three parts.
Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God - A four-volume set covering world myths from myth's beginnings through the present day. The volumes are: Primitive Mythology; Oriental Mythology; Occidental Mythology; and Creative Mythology. The information is dated in some places, but the work remains immensely valuable and insightful.
Joseph Campbell, The Mythic Image - A well-illustrated general discussion of myth revolving around mythological images.
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth - The famous interviews of Campbell by Bill Moyers on Public Television in book form, including much material not included on television.
Joseph Campbell, Transformations of Myth Through Time - A series of lectures by Campbell on various mythological subjects, with illustrations. The lectures are also available on video.
Laurence Coupe, Myth - Discusses approaches to myths and some of the basic questions addressed in myths.
William Doty, Mythography: The Study of Myths and Rituals - A magisterial study of the methodologies that mythologists and other scholars employ to interpret myths. Essential for the serious student.
Mirccea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return - Discusses how worldwide myths revolve around a culture's fundamental creation myth and the human need to periodically return to and re-experience that sacred modality.
G.S. Kirk, Myth: Its Meaning and Functions in Ancient & Other Cultures - Written by a famous classicist, discusses mythological theories as applied mainly to myths of the ancient Near East and ancient Greece.
Samuel Noah Kramer, ed., Mythologies of the Ancient World - Helpful set of introductory essays covering the myths of the ancient Near East, Iran, Egypt, Canaan, Greece, India, China, Japan, and Mexico.
Claude Levi-Strauss, "The Structural Study of Myth," Journal of American Folklore 86:428-44 (1955) - This contains his classic statement of his structuralist theory of myth, later applied in more detail in his book, Structural Anthropology.
Bronislaw Malinowski, Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays - The title essay contains his classic treatment of the functionalist perspective on myth, focusing on pre-literate cultures.
Jaan Puhvel, Comparative Mythology - Useful survey of bodies of myths over time and geographies.
Robert A. Segal, Myth: A Very Short Introduction - A short introduction to mythological studies focusing on the various approaches/schools of mythology and the relationship of myth to other disciplines in humanities and social sciences.
Robert A. Segal, ed., Theorizing about Myth - Valuable collection of essays comparing approaches to myths.
General Reference Works (subject-specific dictionaries are below)
Udo Becker, The Continuum Encyclopedia of Symbols - Short entries without references, but still a useful work.
Hans Biedermann, Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons & the Meanings Behind Them - An excellent reference with medium-sized entries and taking a more analytical approach.
J.E. Cirlot, A Dictionary of Symbols - A standard and insightful work.
Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend - The most comprehensive dictionary out there, including some long entries that are essays on particular topics such as summaries of bodies of mythology and folklore.
J.C. Cooper, Dictionary of Symbolic and Mythological Animals - A useful reference focusing on animals and hybrid beasts and birds that appear in myths.
Jane Garry and Hasan El-Shamy, eds., Archetypes and Motifs in Folklore and Literature - A useful compilation and review of a few dozen common mythological motifs, organized around the much larger classic Motif-Index of Folk Literature by Stith Thompson. Has bibliography for each entry.
James Hall, Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art - Focusing on symbols that appear in art and iconography.
Larousse Dictionary of World Folklore - Short entries but many of them, and some illustrations. A useful starting point for items not found elsewhere.
The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology - A well-illustrated reference work categorized by the mythologies of various cultures.
Ami Ronnberg, ed., The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images - A handsome, recent edition with a page or so about each symbol in small print with accompanying images on the opposite page. Some bibliography for each symbol.
Creation Myths
David Leeming with Margaret Leeming, A Dictionary of Creation Myths - Short accounts of creation myths and subjects of and characters in creation myths.
Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths: Creation Myths from Around the World - Well-chosen collection of global creation myths, both original texts and retellings.
Marie-Louise Von Franz, Creation Myths (revised edition) - Written from the depth psychology perspective, covers the psychological basis of creation myths and several examples from world mythology.
See also Allen; Blenkinsopp; Clifford; and Westermann below
The Hero's Journey
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces - The classic, groundbreaking study on the subject.
Keiron Le Grice, The Rebirth of the Hero - Discussing the hero quest's meaning for us in the modern world.
Goddess Studies
Anne Baring and Jules Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image - Detailed and well-illustrated discussion of various goddesses and goddess myths from the ancient Near East, Egypt, and Europe and the Mediterranean.
Sandra Billington and Miranda Green, eds., The Concept of the Goddess - Collection of essays on goddesses in various mythologies, each with bibliography.
Joseph Campbell, Goddesses; Mysteries of the Feminine Divine - A series of Campbell lectures on goddesses and the feminine edited into a cohesive book version. Click here to buy it.
Christine Downing, The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine - An interesting personalized encounter with various goddesses from a depth psychology perspective.
Cynthia Eller, The Myth of Patriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won't Give Women a Future - Challenges the notion of a politico-societal matriarchy based on the evidence.
Marija Gimbutas, The Language of the Goddess - Written more from an archaeological than mythological studies perspective, it provides a detailed and well illustrated account of goddess symbols that appear in myths and goddess iconography.
Lucy Goodison and Christine Morris, eds., Ancient Goddesses: The Myths and the Evidence - Stimulating collection of essays by scholars about various ancient goddesses, often critical of traditional assumptions in the goddess literature.
Edwin James, The Cult of the Mother-Goddess: An Archeological and Documentary Study - Focuses on the ancient Near East with some attention to other cultures.
Erich Neumann, The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype - Written from the depth psychological perspective, discusses the evolution of the goddess image in the human psyche. It compliments his earlier Origins and History of Consciousness, mentioned below.
See also Roberts below.
Depth Psychology and Mythology
Carl G. Jung, ed., Man and His Symbols - A valuable collection of essays by Jung and others on mythological symbols, focusing on their ties to modern humans and society.
Erich Neumann, The Origins and History of Consciousness - The groundbreaking study of how the path of our unconscious into ego consciousness has affected the development of mythology.
Robert A. Segal, ed., Jung on Mythology - A valuable compilation of extracts from Jung's writings outlining his views on various topics in mythology. Also includes extracts from Erich Neumann, Marie-Louise Von Franz, and James Hillman discussing Jung's views on mythology.
Dennis Patrick Slattery and Glen Slater, eds., Varieties of Mythic Experience: Essays on Religion, Psyche and Culture - Collection of insightful essays on mythological topics by authors with a depth psychology background.
Ken Wilber, Up from Eden - Modern treatment of the relationship between the evolution of human consciousness and the myths we live by.
Classical Mythology
Walter Burkert, Greek Religion. An erudite treatment of Greek religion and mythology.
E.R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational - A famous look at the irrational side of the Greek psyche that produced myths and symbols.
Edward F. Edinger, The Eternal Drama: The Inner Meaning of Greek Mythology - A valuable take on the myths from the perspective of depth psychology, with insights into the relevance of the myths for people today.
Fritz Graf, Greek Mythology: An Introduction - A good and manageable introduction to the subject.
Robert Graves, The Greek Myths - A quirky and fascinating look into the myths and their characters; but quirky and not always reliable.
W.K.C. Guthrie, Orpheus and Greek Religion - The classic study of the Orpheus myth.
Jane Ellen Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion - A classic work and essential reading in order to understand pre-Olympian Greek mythology and the Olympian changes.
Jane Ellen Harrison, Themis: A Study of the Social Origins of Greek Religion - Another classic work by Harrison, oriented more toward myth and society.
Carl Kerenyi, The Gods of the Greeks - A classic work on Greek deities and myths.
Carl Kerenyi, Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life - A classic study of the god and related myths.
Mark. P.O. Morford and Robert J. Lenardon, Classical Mythology (8th edition) - Detailed and comprehensive textbook account of the myths, quoting extensively from the original sources.
Dora and Erwin Panofsky, Pandora's Box: The Changing Aspects of a Mythical Symbol - A classic study of the myth.
Canaanite and Biblical/Hebrew Mythology
Bernard W. Anderson, Creation Versus Chaos: The Reinterpretation of Mythical Symbolism in the Bible - A valuable study of how the biblical creation myths relate to other material in the Hebrew Bible, with special attention to the tension between creation and chaos.
Bernard Batto, Slaying the Dragon: Mythmaking in the Biblical Tradition - A groundbreaking study of the archetypal dragon fight creation myth as it appears at various points in the Hebrew Bible.
Joseph Blenkinsopp, Creation, Uncreation, Re-Creation - An up-to-date and insightful treatment of the biblical creation and flood myths.
Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic - A classic analysis of the roots of biblical accounts in Canaanite myths.
John Day, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan - A valuable study of biblical appropriation of Canaanite deities and mythology. Is an update to and, to some extent, a response to William Foxwell Albright's earlier classic, Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan.
Arthur George and Elena George, The Mythology of Eden - Our own book with illustrations, examining the biblical creation and Adam and Eve stories from a mythological perspective, covering also the goddess Asherah. Click here to buy it.
Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis - An entertaining but speculative and unreliable work, but we include it because it is well-known, entertaining, and still contains many valuable insights and references.
Hermann Gunkel, Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton - The classic study by the great German biblical scholar, focusing on mythology in Genesis and Revelation.
Jon D. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence - A terrific treatment of the interrelationship between creation, chaos and the phenomenon of evil.
Susah Niditch, Chaos to Cosmos: Studies in Biblical Patterns of Creation - A short, insightful study of the subject.
Raphael Patai, The Hebrew Goddess (3rd revised edition) - Useful introduction to goddesses in ancient Israelite culture and later Judaism.
Henricus Renckens, Israel's Concept of the Beginning - A somewhat dated but still valuable description of the Israelite world view pertaining to creation.
Mark Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel - A valuable scholarly history of the rise of Yahweh and of the other deities he had to deal with.
Claus Westermann, Creation - Short, insightful treatment of the biblical creation accounts by a famous German biblical scholar.
See also Gray, below.
Ancient Near Eastern Mythology (Mesopotamia)
Jeremy Black and Anthony Green, Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary - A handy reference work with many illustrations.
Richard J. Clifford, Creation Accounts in the Ancient Near East and the Bible - Good scholarly survey of creation accounts of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and the Israelites.
Stephanie Dalley, ed., Myths from Mesopotamia - A compact translation of the principal Mesopotamian myths with notes and commentary.
John Gray, Near Eastern Mythology - A well illustrated introduction to the myths of Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Israel.
S.H. Hooke, Middle Eastern Mythology - Useful introductory summary of Mesopotamian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Hebrew, and Egyptian mythology.
Thorkild Jacobsen, The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion - A classic treatment of the subject by a leading scholar.
E.O. James, Myth and Ritual in the Ancient Near East - A valuable survey by a prominent scholar, covering Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Iran, Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Greece.
Samuel Noah Kramer, Sumerian Mythology - The pathbreaking book on the subject by one of the leading Sumer experts of the 20th century. The translations and analyses are now somewhat dated, but the book remains an essential introduction to the subject.
Gwendolyn Leick, A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Mythology - A useful reference work with some illustrations and bibliography.
Egyptian Mythology
James Allen, Genesis in Egypt - A valuable work that pieces together Egyptian ideas on creation from the numerous relevant texts, written by a prominent Egyptologist and linguist.
R.T. Rundle Clark, Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt - A wonderful analysis with many illustrations.
Henri Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion - A short treatment with many interesting insights, no illustrations.
Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many - A valuable, insightful treatment of the subject.
Manfred Lurker, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt - A helpful reference work with illustrations.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Myth: A Very Short Introduction - A helpful basic introduction.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt - A combination of a general survey and dictionary-type entries and glossary for the principle deities and concepts, with some bibliography.
Stephen Quirke, Ancient Egyptian Religion - A good survey by a prominent scholar, with good illustrations.
Alison Roberts, Hathor Rising: The Serpent Power of Ancient Egypt - An interesting and thoughtful take on goddesses and serpent power in Egyptian myth.
Richard H. Wilkinson, TheComplete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - Introductory chapters followed by dictionary entries. A beautiful edition with numerous illustrations, many in color.
See also Rudolph Anthes essay in Kramer, ed., above. Warning: Do not use Budge for translations or anything!
Mythologies of Asia
Alain Danielou, The Myths and Gods of India - The classic work by a French scholar.
Cornelia Dimmit and J.A.B. van Buitenen, eds. and trans., Classical Hindu Mythology: A Reader in the Sanskrit Puranas - A valuable compilation of Hindu myths focusing on the Puranas.
Akira Sadakata, Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins - Excellent overview of the conceptual cosmological background to Buddhist and other Asian myths.
E.T.C. Werner, Myths and Legends of China - An early 20th-century classic that still reads well.
Heinrich Zimmer, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization - A classic study edited by Joseph Campbell, with numerous illustrations in the back.
Norse, Icelandic, and Celtic Mythology
Kevin Crossley-Holland, The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings - A well-rounded retelling of the standard myths, with an introductory chapter for background.
Peter Berresford Ellis, Celtic Myths and Legends - A lively retelling of the stories, with introductory summaries where needed and a selected bibliography.
T.W. Rolleston, Celtic Myths and Legends - An early 20th-century classic that has withstood the test of time, with many illustrations.
The Sagas of the Icelanders: A Selection - Though labeled as only a selection, this Penguin edition runs nearly 800 pages. It is a compilation of the most essential Icelandic tales, translated by various scholars, with supporting background material in the back.
The Americas
Martha Beckwith, Hawaiian Mythology - An excellent, comprehensive study.
Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan, Dictionary of Native American Mythology - This Oxford edition contains short but useful entries, some illustrations, and extensive bibliography in the back.
Roberta H. Markman & Peter T. Markman, The Flayed God: The Mythology of Mesoamerica - An excellent account of the Mesoamerican myths, with illustrations and bibliography.
Paul Radin, The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology - The classic study of the trickster figure, with commentaries by Karal Kerenyi and Carl Jung.
Lewis Spence, Myths and Legends of the North American Indians - Useful general summary of native American myths, with bibliography at the back.
