A Very Short Introduction to Mythology

Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction (2007), by Helen Morales (Read in September 2022).

The extremely compelling A Very Short Introduction series by Oxford offers the inexperienced reader with a first quality access point to an almost unlimited number of discipline fields. My previous knowledge about mythology started and ended in the commonplace of secondary school, and comprised only a handful of the most over told stories (Zeus, Hercules, Sysyphus). I encountered myself reading The Odyssey just before coming to live in the UK in 2019 and found it extremely compelling because it was clear that there was a first layer of story – the very entertaining chain of events in the aftermath of the Trojan war – but a deeper level lies hidden beneath that surface. It made so much sense to me since moving country shares a certain epic with Ulysses’ journey back to Ithaca.

Or so I thought.

Anyway, this book concerns not so much with the actual stories but also with their meaning and intention, and how their interpretation changes with the context. The Oedipus example is illustrative – while Freud centered his psychoanalysis theories on the tragic Oedipus story, a very different narrative might have been drawn from Antigone – her sister and daughter, what a twisted story that was! – who symbolises the ethical struggle between divine and human law. What would psychoanalysis look like with such an origin? How are myths used to understand the human mind?

This book presents several interesting theories via parallelisms and clear examples that are destined to open the reader’s mind about the subject. A very interesting and recommendable read.