The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855) — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art (2nd ed.) (1911): Based Originally on Bulfinch's "Age of Fable" (1855)
John Stuart Mill · en
In this new edition of "The Classic Myths in English Literature" the
former order of materials has been altered in accordance with the
advice of the teachers who have had longest experience with the use of
the book; the old material has been thoroughly revised; and much new
material has been added. Since most people prefer to begin a story at
its beginning, and not with the career of its author and his genealogy,
I have reserved the history of the myths for the conclusion of the
text. Some of the myths have been restated in more careful form. Some
short narratives, before omitted, have been included. The sketches
of the Iliad and the Odyssey have been considerably expanded; and an
outline--which, I hope, will be deemed adequate--of Wagner's version of
the Ring of the Nibelung has been appended to the account of Norse and
German mythology. That version is, of course, not English literature;
but it has come to be received as the classic modern version of the
story; and the story is needed, at some time or other, by every lover
of music. Fresh examples of the employment of myth in English verse
have, where practicable, been incorporated in the text; and some new
references will be found in the Commentary.
I have thoroughly revised the list of illustrative cuts, have
interpreted the more difficult of the ancient figures, and indicated
the sources. The pictures themselves are a decided improvement upon
those in the former edition. In the determination of sources for
reproduction, I have had the valuable assistance of Dr. E. von Mach,
the author of more than one well-known work on ancient art; and to
him I am indebted, in addition, for the section on The Classic Myths
in Art, which is included in my Introduction. With this new equipment
the book should prove more useful to those who here make their first
acquaintance with art, especially the art of the ancients, as well as
to those who have been in the habit of using it as a guide to paintings
and sculptures of mythological subjects in foreign galleries.
Much of our best English poetry lies beyond the imaginative reach of
many readers because of their unfamiliarity with the commonplaces of
literary allusion, reference, and tradition. Of such commonplaces few
are more frequently recurrent than those furnished by the literature of
myth.