- Paperback: 608 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, USA (1 Jun 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195145046
- ISBN-13: 978-0195145045
- Product Dimensions: 24.6 x 18.3 x 4.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 616,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Dictionary of Ancient Deities is a real must for any one interested in mythology, and a great source for learning about the gods and their associates as it has been so well written and well cross referenced by the authors Patricia Turner and Charles Russell Coulter.
This one book alone has 600 pages and over 10,000 entries which covers the myths from the four corners of the globe in such a way as to be captivating to the layman and a valuable asset for anyone researching mythology. If this book was the only one on mythology that a person had on its bookshelf they would have so much information at their fingertips.
It has been a great help to me in my research into mythology and thank the authors and Oxford University Press for producing such a fine book.
This one book alone has 600 pages and over 10,000 entries which covers the myths from the four corners of the globe in such a way as to be captivating to the layman and a valuable asset for anyone researching mythology. If this book was the only one on mythology that a person had on its bookshelf they would have so much information at their fingertips.
It has been a great help to me in my research into mythology and thank the authors and Oxford University Press for producing such a fine book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is simply excellent, it contains over 10,000 entries on ancient gods and goddesses as well as other mythological figures like Satan, King Arthur and archangels. The book has entries on almost every culture going, Persian, Greek, Indian, Roman, Germanic, Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Aboriginal, Japanese, Slavic, Babylonian, Sumerian, Native American and many more.
The encyclopaedic entries themselves are not greatly detailed but they do provide enough information on various the gods to initiate further study -- some entries are more detailed than others depending on their "importance" for example, Zeus has a larger entry than the Titan god Prometheus. There are one or two more obscure gods and goddesses that I've noticed are missing (Herodias for example) but this isn't a big issue; as 99.9% of the gods and goddesses I have looked up have been easily found in this book (I believe there were only two that were not in the book).
One helpful feature of the book is that it also indicates other entries of interest and notes different names by which the god or goddess was known by. For example, with Hecate (Greek Underworld goddess) the book indicates the other goddesses related to her, which are 'Artemis', 'Diana' and 'Demeter' etc and some of her epithets: 'Brimo Crantaeis, Endonia, and Proserpina.'
A must for people interested in mythology and Pagans.
The encyclopaedic entries themselves are not greatly detailed but they do provide enough information on various the gods to initiate further study -- some entries are more detailed than others depending on their "importance" for example, Zeus has a larger entry than the Titan god Prometheus. There are one or two more obscure gods and goddesses that I've noticed are missing (Herodias for example) but this isn't a big issue; as 99.9% of the gods and goddesses I have looked up have been easily found in this book (I believe there were only two that were not in the book).
One helpful feature of the book is that it also indicates other entries of interest and notes different names by which the god or goddess was known by. For example, with Hecate (Greek Underworld goddess) the book indicates the other goddesses related to her, which are 'Artemis', 'Diana' and 'Demeter' etc and some of her epithets: 'Brimo Crantaeis, Endonia, and Proserpina.'
A must for people interested in mythology and Pagans.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
8 reviews
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
The best starting place you could find...
6 July 2002
Format:Paperback
Go to the mythology section of any bookstore and peruse the shelves--what is the ratio of Greek/Roman & Norse mythology to any other? As much as I love delving deeper into the more well known myths/religions, a little variety would be wonderful. And it just so happened that one day it was necessary.
I was hunting about for some information on Egyptian and Slavic mythology, but found precious little on the latter and only a little more on the former. That's when I came across the *Dictionary of Ancient Deities*. I flipped to the index and found every name that I was looking for(including some obscure ones that I had found no mention of in any other books.) This wonderful reference tool spans just about every continent and gives a concise accounting of people, places, etc.
Sure, the entries may not be incredibly long, but it's the best starting place I've yet to find. And even just thumbing through it, stopping when an interesting name or ritual popped out at me, gave me some interesting writing ideas. *The Dictionary of Ancient Deities* is surely a must for anyone wishing to explore world mythology.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Handy rederence Tool
23 Mar 2009
Format:Paperback
As someone with a passion with worlds religions I was psyched at having such a reference book that promised a collection of world deities. The tome does wonderful job at collecting the well known western world mythos.
The books categorizes powers, gods, and spiritual place in alphabetical order, crossing referencing with alternate/alias names as well.
So far this book contains almost every pantheon known to man, collected in a single volume.
However, when it comes to the mythos of China and the Celestial Bureaucracy, I was saddened that many of the well known gods were either not listed or were in one of the many other pinyin spellings. Example, unless you are familiar with Haunaman, you will not find any info about Sun Wu Kong the Monkey King. Likewise Guan Yu, a chinese God of War from who was a general of the Three Kingdoms era is likewise listed under a Pinyin name that I found by accident. Hopefully in a later edition, the deities of China can be cleaned up. An appendix categorizing deities by pantheons and cultures would have been an excellent help as well and hopefully would be found in later editions.
The books categorizes powers, gods, and spiritual place in alphabetical order, crossing referencing with alternate/alias names as well.
So far this book contains almost every pantheon known to man, collected in a single volume.
However, when it comes to the mythos of China and the Celestial Bureaucracy, I was saddened that many of the well known gods were either not listed or were in one of the many other pinyin spellings. Example, unless you are familiar with Haunaman, you will not find any info about Sun Wu Kong the Monkey King. Likewise Guan Yu, a chinese God of War from who was a general of the Three Kingdoms era is likewise listed under a Pinyin name that I found by accident. Hopefully in a later edition, the deities of China can be cleaned up. An appendix categorizing deities by pantheons and cultures would have been an excellent help as well and hopefully would be found in later editions.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Comparative Mythology/Religion made a whole lot easier
28 July 2009
Format:Paperback
This Dictionary is massive and I mean that in a good way. In our modern age of internet search engines galore, one might ask is such a book necessary? As a person who is regularly using the popular search engines to research and track down esoteric and occult knowledge, the answer is an absolute whole-hearted emphatic Yes! Despite my tenacity and drive to track down information that I am seeking, I find it 99.9999% of the time, but when i do find the answer, usually that .0001%, it is very miniscule at best shedding little light upon my original inquiry. Well I am pleased to see that both Deities and rites that are obscure are found within the pages of this text. If I was too sit down and go through all the pantheons and related subject matter culture by culture, even reading at my fastest speed, while maintaining understanding, it will probably take me at least 6 to 8 weeks to read through all the entries. In terms of content, some of the entries are very short while others are fairly long, as would be the case with any other dictionary or encyclopedia. This book is a must have for any student's of comparative mythologies or religions. The bibliography is also really good for those persons who wish to do additional or more in depth reading on a particular culture's religious iconography.
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