What did Hercules do to deserve his twel vela bo rs? How did Narcissus find the love of hislife? And why did Odysseus take ten years totravel 500 miles? You might recall such epicevents, but do you know them well enough to brighten up dinner-party discussions wi thtales of gods and monsters?30-Second Mythology sets out themost significant details and unravels theunderlying meaning of the greatest classicalmyths. Revealing the origins of the gods, heroes, and monsters of ancient Greec e and Rom e, the book outlines the key aspects oftheir stories for the general reader in half aminute, using nothing more than two pages,300 words, and one picture. Featuring detailed biog raphies of the seven greates t p oets and playwrights of the ancient world,30-Second Mythology explains the enduringinfluence of ancient myth in the blink of a Cyclops’ eye. Robert A. Segal is Sixth Century Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He is a leading authority on approaches to myth and is the author of Myth: A Very Short Introduction (2004) and Theorizing about Myth (1999). He also helps to moderate an online myth discussion list.
