Heathen mythology, Illustrated by extracts from the most celebrated writers, both ancient and modern

This volume brings together a dazzling array of excerpts on the gods of Greece, Rome, India, Scandinavia and beyond, collected from the most celebrated ancient and modern writers. Each passage is paired with a beautiful engraving, nearly two hundred in total, that visualizes the divine figures and the worlds they inhabit. The result is a richly illustrated tour through the myths that have shaped cultures for millennia.

The editor’s introduction reminds us that in antiquity every river had its nymph and every forest its deity, turning ordinary landscape into a living poem of worship and wonder. By presenting the myths alongside reflections on how ancient peoples blended religious devotion with poetic imagination, the book invites listeners to feel the same awe that once accompanied pilgrimages to sacred groves and oracular oaks. It reveals how these stories served both as moral guides and as sources of artistic inspiration.