Thomas Bulfinch

Infobox Writer
name = Thomas Bulfinch


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birthdate = birth date|1796|7|15
birthplace = Newton, Massachusetts
deathdate = death date and age|1867|5|27|1796|7|15
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occupation = Banker
nationality = USA
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genre =
subject = Mythology and Fable
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Thomas Bulfinch (July 15 1796 - May 27, 1867 [His obituary is quoted in Marie Cleary, “A Book of Decided Usefulness: Thomas Bulfinch’s ‘The Age of Fable,’” "The Classical Journal" 75.3 (February 1980) (pp. 248-249).] ) was an American writer, born in Newton, Massachusetts. Bulfinch belonged to a well educated Bostonian merchant family of modest means. His father was Charles Bulfinch, the architect of the Massachusetts State House in Boston and parts of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.. Bulfinch supported himself through his position at the Merchants' Bank of Boston.

Work

Although Thomas Bulfinch reorganized "Psalms" to illustrate the history of the Hebrews, he is best known as the author of "Bulfinch's Mythology", an 1881 compilation of his previous works:

# "The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes" (1855)
# "The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur" (1858)
# "Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages" (1863)

This compilation, assembled posthumously by Edward Everett Hale, includes various stories belonging to the mythological traditions known as the "Matter of Rome", the "Matter of Britain" and the "Matter of France", respectively.

:"Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite conversation."

The volume was dedicated to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and described on the title page as an "Attempt To Popularize Mythology, And Extend The Enjoyment Of Elegant Literature."

In his preface Bulfinch outlined his purpose which was:"an attempt to solve this problem, by telling the stories of mythology in such a manner as to make them a source of amusement. We have endeavored to tell them correctly, according to the ancient authorities, so that when the reader finds them referred to he may not be at a loss to recognize the reference. Thus we hope to teach mythology not as a study, but as a relaxation from study; to give our work the charm of a story-book, yet by means of it to impart a knowledge of an important branch of education. The index at the end will adapt it to the purposes of a reference, and make it a Classical Dictionary for the parlor."

His obituary noted that the contents were "expurgated of all that would be offensive".

The versions Bulfinch gives for the classical myths are those in Ovid and Virgil. His Norse myths are abridged from Mallet's "Northern Antiquities."

The Bulfinch version of myth, published for genteel Americans just as the first studies of mythography were appearing in Germany, presents the myths in their literary versions, without unnecessary violence, sex, psychology or ethnographic information. The Bulfinch myths are an indispensable guide to the cultural values of the American 19th century, yet the Bulfinch version is still the version being taught in many American public schools. Marie Sally Cleary, "The Bulfinch Solution: Teaching the Ancient Classics in American Schools" (1990), sets the book in the context of "democratizing" classical culture for a wider American antebellum readership.

Bulfinch was the product of Boston Latin School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvard College, where he graduated in 1814.

Though the Bulfinch retellings were largely superseded in American high schools by Edith Hamilton's works on mythology, a "sumptuously illustrated" edition was offered in the Christmas 1979 catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art [Cleary 1980:248.]

Table of contents

The Age of Fable "or" Beauties of Mythology

By Thomas Bulfinch
New Edition, Revised and Enlarged
Volume I: Stories of Gods and Heroes

Review of Reviews Company
New York 1914
Copyright, 1913, By Thomas Y. Crowell Company.

[Note: This edition does not have the Longfellow dedication.]

Publishers' PrefaceAuthor's Preface

Stories of Gods and Heroes

1. Introduction
2. Prometheus and Pandora
3. Apollo and Daphne—Pyramus and Thisbe—Cephalus and Procris
4. Juno and her Rivals, Io and Callisto—Diana and Actæon—Latona and the Rustics
5. Phaëton
6. Midas—Baucis and Philemon
7. Proserpina—Glaucus and Scylla
8. Pygmalion—Dryope—Venus and Adonis—Apollo and Hyacinthus
9. Ceyx and Halcyone
10. Vertumnus and Pomona—Iphis and Anaxarete
11. Cupid and Psyche
12. Cadmus—The Myrmidons
13. Nisus and Scylla—Echo and Narcissus—Clytie—Hero and Leander
14. Minerva and Arachne—Niobe
15. The Grææ and Gorgons—Perseus and Medusa—Atlas—Andromeda
16. Monsters: Giants—Sphinx—Pegasus and Chimæra—Centaurs—Griffin—Pygmies
17. The Golden Fleece—Medea
18. Meleager and Atalanta
19. Hercules—Hebe and Ganymede
20. Theseus and Dædalus—Castor and Pollux—Festivals and Games
21. Bacchus and Ariadne
22. The Rural Deities—The Dryads and Erisichthon—Rhœcus—Water Deities—Camanæ—Winds
23. Achelous and Hercules—Admetus and Alcestis—Antigone—Penelope
24. Orpheus and Eurydice—Aristæus—Amphion -Linus—Thamyris—Marsyas—Melampus—Musæus
25. Arion—Ibycus—Simonides—Sappho
26. Endymion—Orion—Aurora and Tithonus—Acis and Galatea
27. The Trojan War
28. The Fall of Troy—Return of the Greeks—Orestes and Electra
29. Adventures of Ulysses—The Lotus-eaters —The Cyclopes—Circe—Sirens—Scylla and Charybdis—Calypso
30. The Phæacians—Fate of the Suitors
31. Adventures of Æneas—The Harpies—Dido—Paliniurus
32. The Infernal Regions—The Sibyl
33. Æneas in Italy—Camilla—Evander—Nisus and Euryalus—Mezentius—Turnus
34. Pythagoras—Egyption Deities—Oracles
35. Origin of Mythology—Statues of Gods and Goddesses—Poets of Mythology
36. Monsters (modern)—The Phœnix—Basilisk—Unicorn—Salamander
37. Eastern Mythology—Zoroaster—Hindu Mythology—Castes—Buddha—The Grand Lama—Prester John
38. Northern Mythology—Valhalla—The Valkyrior
39. Thor's Visit to Jotunheim
40. The Death of Baldur—The Elves—Runic Letters—Skalds—Iceland—Teutonic Mythology—The Nibelungen Lied—Wagner's Nibelungen Ring
41. The Druids—Iona
42. Beowulf

King Arthur and His Knights

1. Introduction
2. The Mythical History of England
3. Merlin
4. Arthur
5. Arthur (Continued)
6. Sir Gawain
7. Caradoc Briefbras; or, Caradoc with the Shrunken Arm
8. Launcelot of the Lake
9. The Adventure of the Cart
10. The Lady of Shalott
11. Queen Guenever's Peril
12. Tristram and Isoude
13. Tristram and Isoude (Continued)
14. Sir Tristram's Battle with Sir Launcelot
15. The Round Table
16. Sir Palamedes
17. Sir Tristram
18. Perceval
19. The Sangreal, or Holy Graal
20. The Sangreal (Continued)
21. The Sangreal (Continued
22. Sir Agrivain's Treason
23. Morte d'Arthur

= The Mabinogeon =

Introductory Note

1. The Britons
2. The Lady of the Fountain
3. The Lady of the Fountain (Continued)
4. The Lady of the Fountain (Continued)
5. Geraint, the Son of Erbin
6. Geraint, the Son of Erbin (Continued)
7. Geraint, the Son of Erbin (Continued)
8. Pwyll, Prince of Dyved
9. Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr
10. Manawyddan
11. Kilwich and Olwen
12. Kilwich and Olwen (Continued)
13. Taliesin

Hero Myths of the British Race

Beowulf

Cuchulain, Champion of Ireland

Hereward the Wake

Robin Hood

Legends of Charlemagne

Introduction
The Peers, or Paladins
The Tournament
The Siege of Albracca
Adventures of Rinaldo and Orlando
The Invasion of France
The Invasion of France (Continued)
Bradamante and Rogero
Astolpho and the Enchantress
The Orc
Astolpho's Adventures continued, and Isabella's begun
Medoro
Orlando Mad
Zerbino and Isabella
Astolpho in Abyssinia
The War in Africa
Rogero and Bradamante
The Battle of Roncesvalles
Rinaldo and Bayard
Death of Rinaldo
Huon of Bordeaux
Huon of Bordeaux (Continued)
Huon of Bordeaux (Continued)

Ogier, the Dane

Ogier, the Dane (Continued)

Ogier, the Dane (Continued)

Proverbial Expressions

List of Illustrative Passages Quoted from the Poets

Index and Dictionary

Notes

External links

* [http://bulfinch.englishatheist.org/b/SubIndex1.html The Age Of Fable. Fully illustrated]
*gutenberg author | id=Thomas_Bulfinch | name=Thomas Bulfinch
* [http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/b/bulfinch/thomas/ The three works of Bulfinch's Mythology]
* [http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=113 The Age Of Chivalry]
* [http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=114 The Age Of Fable]
* [http://www.abacci.com/books/book.asp?bookID=1117 Legends Of Charlemagne]

References

* Cleary, Marie Sally, "Myths for the Millions. Thomas Bulfinch, His America, and His Mythology Book" (Kulturtransfer und Geschlechterforschung, 4). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2007. Pp. xv,414.