Getting Started

This guide is intended for students who are enrolled in Literature 105, or for those interested in researching mythology in literature.

Reference works are an excellent way of getting background information on your topic. They're usually trustworthy because they've been written and reviewed by subject experts.

Databases -- Reference

Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Find literary criticism, author biographies, overviews of texts, and more. This database searches Gale resources, with a new interface:Literature Criticism Online, Something About the Author Online, and Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Search and display the full-text of reference books.
Subjects: Many subjects, including History, Education, Film, Health, Science, Social Science
Info type: encyclopedia and reference book entries.
List of sources.

eBooks -- Reference

The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology
Click title, then scroll down to see links to individual chapters.

Storytelling: an Encyclopedia of Mythology and Folklore by J. Sherman
Call Number: online book; click title to view
Publication Date: 2015
Brings past and present cultures of the world to life through their stories, oral traditions, and performance styles. Combines folklore and mythology, traditional arts, history, and literature.
Motif-Index of Folk-Literature: a Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval Romances, Exempla, Fabliaux, Jest-books, and Local Legends by S. Thompson
Call Number: Online and print editions available. GR67 .T52, Reference Collection - 1st Level North
Publication Date: 1960
"...the indispensable tool of all folk narrative scholars."
Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals and Beliefs by H. Wiener
Call Number: online book; click title to view
Publication Date: 2002
Puts Scandinavian mythology in place in history and explains each mythological term in detail.

Websites -- Reference

Theoi Project
Provides a "free reference guide to the gods (theoi), spirits (daimones), fabulous creatures (theres) and heroes of ancient Greek mythology and religion."
Greek & Roman Mythology
Click on the colored tiles for information about Homer, Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Greek Tragedy and Remythologizing. (Courtesy of Dr. Peter T. Struck)
Encyclopedia Mythica
M.F. Lindemans' online encyclopedia of mythology, folklore and religion.

Print Books -- Reference

World Mythology by R. Willis
Call Number: BL311 .W66 1993, Reference Collection - 1st Floor
Publication Date: 1993
The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology by R. Hard
Call Number: BL783 .H37 2008, 3rd Floor
Publication Date: 2008

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rsteven5@emich.edu

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Subjects: Arts, Communication & Speech, English & Literature, Languages & Linguistics, Philosophy & Religion