A Book of Myths: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

A Book of Myths, credited to Jean Lang, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of A Book of Myths by Jean Lang. Read in English by James K. White This is a collection of myths--mostly Greek with a smattering of others from the east--written in a clear and easy-to-read style. Lang complemented each myth with poetry by other authors who, like her, were inspired by these ancient stories of the gods. Lang chose these stories because they portrayed heroic gods, faithfully and blindly worshipped by man. Ultimately, however, these gods demonstrated the same frailties as humans, and were found to be just as corrupt. Still, as Lang said, in spite of this these myths portrayed "a wonderful humanity that strikes a vibrant cord . . . ." This is significant to a deeper understanding of the collection as it was published in 1914 against the backdrop of the first world war, the war to end all wars--a war that doomed millions of common men to suffer "Promethean agonies," and die on battlefields in a most un-heroic way. As you listen to the narration, compare the gods of myth--with all their human frailties--to the 20th century, god-like European leaders who traded the wonderful innocence of humanity for the notion of "a noble cause." - Summary by James K. White

Recording facts

• Recording title: A Book of Myths
• Author credits: Jean Lang
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 35
• Listed recording duration: 10:24:37

Catalogue topics

• Legend
• gods
• myth
• allegory

Opening tracks: first 24 of 35

1. 00 - Preface and Post-Script — 11:12
2. 01 - Prometheus and Pandora — 18:52
3. 02 - Pygmalion — 8:52
4. 03 - Phaeton — 18:42
5. 04 - Endymion — 9:15
6. 05 - Orpheus — 20:34
7. 06 - Apollo and Daphne — 7:08
8. 07 - Psyche — 41:54
9. 08 - The Calydonian Hunt — 16:20
10. 09 - Atalanta — 7:32
11. 10 - Arachné — 14:28
12. 11 - Idas and Marpessa — 18:46
13. 12 - Arethusa — 8:36
14. 13 - Perseus the Hero — 35:49
15. 14 - Niobe — 9:30
16. 15 - Hyacinthus — 8:24
17. 16 - King Midas of the Golden Touch — 17:47
18. 17 - Ceyx and Halcyone — 19:02
19. 18 - Aristaeus the Bee-Keeper — 12:44
20. 19 - Proserpine — 14:16
21. 20 - Latona and the Rustics — 8:45
22. 21 - Echo and Narcissus — 12:40
23. 22 - Icarus — 15:35
24. 23 - Clytie — 5:45

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.