The-mythology-of-ancient-greece-and-italy-thomas-keightley

PREFACE.
V
in my Opinion tends so strongly to refine, and at the same
time to invigorate the intellect, but which I sometimes fear is
rather on the wane in this country. Its size and necessary
price (the present containing more by a fifth than the former
edition) are perhaps insuperable impediments to its general
adoption in schools ; but I should hope that it will continue
to be used in the Universities, and that in schools the read
ing of it will be recommended to, though not enjoined on, the
higher classes. I think I may speak with some confidence of
the correctness of the narratives: it must be of advantage
to know the opinions of the leading scholars of the continent;
and as to my own, as I advance them without dogmatism, I
can see them rejected without displeasure. I confess I wish
to entice as many as possible into the pleasing regions of my
thology, for I know from experience how delightful it is to
escape at times from the dull realities of the actual world, and
lose one's self in the enchanted mazes of primeval fiction.
In selecting Mythology I took possession of a field which
lay totally unoccupied. This can hardly be said of any other
part of classic literature, but many may be better cultivated
than they have been hitherto. Thus the private life of the
ancient Greeks and Romans may be more fully elucidated.
That of the latter people I intend to make the subject of a
future work; the former has for many years engaged the
attention of my friend Mr. St. John, whose enthusiasm for
Greece far exceeds mine ; and his work, when it appears, will,
I am confident, be found to contain a vast store of curious
knowledge, and will prove a valuable aid to the classic stu
dent.
The reader will observe that I employ the Greek termina
tions os and on in mythic names instead of the Latin us and
tan. There is no good reason for this last usage, and I think
Greek names should be so written as that they might be at
once transferred to the original Greek characters. For this
purpose the long e and o should be marked as they are in the
Index, and if we were to use k instead of c before e and i,
writing for instance Kimdn and Kephalos instead of Cimon and
Cephalus, it would be all the better.