Never before have the mythologies of Greece, Rome, Persia, India, and China been encompassed in a single volume, despite the fact that the first four have much in common through their Indo-European ancestry. Arthur Cotterell shows how much more can be understood about "classical mythology" by comparing and contrasting its five major traditions. Fascinating indeed are the parallels he signals between, for instance, Greek and Indian myths. Just as amazing are the different attitudes towards such fundamentals as heroism, love and death. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 original illustrations, The Pimlico Dictionary of Classical Mythologies is an indispensable handbook for both students and general readers.