American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Introduction 1 Part 1: Mythology Basics and Why the Stories Endure 5 Chapter 1: The Truth About Myths 7 Chapter 2: Ancient Myths in Modern Culture: The Legacy 19 Part 2: Thunder and Lightning: Greek Mythology 29 Chapter 3: Greek Creation Myths and Really Ancient Greek Gods 31 Chapter 4: Taller, Younger, and Better Looking Than You: The Olympian Gods 45 Chapter 5: The Fairest and Meanest of Them All: The Greek Goddesses 61 Chapter 6: So Fine and Half Divine: Heroes 77 Chapter 7: The Trojan War, the Iliad, and the Odyssey 95 Chapter 8: Of Chorus They're so Dramatic: Greek Tragedy 115 Part 3: The Cultural Spoils of an Empire: Roman Mythology 131 Chapter 9: Will the Real Roman Mythology Please Stand Up? 133 Chapter 10: Virgil's Aeneid and the Founding of Rome 149 Chapter 11: Time to Change Things Up: Ovid's Metamorphoses 159 Part 4: One Big Family Feud: Norse and Northern European Mythology 169 Chapter 12: Snow, Ice, and Not Very Nice: Norse Deities 171 Chapter 13: Heroes and Monsters: The Big Northern European Sagas 189 Chapter 14: A Seat at the Round Table: King Arthur and His Court 201 Chapter 15: Myths from the Emerald Isle: Ireland and Celtic Mythology 217 Part 5: The Cradle(s) of Civilization: African and Near-Eastern Mythology 225 Chapter 16: Central and Southern Africa: The Bantu's Eternal Earth and Sly Animals 227 Chapter 17: Floods, Mud, and Gods: Mesopotamian and Hebrew Mythology 235 Chapter 18: Three Cheers for Egypt: Ra, Ra, Ra! 249 Chapter 19: North African Mythology: A Real Melting Pot 261 Chapter 20: One Thousand Tales: Persian Mythology 269 Part 6: Kashmir to Kyoto, and a Lot in Between: South- and East Asian Mythology 279 Chapter 21: Land of a Thousand Gods: India 281 Chapter 22: Get out the Fine China: Early Chinese Myth and the Three Teachings 293 Chapter 23: Japan: Myths from the Land of the Rising Sun 305 Part 7: "New World"? Says Who? Mythology of the Americas 317 Chapter 24: Central and South American Mythology: Civilizations, Cities, and Ball Games 319 Chapter 25: Sea to Sea, and Lots of Animals in Between: Indigenous Myths of North America 333 Part 8: The Part of Tens 349 Chapter 26: Ten Mythological Monsters 351 Chapter 27: Ten (Plus One) Mythological Places 357 Index 365