Written by David Leeming, one of the world's most trusted voices on mythology, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology is a lively, non-pedantic yet intellectually sound book that engages the reader and reveals the extraordinary depth and beauty of the world of myth.

Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire to form a cultural identity. This companion explores the role of mythology, or myth-logic, in history and determines that the dreams of specific cultures add up to a larger collective story of humanity.

Traces the role of myth and mythologies in the human experience. Stressing myths of creation, deity, the hero, and union, the author particularly shows how these cultural and universal dreams and patterns affect the way we operate today in our classrooms, relationships, religions and politics.

This is an A-Z dictionary of mythologies of the Asian continent. Major characters, places and events of Asian mythology, as well as certain relevant themes and cultural traditions are included.