Building on the best-selling tradition of previous editions, The World of Myth, Fourth Edition, offers a uniquely comprehensive collection of myths from numerous cultures around the globe. Featuring a thematic organization, it helps students understand world mythology as a metaphor for humanity's search for meaning in a complex world.

Author David Leeming provides a sweeping anthology of myths, ranging from ancient Egypt and Greece to the Polynesian islands and modern science. Students will be captivated by stories of great floods from the ancient Babylonians, Hebrews, Chinese, and Mayans; tales of apocalypse from India, the Norse, Christianity, and modern science; and myths of the mother goddess from Native American Hopi culture and James Lovelock's Gaia. Leeming has culled myths from Aztec, Greek, African, Australian Aboriginal, Caribbean, Japanese, Muslim, Hittite, Celtic, Chinese, and Persian cultures, offering one of the most wide-ranging collections of what he calls the "collective dreams of humanity."