Sax, Boria.The Mythical Zoo: An Encyclopedia or Animals in World Myth, Legend, & Literature. Santa Barbara, Calif., ABC-CLIO, 2001. 298p. illus. index. $85.00. ISBN 1-57607-612-1.

 

The Mythical Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Animals in World Myth, Legend, & Literature is a handy  reference book that will be useful to just about anyone from storywriters to television producers, newspaper editors, or just plain interested readers. Anyone checking some background information or some last minute facts will find is book a must, More than a simple compendium of animal facts, The Mythical Zoo also shows how much animals and their symbolism are intertwined with human life and thought processes.

Classification of the animal kingdom became central to the scientific studies of Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus and others in the nineteenth century as they sought to establish the order of the living world. More recent scientific projects, such as the Human Genome Project, have revealed amazing insights into human genetic makeup that will inevitably filter out to and shape the common person's view of life on earth. In this encyclopedia of the animals of myth, legend, and literature, the author reminds us that contemporary genetic theory is apt to view animals less as individuals or representatives of species than as repositories of hereditary information. He reminds readers that in their rush to run down exciting new roads, they should not forget what they once learned in the past. To define an animal strictly in terms of biology is too narrow, too technical, and too restrictive he argues, suggesting instead that we define each sort of animal as a tradition. This process involves inclusiveness-genetics in relation to other values, like ideas, practices, and the events that make up human culture. Since time immemorial, humans have held customs, beliefs, and traditions that intimately entwine with the animal kingdom: metaphorical animals, demonic animals, satirical animals, and even political animals. In short, animals are a vast part of human heritage that cannot be ignored.

The Mythical Zoo emphasizes depth over breadth in conveying ideas supporting the treatment of animals in myth, legend, and other aspects of human culture. It presents a contextualized, rounded sense of a given animal instead of dishing up disconnected bits of information. For this aspect, the reader will be grateful.

-Arthur Gribben