The Greatest Mythological Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
3933 Tales from the Kathasaritsagara Somadeva 1070 Indian Sanskrit
3954 The Axion Esti Odysseas Elytis 1959 Greek Greek
3954 Odes Andreas Kalvos 1824 Greek Greek
3954 Mythistorema George Seferis 1935 Greek Greek
4179 Cheops J.H. Leopold 1936 Dutch Dutch
4409 The Essential Rumi Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi 1995 Persian Persian
4410 Salammbô Gustave Flaubert 1862 French French
4476 Soundjata Ou L'épopée Mandingue Djibril Tamsir Niane 1960 French French
4483 The Collected Plays of W.B. Yeats William Butler Yeats 1934 Irish English
4545 The Collected Poems Of Odysseus Elytis Odysseas Elytis 1971 Greek Greek
4688 The Myth Of The Eternal Return Mircea Eliade 1949 Romanian French
4733 The Making of Homeric Verse Milman Parry 1971 American English
4746 Indaba, My Children Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa 1964 South African English
4769 The Ship Of Ishtar A. Merritt 1924 American English
4836 The Silver Stallion James Branch Cabell 1926 American English
4836 One Of Cleopatra's Nights Théophile Gautier 1838 French French
4847 The World's Wife Carol Ann Duffy 1999 British English
4900 Enūma Eliš Unknown -1100 Unknown Akkadian
4957 The Centaur Algernon Blackwood 1911 British English
5046 The Face In The Abyss A. Merritt 1931 American English
5046 My First Two Thousand Years George Vierick 1928 American English
5046 Salome the Wandering Jewess George Vierick, Paul Eldridge 1930 American English
5127 Maria Nephele Odysseas Elytis 1979 Greek Greek
5138 Kebra Nagast Unknown 1350 Multiple Ge'ez
5138 The Story Of The Rainbow Serpent Unknown -2000 Australian Unknown
5190 Mistress Of Mistresses E. R. Eddison 1935 British English
5252 The War Hound And The World's Pain Michael Moorcock 1981 British English
5386 The Tritonian Ring L. Sprague de Camp 1953 American English
5482 The Inferno Dante Alighieri 1308 Italian Italian
5777 The Serpent Jane Gaskell 1963 British English
5783 Dialogues With Leucò Cesare Pavese 1947 Italian Italian
5895 The Prose Edda Snorri Sturluson 1220 Icelandic Old norse
6095 The Secret History Of The World Jonathan Black 2007 British English
6318 Greenwitch Susan Cooper 1974 British English
6432 Ideas and Opinions Albert Einstein 1954 German English
6493 Moses, Man Of The Mountain Zora Neale Hurston 1939 American English
6566 Songs And Sonnets Atlantean Donald Sidney-Fryer 1971 American English
6571 Silver On The Tree Susan Cooper 1977 British English
6962 The Stress of Her Regard Tim Powers 1989 American English
7021 Crito Plato -389 Greek Ancient greek
7101 The Glenn Gould Reader Glenn Gould 1984 Canadian English
7130 Beauty Is A Wound Eka Kurniawan 2002 Indonesian Indonesian
7216 Mythologies William Butler Yeats 1905 Irish English
7216 Strange Tales From A Chinese Studio Pu Songling 1740 Chinese Classical chinese
7857 Autobiography Of Red Anne Carson 1998 Canadian English
8009 Fire And Hemlock Diana Wynne Jones 1985 British English
8009 The Hounds Of The Morrigan Pat O'Shea 1985 Irish English
8093 When God Was A Woman Merlin Stone 1976 American English
8144 Bathsheba Torgny Lindgren 1984 Swedish Swedish
8194 Jesus Christ And Mythology Rudolf Bultmann 1958 German German
8415 The Palace Of Illusions Chitra Banerjee Divakurni 2008 American English
8515 Expecting Someone Taller Tom Holt 1987 British English
8525 Histories Of The Kings Of Britain Geoffrey of Monmouth 1911 British Latin
9005 Circe's Mountain Marie Luise Kaschnitz 1959 German Unknown
9282 Kurangaituku Whiti Hereaka 2022 New Zealander English
9588 Lord of Light Roger Zelazny 1967 American English
9706 Astonishing the Gods Ben Okri 1995 Nigerian English
9861 Meghadūta Kālidāsa -400 Indian Sanskrit
9987 Greenmantle Charles de Lint 1916 Unknown English
10309 Worlds In Collision Immanuel Velikovsky 1950 American English
10531 Roads Seabury Quinn 1948 American English
10850 Homo Necans Walter Burkert 1972 German German
11093 Layli And Majnun Nezami Ganjavi 1188 Persian Persian
11133 The Ancient Future Trilogy Traci Harding 1996 Australian English
11201 Mensagem Fernando Pessoa 1934 Portuguese Portuguese
11429 Gods Of Jade And Shadow Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2019 Mexican English
12047 Chimera John Barth 1972 American English
12450 Changó, The Biggest Badass Manuel Zapata Olivella 1983 Colombian Spanish
13010 L'enchanteur René Barjavel 1984 French French
13362 The Dark Is Rising Sequence Susan Cooper 1965 British English
13600 The Lost Ones Frédérick Tristan 1983 French French
13716 Age Of Bronze Eric Shanower 2007 American English
14163 D'aulaires' Book Of Greek Myths Ingri d'Aulaire 1962 American English
14197 The Mabinogion Unknown 1400 Multiple Middle welsh
14232 Anansi Boys Neil Gaiman, Lenny Henry, Mónica Faerna 2005 British English
14411 Greek Tragedies 1 David Grene 1955 Unknown English
14936 Digenes Akritas Unknown 1050 Multiple Greek
14948 The Tain Thomas Kinsella 1969 Irish English
14986 The Enchantress of Florence Salman Rushdie 2008 British English
15885 The Masks Of God, Volume 4 Joseph Campbell 1968 American English
15881 Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1954 British English
15919 The Beveridge Report William Beveridge 1942 British English
15896 Myths To Live By Joseph Campbell 1972 American English
15919 The Corn King And The Spring Queen Naomi Mitchison 1931 British English
15894 Ocean Of The Streams Of Story Somadeva 1063 Indian Sanskrit
16531 The Book Of Dede Korkut Unknown 1400 Multiple Oghuz turkic
16602 Iliad & Odyssey Homer -749 Greek Ancient greek (homeric greek)
16582 The Arthurian Vulgate anonymous 1210 French Old french
16763 Balladyna Juliusz Słowacki 1839 Polish Polish
16673 Khosrow And Shirin Nezami Ganjavi 1180 Persian Persian
16790 Kādambarī Bānabhaṭṭa 650 Indian Sanskrit
16683 The Iliad Of Homer Richmond Lattimore -762 Greek Ancient greek
16687 The Iliad/The Odyssey/The Aeneid Homer -800 Greek Ancient greek
17171 Masterworks of the Classical Haida Mythtellers Robert Bringhurst 2000 Canadian English
17171 The Silence of the Girls Pat Barker 2018 British English
17171 Mythos Stephen Fry 2017 British English
17171 Self Mythology Saba Keramati 2024 Unknown Unknown
17171 The God And The Gumiho Sophie Kim 2024 Unknown English
17171 Odyssey Stephen Fry 2024 Unknown English
17171 Otherworld Lisa M. Bitel 2024 Unknown English
17171 Green Grass, Running Water Thomas King 1993 Canadian English
17171 The Power Of Myth Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers 1988 American English
17043 Winged Pharaoh Joan Grant 1937 British English
17171 Barlaam And Josaphat Gui de Cambrai 2014 French Old french
16970 The Romance Of 'Antar Unknown 1100 Multiple Arabic
17171 Kallimachos And Chrysorrhoe Unknown Unknown Unknown
17094 Epic Of Sundiata Unknown 1235 Multiple Mandinka
17161 Daredevils Of Sassoun Unknown 800 Multiple Armenian
17171 The Fall Of Gondolin J. R. R. Tolkien 2018 British English
17171 Percy Jackson 5 Books Collection And The Demigod Files / The Red Pyramid Rick Riordan 2005 American English
17171 Percy Jackson And The Olympians Boxed Set Rick Riordan 2005 American English
17171 All The Horses Of Iceland Sarah Tolmie 2022 Unknown English
17171 King Of The Two Lands Jacquetta Hawkes 1966 British English
17171 Pillar Of Fire Judith Tarr 1995 American English
17171 King And Goddess Judith Tarr 1996 American English
17171 Wrath Of The Triple Goddess Rick Riordan Unknown Unknown
17171 9 From The Nine Worlds Rick Riordan 2018 American English
17171 The Forest Of Enchantments Chitra Divakaruni 2019 Indian English
17088 The Saga Of The Volsungs Anonymous 1270 Unknown Old norse
17171 Sweeney Astray Seamus Heaney 1983 Irish English