A. Georgios Megas Books

Megas, Georgios A. [Ed]. Folktales of Greece. Translated by Helen Colaclides. Foreword by Richard M. Dorson. Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1977. 13 x 20.5cm. (57), 287 pages. Original softcover. Excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear including some bumping to corners. Inscribed with previous owner's name, some text annotations. [Folktales of the World, No. 10, R.M. Dorson]. For over two thousand years the folklore of Greece has cast its spell over the Western world. Georgios A. Megas perceives a continuity between the peasant tales of today and the myths of antiquity. Nowhere are the links between nationalism and the study of folklore more evident than in Greece, emerging as a nation-state in 1821 after almost four centuries of eclipse under the Turkish empire. Greek folklorists have sought to build a bridge back to Homer and Herodotus by demonstrating that many folk tales still in currency were already a part of the oral tradition that these men themselves inherited. These folk narratives have been faithfully recorded in the vernacular of the people and retain the verve of imagination, the power of expression and the narrative grace for which the Greek people are renowned. [From jacket notes]