I didn't see one created already, so I decided to make one. Here's a question: where's a good place to find source material? I feel bad for getting most of my knowledge from Wikipedia...
Depending on the mythology in question, there might not be better sources than just looking at wikipedia's citations and going on from there.
Well the straight up collections of the old-than-dirt sources are always good. The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, Nergal and Ereshkigal, Apada, Etana, Anzu, The Epic of Creation, Theogony of Dunnu, Etta and Ishum for Mesopotamian myths Saga of the Volsungs and The Prose Edda for Norse myths Journey to the West for Chinese myths Hesiod's Theogony and Works of the Days, Apollodorus' The Library of Greek Mythology, Homer's The Illiad and The Odyssey, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Aeschylus' Oresteia for Greek and Roman myths The Death of King Aurthur, Lancelot of the Lake, The Quest of The Holy Grail, and Malory's Le Morte Darthur for Arthurian Myths And there's many, many more from many more cultures, I dunno off the top of my head AKA my bookshelf. These sources are not easy reading though, it's just nice to have in-period depictions of the myths in question to read and analyze rather than simply reading someone else's summary. Though I couldn't name a big encyclopedia of Mythology. I'm sure there's one out there, but I don't own it.
Reading the Popul Vuh is delightfully trippy; but I would, in fact, go to Wikipedia first, and get the gist of the story, before trying to read original sources for a lot of things. Either that or get a thoroughly footnoted modern translation of stuff. Mythology--especially the type that's not being written up for outsiders--usually assumes a lot of common knowledge that can render straightforward stories baffling otherwise.
Bulfinch's Mythology covers pretty much every base, but it isn't super in-depth about them. Great place to start, though.
I mentioned it in the Dark Souls Lore thread, but I really like the Pierre Grimal version of the Larousse World Mythology book, not to be confused with the other Larousse myth collections although I'm sure they are also good in their own ways. What I like about it is that it walks you through a coherent narrative version of systems of myths from around the world, *and* it grounds you firmly in the historical/archeological methods used to put them together and interpret them. In many other sources, you'll see translator's assumptions turned into "direct" parts of the story, for instance, but here everything is pretty transparent without being cumbersome or targeted at specialists alone. Because it's an older book, it's not going to be on the cutting edge in terms of recent translations, especially with respect to Africa and the Americans, but it's a great place to start. It is not an encyclopedia, although it has an excellent index. The current Larousse Encyclopedia on the subject has some excellent scholars, although I can't say as to how much fun it would be to read. I'm torn on Bulfinch's, because I grew up with it; it's one of those classics like Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that never really goes out of style, and is an artifact in its own right. It's almost a bit like Full Metal Jacket relative to the Marine Corps, in that it is really difficult to measure what the myths were like before they were Bulfinched into an authoritative compendium. Also, since we're walking around in nostalgia, I grew up with some of the mental images created by the Usborne (paperback) Illustrated guide to Greek myths long before I got around to Bulfinch's. I have not compared it with a more jaded eye to better sources, and it may be narrative failure for all I know, but dem pics. Love dem pics. But yeah, it would help a lot if you indicated what kinds of mythology (or what aspects) interest you, as there's a huge range of material out there.
The Greek mythology book of my youth was "Gods and Heroes" by Gustav Schwab. Is the book widely read in the West? Journey to the West is a great book, and every Chinese has some knowledge of its story. But because of China's long history, there are many Chinese mythologies layered up over time. For an example, serious hardcore pre-AD Chinese mythology, not contaminated by later ideologies, can be found in "Classic of Mountains and Seas". Also, am I allowed to pimp my Touhou thread :-) ? If anyone want to discuss Japanese and East Asian mythology in the context of Touhou, I'm always your company.
I've always liked Joseph Campbell's writings and recorded readings and lectures. Netflix used to have some mini-docs and lectures he made and still might. If you're in college your school library might have them (mine did) or a public library? His most well known work, outside of influencing George Lucasl ( :/ ), is The Hero With A Thousand Faces, which I recall as being pretty good*. *I only read parts of the book but watched the doc of it -- a poseur is me.
Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes is how I started studying mythology once I got done poking around random websites (and Wikipedia), but that's primarily about Greek myths. I have a really good book that summarizes different types of myths (i.e. creation, destruction, the flood, etc), but I don't remember what it's called and I can't find it at the moment.
Right now, I'm sort of interested in finding more information about Caananite and Mesopotamian deities, and I'm also trying to find more contemporary visual depictions of them.
I'll second this one: Bullfinch's Mythology is a great, comprehensive reference. From there, there are lots of good resources that focus on single areas or cultures. For example, if you are interested in Celtic mythology, then you are going to want the Mabinogion.
I dunno about the rest of the West, but it was read super hard by me! Gustav Schwab has a great overview for Greek mythology. I think good oldfashioned books are a good source. Encyclopedia's in second hand bookstores are probably plentiful and cheap.
