Nevertheless, his basic process is the same in each. An advertisement for Hebrew Lyrical History which appears at the back of the first edition of The Age of Fable confirms the view that Bulfinch and his publishers saw the two works as similar. In his Preface, which should be obligatory reading for teachers of Classics, he implies that the traditional way to learn this subject was the study of classical languages, and that many people are therefore excluded from familiarity with myths. One needs to know myths in order to read literature satisfactorily. British and American literature is full of allusions to classical myths, he tells us.
Writers often refer to specific myths to clarify and vivify points which they are trying to make.
However, many people do not know these stories and so cannot fully enjoy what they read. The classical dictionary, yet another possibility, in its usual format is an unattractive solution, as one must interrupt one's reading to use it, and the accounts therein are dry. Bulfinch's solution was to combine the two elements, classical mythology and modern literature, in The Age of Fable . The book's very format illustrates the contemporary usefulness of classical mythology. But if that which tends to make us happier and better can be called useful, then we claim that epithet for our subject.