Classical Myth

by Powell, Barry B.

• ISBN13: 9780136061717
• ISBN10: 0136061710
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

Comprehensive and scholarly, this well-designed text presents Greek and Roman myths in a lively and easy-to-read manner. The material has been rearranged to make it easier to find and the new edition has been streamlined. It features fresh translations, numerous illustrations (ancient and modern) of classical myths and legends, and commentary that emphasizes the anthropological, historical, religious, sociological, and economic contexts in which the myths were told. It also provides a cultural context so that readers can see how mythology has influenced the world and how it continues to influence society today.

Table of Contents

Preface

Definitions and Background

The Nature of Myth

The Cultural Context of Classical Myth

The Development of Classical Myth

Divine Myth

Myths of Creation: The Rise of Zeus

Myths of Creation:The Origins of Mortals

Myths of the Olympians: Zeus, His Wife Hera, and His Brothers

Myths of the Olympians: The Male Deities

Myths of the Olympians: The Female Deities

Myths of Fertility: Demeter

Myths of Fertility: Dionysus

Myths of Death: Encounters with the Underworld

Legends

Introduction to Heroic Myth

Perseus and Myths of the Argive Plain

Heracles

Theseus and the Myths of Athens

The Myths of Crete

Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes

Jason and the Myths of Iolcus and Calydon

The Trojan War

The Fall of Troy and its Aftermath

The Return of Odysseus

Roman Myth

Legends of Aeneas

Legends of Early Rome

Interpretation

Theories of Myth InterpretationList of Perspectives

The Brothers Grimm

Goya's Saturn Devouring His Children

The Biblical Creation Story

Prometheus and the Romantics

The Loves of Zeusin European Art

The Three Graces

Bernini's Apollo and Daphn+¼

Pan and Pastoral Tradition

Venus: Images of Beautyin European Art

Rossetti's Proserpina Holding the Pomegranate

H.D.'s "Adonis"

Titian's Bacchus and Ariadn+¼

Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy

Michelangelo's The Sibyl of Cumae

Dante's Inferno

J.R.R. Tolkien's Hero in The Lord of the Rings

Vasari's Perseus and Andromeda

Classical Myth and the Stars

Daumier's Hercules in the Augean Stables

Boccaccio's Misfortunes of Famous Men

Picasso's Minotauromachia

Brueghel's The Fall of Icarus

Gustave Moreau's Oedipus and the Sphinx

Seneca's Medea

Delacroix's M+¿d+¿e

Yeats' "Leda and the Swan"

The Beauty of Helen

The Trojan War in European Art

Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida

Ulysses

The Legends of Odysseus in European Art

Cavafy's "Ithaca"

Aeneas, Augustus, and Mussolini

David's Oath of the Horatii

The Lucretia of Rembrandt and Shakespeare

Apuleius' Allegory of Cupid and Psych+¼Maps

The Ancient Mediterranean (inside front cover)

Southern and Central Greece

The Ancient Near East

Ancient Italy

Imperial Rome

Greece, the Aegean, and Western Asia Minor (inside back cover)

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