Classical Mythology : Images and Insights

by Harris, Stephen L.; Platzner, Gloria

• ISBN13: 9780767415491
• ISBN10: 0767415493
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-07-01
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill College

Summary

Comprehensive and beautifully illustrated, this is the only classical mythology text that combines thorough coverage of theoretical approaches to myth with a substantial anthology of primary works. More than 700 pages of primary selections, many of them complete works, include major hymns, epics, and plays of classical myth, while more than 200 photographs of classical works of art illustrate how the Greeks and Romans envisioned gods.

Table of Contents

Preface

PART 1. THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF MYTH

1. Introduction to Greek Myth

Greek Religion and the Nature of the Divine / The Literary Quality of Greek Myth and Its Association with Communal Observances / Distinctive Qualities of Greek Literary Myth / Myth and History / The Major Periods of Greek History

2. Ways of Interpreting Myth

Ancient Ways of Viewing Myth / Some Modern Interpretations of Myth / The Autonomy of Myth

PART II. THE MYTHIC WORLD OF GODS, GODDESSES, AND HEROES

3. In the Beginning: Hesiod’s Theogony

Hesiod’s Theogony and Ancient Near Eastern Myth / The Poet and His Inspiration / The Origins of the Gods / Hesiod’s Worldview / Reading: Hesiod, Theogony

4. The Great Goddess and the Goddesses: The Divine Woman in Greek Mythology

The Great Goddess / Gaea / The Great Goddess Divided / Demeter / The Homeric Hymn to Demeter / Reading: Author Unknown, Homeric Hymn to Demeter

5. The Olympian Family of Zeus

The Divine Family: The Older Olympians / The Younger Olympians / The Gods at Home / Readings: Homer, The Loves of Ares and Aphrodite / Author Unknown, Homeric Hymn to Hermes

6. The World in Decline: Alienation of the Human and Divine

Humanity’s Alienation from the Gods: Prometheus, Fire, and Pandora / Humanity’s Decline: Pandora and Eve / Humanity’s Alienation from Nature as the Price of Civilization / The Two Natures of Strife / The Five Ages of Humanity / Humanity’s Destruction: Deucalion’s Flood / Reading: Hesiod, Works and Days

7. In Touch with the Gods: Apollo’s Oracle at Delphi

The Shrine at Delphi: Communing with the Gods / Apollo’s Prehistory / Apollo and the Dragon: The Transition from Earth Goddess to Sky God / Apollo’s Birth / Festivals and Ceremonies of Delphi / Apollo’s Loves / Reading: Cynaethus (Kynaithos) of Chios, Hymn to Pythian Apollo

8. Dionysus: Rooted in Earth and Ecstasy

Dionysus and Apollo: Contrasts and Connections / The Dionysian Myth / Reading: Author Unknown, Hymn to Dionysus

9. Land of No Return: The Gloomy Kingdom of Hades

The Homeric View of the Afterlife / Tartarus / Descents into the Underworld / The Transmigration of Souls

10. Heroes and Heroines of Myth

The Heroic Pattern / The Early Hero: Perseus / The Archetypal Hero: Heracles / Other Heroes: Theseus and Jason / The Upper Limits of Human Ambition: Phaethon / The Heroine: Women’s Mysteries in a Man’s World / Patterns of the Heroine Myths / The Heroine as Mother or Wife / The Heroine as Helper-Maiden / The Heroine as Hero-Impersonator / The Heroine as Bride of Death / The Victorious Heroines

11. Heroes at War: The Troy Saga

The Decision of Paris / The Historicity of Troy / The Implications of the Story / Conflict in Society and the Cosmos / The Trojan Cycle Continues: Events Preceding the Iliad / The Homeric Epics / The Iliad / The Trojan Cycle Completed / Reading: Homer, Iliad

12. A Different Kind of Hero: The Quest of Odysseus

Differences between the Iliad and the Odyssey / Reading: Homer, Odyssey

PART III. MYTHS OF THE TRAGIC HEROES AND HEROINES

13. The Theater of Dionysus and the Tragic Vision

The City Dionysia and the Birth of Drama / The Tragic Vision / Myth into Drama / The Bacchae: Euripides’ Tragic Vision / Reading: Euripides, Bacchae

14. Cosmic Conflict and Evolution: Aeschylus’s Transformation of the Prometheus Myth

A Transformation of the Prometheus Myth / Complexities and Functions of the Prometheus Myth / Reading: Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound

15. The House of Atreus: Aeschylus’s Oresteia

Aeschylus’s Drama of Crime and Redemption / An Overview / Readings: Aeschylus, Agamemnon / Aeschylus, Libation-Bearers / Aeschylus, Eumenides

16. The Tragic House of Laius: Sophocles’ Oedipus Cycle

The World of Sophocles / Sophocles: The Citizen and Writer / Oedipus Rex / Oedipus at Colonus / Antigone / Readings: Sophocles, Oedipus Rex / Sophocles, Antigone

17. Euripides’ Medea: A Different Perspective on Tragedy

Euripides / The Woman’s Perspective / The Heroic Medea / Medea and Corinthian Ritual / Another View of Medea / A Proletarian Perspective / The Tragic Hero Revisited / Euripides’ Indictment of Tragic Violence / The Tragic Universe Parodied / Reading: Euripides, Medea

PART IV. THE WORLD OF ROMAN MYTH

18. The Roman Vision: Greek Myths and Roman Realities

The Connection between Greek and Roman Myths / A Roman Myth: Romulus and Remus / The Characteristics of Roman Myth / Roman Transformations of Greek Myths / The Roman Hero

19. The Aeneid: Virgil’s Roman Epic

Virgil / The Aeneid: Significant Themes and Characters / Reading: Virgil, Aeneid

20. Ovid’s Metamorphoses: The Retelling of Greek Myths

Ovid / The Metamorphoses: Significant Themes and Characters / Readings: Ovid, Excerpts from the Metamorphoses

PART V. THE WESTERN WORLD’S TRANSFORMATIONS OF MYTH

21. The Persistence of Myth

The Decline and Revival of Classical Mythology / The Later Uses of Classical Mythology / Methods of Transmission / Myth and Cultural History / Myth as Cultural Icon / The Future of Myth / Readings: Dante, Excerpt from the Inferno / Sir Philip Sidney, “Sonnet 5” from Astrophel and Stella / John Lyly, “Song” from Cupid and My Campaspe / John Donne, “Love’s Deity” / John Milton, Excerpt from Paradise Lost / George Gordon, Lord Byron, “Prometheus” / Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” / William Butler Yeats, “Leda and the Swan” / W. H. Auden, “The Shield of Achilles” / W. H. Auden, “Musée des Beaux Arts” / Eavan Boland, “The Pomegranate”A Selected List of Primary Works That Reinterpret Classical Myths

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Credits

Index