A Short Introduction to Classical Myth

by Powell, Barry B.

• ISBN13: 9780130258397
• ISBN10: 0130258393
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-09-07
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

An essential reference for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of classical mythology, this unique guide offers original source material on the social and historical background, interpretation, and commentary on major literary books on Greek mythsuch as Homer, Hesiod, the tragedians, the historians, Ovid, Vergil, and in Greek art.Written in a clear and lucid manner, the book offers fresh and original interpretations based on the latest scholarship, and comes organized into three distinct parts: I: Definitions and Interpretations (devoted to theoretical issues); II: Background (to fill in information essential to understanding myth); and III: Themes (chapters directed toward specific topics in the study of myth).For general readers of English literature and/or classical mythology.

Table of Contents

List of figures	ix
Preface	x
PART I Definitions and Interpretation
What Is a Myth?	1	(16)
Myth in Homer and Hesiod	2	(3)
Muthos in Pindar	5	(2)
Muthos in Plato	7	(5)
Muthos in Aristotle	12	(1)
Modern Definitions	13	(4)
The Meaning of Myth I: Ancient and Premodern Theories	17	(13)
Greek Theories	17	(2)
Physical Allegory	19	(2)
Historical Allegory: Euhemerism	21	(2)
Moral Allegory	23	(1)
Medieval and Renaissance Theories	24	(2)
Theories of the Enlightenment	26	(4)
The Meaning of Myth II: Modern Theories	30	(19)
Romantic Theories	30	(3)
Anthropological Theories	33	(2)
Linguistic Theories	35	(3)
Psychological Theories	38	(3)
Structuralist Theories	41	(2)
Contextual Approaches	43	(1)
Conclusion	44	(5)
PART II Background
The Cultural Context of Greek Myth	49	(18)
Greek Geography	49	(2)
Greek History	51	(9)
Greek Society	60	(4)
Greece and Rome	64	(3)
The Development of Classical Myth	67	(16)
Roots of Muthoi in the Bronze Age and the Ancient Near East	67	(2)
The Singers of Muthoi	69	(3)
Muthoi in the Greek Archaic Period	72	(3)
Muthoi in the Greek Classical Period	75	(3)
Myth in the Hellenistic Period	78	(2)
The Roman Appropriation of Greek Myth	80	(3)
PART III Themes
Myth and Creation: Hesiod's Theogony and Its Near Eastern Sources	83	(14)
Divine Myth	84	(2)
Hesiod's Theogony	86	(1)
The Triumph of Marduk	87	(4)
The Hittite Kingship in Heaven and the Song of Ullikummi	91	(2)
The Divine Myth of Succession in Hesiod and the Near East	93	(4)
Greek Myth and Greek Religion: Persephone, Orpheus, and Dionysus	97	(15)
Religion: General	98	(1)
Some Religious Emblems Drawn into Myth	99	(2)
Demeter and Persephone	101	(2)
The Eleusinian Mysteries	103	(2)
The Myth and Cult of Dionysus	105	(2)
The Myth and Religion of Orpheus	107	(5)
Myth and the Hero: The Legends of Heracles and Gilgamesh	112	(14)
Heroes and Heroines	112	(2)
Heracles, Son of Zeus	114	(3)
The Mesopotamian Hero Gilgamesh	117	(6)
The Way of the Hero	123	(3)
Myth and History: Crete and the Legend of the Trojan War	126	(16)
Herodotus, Father of History	126	(5)
Myth and Histoy in Thucydides	131	(3)
Heinrich Schliemann and Troy	134	(2)
Archaeology and Cretan Myth	136	(6)
Myth and Folktale: The Legend of Odysseus' Return	142	(14)
Folktale	142	(2)
The Folktale of Potiphar's Wife	144	(2)
The Greek Hero Perseus and Folktale	146	(1)
Odysseus and Folktale	147	(4)
The Folktale of the man who Returned	151	(5)
Myth and Society: The Legend of the Amazons	156	(12)
Amazons: The Women who Hated Men	156	(9)
The Meaning of the Amazons	165	(3)
Myth and Law: The Legend of Orestes	168	(12)
A House of Horrors: The Mythical Background to the Oresteia	169	(4)
Aeschylus' Agamenon	173	(2)
Aeschylus' Libation Bearers	175	(1)
Aeschylus' Eumenides	176	(1)
The Oresteia: A Parable of Progress	177	(3)
Roman Myth and Roman Religion: The Metamorphoses of Ovid	180	(13)
Roman Religion and Roman Myth-Makers	181	(3)
Ovid's Metamorphoses	184	(9)
Myth and Politics: The Myth of Theseus and the Aeneid of Vergil	193	(11)
Theseus of Athens	193	(3)
Roman Gods of the Family and State	196	(1)
The Aeneid: An Epic of National Rebirth	197	(7)
Myth And Art	204	(15)
Greek Myths From Eastern Art	204	(10)
The Greek Invention of Mythic Illustration	214	(5)
Index	219	(11)
Chart: The Greek and Roman Pantheon	230

Excerpts

CLASSICAL MYTH IS A BIG TOPIC, made unruly by the richness of original sources in Greek and Latin, and sometimes in ancient Near Eastern languages. In this short book, I hope to guide the reader in understanding the origin of the conceptmythin the ancient world and to describe the plethora of interpretive approaches applied to myth, which had begun already in the ancient world almost before the concept myth had taken a firm hold. I attempt to fill in the social and historical background essential to understanding classical myth, without which literary classics hang in a void. Finally, I attempt to provide in brief compass the historical and theoretical background necessary to understand classical myth as we find it in its primary sources in Homer, Hesiod, the tragedians, the historians, Ovid, Vergil, and in Greek art. While I am always deeply indebted to earlier commentators on myth, much material is original to this book, especially observations on myth and folktale and myth and art. In studying classical myth, we are studying the roots and history of Western civilization. For this reason there is no topic more compelling or rewarding, but the topic is complex and often bewildering. I hope that this book will assist the student or general reader to find a way through the forest of classical myth.I wish to extend my thanks to the following reviewers who made invaluable suggestions for the improvement of this book: Susan Prince, University of Colorado; Rachel Kitzinger, Vassar College; Peter Struck, University of Pennsylvania; William C. West III, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; and David Engel, Penn State University. I have cited by name various translators who have provided the English translations (usually modified) of excerpts from ancient works. Either I or my colleague Herbert M. Howe translated all other passages. I would like to thank above all J. Philip Miller of Prentice-Hall, who saw the need for a book of this kind and who has stood behind me every step of the way. My wife Patricia has endured the arduous labor of assembling permissions and finding the best illustrations. Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders, but should there be errors or omissions, the publisher will be happy to insert appropriate acknowledgment in any subsequent edition.I gratefully acknowledge these sources for permission to use figures in Chapter 15: Archaeology Receipts Fund (TAP), Athens, Figures 3, 6, 11, 13; British Museum, Figures 1, 2, 5, 7, 10; Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Figure 12; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Figure 9; Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Figures 8, 14; Superintendent of Archaeology of Basilicata, Policoro, Figure 15; Superintendent of Archaelolgy for Etruria Meridionale, Rome, Figure 4; University of Wisconsin Photo Archive, Figure 16.--B.B.P. Madison, 2001