Table of Contents

List of Perspectives
List of Maps
List of Charts
List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I. Definitions and Background
1. The Nature of Myth
2. The Cultural Context of Classical Myth
3. The Development of Classical Myth
Part II. Divine Myth
4. Myths of Creation I: The Rise of Zeus
5. Myths of Creation II: The Origins of Mortals
6. Myths of Zeus, His Wife Hera, and His Brothers Poseidon and Hades
7. Myths of the Great God Apollo
8. Myths of Hermes, Pan, Hephaestus, and Ares
9. Myths of the Female Deities Aphrodite, Artemis, and Athena
10. Myths of Fertility I: Demeter and Related Myths
11. Myths of Fertility II: Dionysus
12. Myths of Death: Encounters with the Underworld
Part III. Legends
13. Introduction to Heroic Myth: The Mesopotamian Legend of Gilgamesh
14. Perseus and Myths of the Argive Plain
15. Heracles
16. Theseus and the Myths of Athens
17. The Myths of Crete
18. Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes
19. Jason and the Myths of Iolcus and Calydon
20. The Trojan War
21. The Fall of Troy and Its Aftermath
22. The Return of Odysseus
Part IV. Roman Myth
23. Legends of Aeneas
24. Legends of Early Rome
Part V. Interpretation
25. Theories of Myth Interpretation
Reference Charts
Chronology of the Ancient World
The Greek and Roman Pantheon
Credits
Index and Glossary

About the Author

Barry B. Powell is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught classical mythology for over thirty years.

Reviews

"Classical Myth is the best of its kind."--David J. Schenker, University of Missouri
"This text is accessible to students at all levels of engagement. I am consistently pleased with the translations--easy for students to grasp, while maintaining the essence of the original meaning."--Heather Pollock, University of Akron
"Classical Myth is not excessively sophisticated for my 100-level students, yet it challenges them to explore beneath the surface of myths."--Elaina Wida, California State University, Long Beach