Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface

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: The Rise of Zeus

5.       Myths of Creation:The Origins of Mortals

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

7.       Myths of the Olympians: The Male Deities

8.       Myths of the Olympians: The Female Deities

9.       Myths of Fertility: Demeter

10.     Myths of Fertility: Dionysus

11.     Myths of Death: Encounters with the Underworld

Part III Legends

12.      Introduction to Heroic Myth

13.      Perseus and Myths of the Argive Plain

14.      Heracles

15.      Theseus and the Myths of Athens

16.      The Myths of Crete

17.      Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes

18.      Jason and the Myths of Iolcus and Calydon

19.      The Trojan War

20.      The Fall of Troy and its Aftermath

21.      The Return of Odysseus

Part IV Roman Myth

22.      Legends of Aeneas

23.      Legends of Early Rome

Part V Interpretation

24.      Theories of Myth Interpretation

List of Perspectives

1.1    The Brothers Grimm

4.1    Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Children

4.2    The Biblical Creation Story

5.1    Prometheus and the Romantics

6.1    The Loves of Zeusin European Art 

6.2    The Three Graces

7.1    Bernini’s Apollo and Daphnê

7.2    Pan and Pastoral Tradition

8.1    Venus: Images of Beautyin European Art  

9.1    Rossetti’s Proserpina Holding the Pomegranate

9.2    H.D.’s “Adonis”

10.1  Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadnê

10.2  Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy

11.1  Michelangelo’s The Sibyl of Cumae

11.2  Dante’s Inferno

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

13.1  Vasari’s Perseus and Andromeda

13.2  Classical Myth and the Stars

14.1  Daumier’s Hercules in the Augean Stables

15.1  Boccaccio’s Misfortunes of Famous Men

16.1  Picasso’s Minotauromachia

16.2  Brueghel’s The Fall of Icarus

17.1  Gustave Moreau’s Oedipus and the Sphinx

18.1  Seneca’s Medea

18.2  Delacroix’s Médée

19.1  Yeats’ “Leda and the Swan”

19.2  The Beauty of Helen

20.1  The Trojan War in European Art

20.2  Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida

21.1  Ulysses

21.2  The Legends of Odysseus in European Art  

21.3  Cavafy’s “Ithaca”

22.1  Aeneas, Augustus, and Mussolini

23.1  David’s Oath of the Horatii

23.2  The Lucretia of Rembrandt and Shakespeare

24.1  Apuleius’ Allegory of Cupid and Psychê

Maps

I.    The Ancient Mediterranean  (inside front cover)

II.   Southern and Central Greece

IV.  The Ancient Near East

V.   Ancient Italy

VI.  Imperial Rome

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

Promotional Information

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.