Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Greek mythology
*** Shopping-Tip: Greek mythology
see
Greek mythology
{{Greek myth}}
'''
Greece Greek mythology''' consists of a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the lives and adventures of a wide variety of
Greek gods gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines. These accounts were initially fashioned and disseminated in an
oral tradition oral-poetic tradition; our surviving sources of Greek mythology are literary reworkings of this oral tradition. In order to better understand the meanings of the ancient texts, historians have looked to
icon iconic visual imgagery provided by sculptures and painted objects, such as vases and bowls. The Greeks themselves referred to the myths and associated artworks to throw light on
cult (religion) cult practices and
ritual traditions that were already ancient and, at times, poorly understood.
In the wide variety of legends and stories that constitute ancient Greek mythology, the deities that were native to the Greek peoples are described as having essentially human but ideal bodies. Although each god's physical appearance is distinct, they have the power to take on whatever form they choose. The few composite or
chimera chimerical beings that occur, such as the
Sphinx, had their origins in
Anatolia or the
Near East and were imported into the Greek culture.
Regardless of their underlying forms, the Greek gods have many fantastic abilities: they can disguise themselves or make themselves invisible to humans, they can instantly transport themselves to any location, and are able to act through the words and deeds of humans, often without the knowledge of the human through whom the gods act. Most significantly, the gods are not affected by disease, can be wounded only under highly unusual circumstances, and are immortal. Even though each of the gods was born, most of them growing from infancy to adulthood, once they reach their physical peak of maturity they do not age beyond that point.
Each god descends from his or her own genealogy, pursues differing interests, has a certain area of expertise, and is governed by a unique personality; however, these descriptions arise from a multiplicity of archaic local variants, which do not always agree with one another. When these gods were called upon in poetry, prayer or cult, they are referred to by a combination of their name and
epithets, that identify them by these distinctions from other manifestations of themselves. A Greek deity's epithet may reflect a particular aspect of that god's role, as ''Apollo Musagetes'' is "
Apollo, [as] leader of the
Muses." Alternatively the epithet may identify a particular and localized aspect of the god, sometimes thought to be already ancient during the classical epoch of Greece.
In such mythic narratives, we are told that the gods are all part of a huge family, spanning multiple generations. The oldest of the gods were responsible for the creation of the world, but younger gods usurped their power. In many familiar epic poems set in the "age of heroes," the twelve Olympians are said to have appeared in person. In order to help out the Greeks' primitive ancestors, the gods performed miracles, instructed them in various areas of practical knowledge, taught them proper methods of worship, rewarded good behavior and chastised immorality, and even had children with them.
Nature and Sources of Greek Mythology
The general issues in studying myths are discussed in the
mythography article. While all cultures throughout the world have their own
Mythology myths, the term '''mythology''' is a Greek coinage and had a specialized meaning within Greek culture.
The Greek term ''mythologia'' is a compound of two smaller words:
* '''mythos''' — which in
Homer Homeric Classical Greek Greek means roughly "a ritualized
speech act", as of a chieftain at an assembly, or of a poet or priest.
* '''logos''' — which in classical Greek stands for "a convincing story, an ordered argument".
In the original sense, therefore, a ''mythology'' is an attempt to bring sense to the stylized narratives that the Greeks recited at festivals, whispered at shrines, and bandied about at aristocratic banquets. Since few breeds of men are more prone to squabbling than poets, priests and aristocrats, contradictions in the material are rife. Moreover, they are part of the fun.
Several types of primary source are available for the study of Greek mythology.
Image:Patrocluspederastyscene.jpg Achilles.html"_title="Meaning of thumb thumb|left|300px|right|[[Achilles_binds the wound of
Patroclus: the
Trojan War formed a context for many cycles of Greek myth. Patroclus'
penis is exposed to show the
homosexuality sexual aspect of their
pederasty pederastic relationship. Such relationships were a common element of
Mythology of same-sex love Greek mythology, most notably that of
Zeus and
Ganymede (mythology) Ganymede..html" title="Meaning of left|300px|right|[[Achilles">thumb|left|300px|right|[[Achilles binds the wound of
Patroclus: the
Trojan War formed a context for many cycles of Greek myth. Patroclus'
penis is exposed to show the
homosexuality sexual aspect of their
pederasty pederastic relationship. Such relationships were a common element of
Mythology of same-sex love Greek mythology, most notably that of
Zeus and
Ganymede (mythology) Ganymede.">left|300px|right|[[Achilles">thumb|left|300px|right|[[Achilles binds the wound of
Patroclus: the
Trojan War formed a context for many cycles of Greek myth. Patroclus'
penis is exposed to show the
homosexuality sexual aspect of their
pederasty pederastic relationship. Such relationships were a common element of
Mythology of same-sex love Greek mythology, most notably that of
Zeus and
Ganymede (mythology) Ganymede.
#The poetry of the Archaic and Classical eras — composed primarily for performance at cultic festivals or aristocratic banquets, and thus part of ''muthos'' in the Homeric sense. This includes:
#*the
Homeric
Odyssey,
Iliad and
Homeric Hymns Hymns
#*the
Hesiodic
Theogony.
#*the dramatic works of
Aeschylus,
Sophocles,
Euripides and
Aristophanes
#*the choral hymns of
Pindar and
Bacchylides.
#The work of historians, like
Herodotus and
Diodorus Siculus, and geographers, like
Pausanias (geographer) Pausanias and
Strabo, who made travels around the Greek world and noted down the stories they heard at various cities.
#The work of mythographers, who wrote prose treatises based on learned research attempting to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets. The
Bibliotheke by
Apollodorus of Athens is the largest extant example of this genre.
#The poetry of the
Hellenistic and
Ancient Rome Roman ages, which although composed as a literary rather than cultic exercise, nevertheless contains many important details that would otherwise be lost. This category includes the works of:
#*The Hellenistic poets
Apollonius of Rhodes and
Callimachus.
#*The Roman poets
Hyginus,
Ovid,
Statius,
Valerius Flaccus and
Virgil.
#*The
Late Antiquity Late Antique Greek poets
Nonnus and
Quintus Smyrnaeus.
#The ancient novels of
Apuleius,
Petronius,
Lollianus and
Heliodorus.
An Overview
The span of stories and characters in Greek mythology ranges from the atrocities of the
Titan (mythology) early gods to the brutal wars of
Trojan War Troy and
Seven Against Thebes Thebes, from the youthful pranks of
Hermes to the heartfelt grief of
Demeter for
Persephone, all depicted in minute detail. The cast of characters includes many
gods,
goddesses,
heroes,
heroines,
monsters,
Daemon (mythology) daemons,
nymphs,
satyrs, and
centaurs.
While self-contradictions in the stories make an absolute timeline impossible, an approximate chronology may be discerned. There was first an '''age of gods''', then an '''age when men and gods mingled freely''', followed by an '''age of heroes''', where divine activity was more limited.
While the age of gods has often been of more interest to contemporary students of myth, the Greek authors of the archaic and classical eras had a clear preference for the age of heroes. For example, the heroic
Iliad and
Odyssey dwarfed the divine-focused
Theogony and
Homeric Hymns in both size and popularity.
image:Delphi temple-650px.jpg Delphi.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|250px|Temple of Apollo at [[Delphi..html" title="Meaning of 250px|Temple of Apollo at [[Delphi">thumb|250px|Temple of Apollo at [[Delphi.">250px|Temple of Apollo at [[Delphi">thumb|250px|Temple of Apollo at [[Delphi.
The Age of Gods
Like their neighbors, the Greeks believed in a
wiktionary:pantheon pantheon of
deity gods and
goddesses who were associated with specific aspects of life. For example,
Aphrodite was the goddess of sexual desire, while
Ares was the god of war and
Hades the god of the dead. Some deities, such as
Apollo and
Dionysus, revealed complex personalities and mixtures of functions, while others, such as
Hestia (literally "hearth") and
Helios (literally "sun"), were little more than personifications. There were also site-specific deities: river gods, nymphs of springs, caves, and forests. Local heroes and heroines were often venerated at their tombs by people from the surrounding area.
Many beings described in Greek myths could be considered "gods" or "heroes." Some were recognized only in
folklore or were worshipped only at particular locales, (e.g.
Trophonius) or during specific festivals (e.g.
Adonis). The most impressive
Temple (Greek) temples tended to be dedicated to a limited number of gods: the
twelve Olympians,
Heracles,
Asclepius and occasionally
Helios. These gods were the focus of large pan-Hellenic cults. It was, however, common for individual regions and villages to devote their own cults to
nymphs, minor gods, or local heroes. Many cities also honored the more well-known gods with unusual local rites and associated strange myths with them that were unknown elsewhere.
=The First Gods
=
One type of narrative about the age of gods tells the story of the birth and conflicts of the
Greek primordial gods first divinities:
Chaos (mythology) Chaos,
Nyx (Night),
Eros (god) Eros (Love),
Uranus (mythology) Uranus (the Sky),
Gaia (mythology) Gaia (the Earth), the
Titan (mythology) Titans and the triumph of
Zeus and the
Twelve Olympians Olympians.
Hesiod's
Theogony is an example of this type. It was also the subject of many lost poems, including ones attributed to
Orpheus,
Musaeus,
Epimenides,
Abaris and other legendary seers, which were used in private ritual purifications and
mystery religion mystery-rites. A few fragments of these works survive in quotations by
Neoplatonism Neoplatonist philosophers and recently unearthed
papyrus scraps.
The earliest Greek thought about poetry considered the ''theogony'', or song about the birth of the gods, to be the prototypical poetic genre—the prototypical ''muthos''—and imputed almost magical powers to it.
Orpheus, the archetypal poet, was also the archetypal singer of theogonies, which he uses to calm seas and storms in the ''
Argonautica'', and to move the stony hearts of the underworld gods in his descent to
Hades. When
Hermes invents the
lyre in the ''Homeric Hymn to Hermes'', the first thing he does is sing the birth of the gods.
Hesiod's ''
Theogony'' is not only the fullest surviving account of the gods, but also the fullest surviving account of the archaic poet's function, with its long preliminary invocation to the
Muses.
=The Olympian gods
=
Another type tells the story of the birth, struggles and exploits, and eventual ascent into
Olympus of one of the younger generation of gods:
Apollo,
Hermes,
Athena, etc. The
Homeric Hymns are the oldest source of this kind of story. They are often closely associated with cult-centers of the god in question: the ''Homeric Hymn to Apollo'' is a compound of two earlier narratives: one telling of his birth at
Delos, the other of his establishment of the oracle at
Delphi. Similarly, the ''Homeric Hymn to
Demeter'', with its tale of the abduction of
Persephone by
Hades, narrates the back-story of the
Eleusinian Mysteries.
The Age of Gods and Men
Bridging the age when gods lived alone and the age when divine interference in human affairs was limited was a transitional age in which gods and men moved freely together.
The most popular type of narrative that confronts gods with early men involves the seduction or rape of a mortal woman by a male god (most often
Zeus), resulting in heroic offspring. In a few cases, a female divinity mates with a mortal man, as in the ''Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite'', where the goddess lies with
Anchises to produce
Aeneas. The marriage of
Peleus and
Thetis, which yielded
Achilles, is another such myth.
Another type involves the appropriation or invention of some important cultural artifact, as when
Prometheus steals fire from the gods, when
Tantalus steals nectar and ambrosia from Zeus' table and gives it to his own subjects - revealing to them the secrets of the gods, when
Prometheus or
Lycaon invents sacrifice, when
Demeter teaches
agriculture and the
Eleusinian mysteries Mysteries to
Triptolemus, or when
Marsyas invents the
aulos and enters into a musical contest with
Apollo.
Yet another type belongs to
Dionysus alone: the god wanders through Greece from foreign lands to spread his cult. He is confronted by a king,
Lycurgus (Thrace) Lycurgus or
Pentheus, who opposes him, and whom he punishes terribly in return.
The Age of Heroes
The age of heroes can be broken down around the monumental events of
Heracles as the dawn of the age of heroes, the
Argonauts Argonautic expedition and the
Trojan War. The Trojan War marks roughly the end of the Heroic Age.
=Heracles
=
Image:Perseus-slays-medusa.jpg Perseus.html"_title="Meaning of right right|thumbnail|250px|[[Perseus_with the Head of
Medusa (mythology) Medusa..html" title="Meaning of thumbnail|250px|[[Perseus">right|thumbnail|250px|[[Perseus with the Head of
Medusa (mythology) Medusa.">thumbnail|250px|[[Perseus">right|thumbnail|250px|[[Perseus with the Head of
Medusa (mythology) Medusa.
Among heroes,
Heracles is in a class by himself. His fantastic solitary exploits, with their many
folk tale themes, provided much material for popular legend. His enormous appetite and rustic character also made him a popular figure of comedy, while his pitiful end provided much material for tragedy.
=Other Early Heroes
=
Other members of the earliest generation of heroes, such as
Perseus,
Deucalion and
Bellerophon, have many traits in common with Heracles. Like him, their exploits are solitary, fantastic and border on
fairy tale, as they slay monsters such as the
Chimera (mythology) Chimera and
Medusa (mythology) Medusa. This generation was not as popular a subject for poets; we know of them mostly through mythographers and passing remarks in prose writers. They were, however, favorite subjects of visual
art.
=The Generation of the Argonauts
=
Nearly every member of the next generation of heroes, as well as
Heracles, went with
Jason on the expedition to fetch the
Golden Fleece. This generation also included
Theseus, who went to
Crete to slay the
Minotaur;
Atalanta, the female heroine; and
Meleager, who once had an epic cycle of his own to rival the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey''.
=Seven against Thebes and royal crimes
=
In between the
Argo and the
Trojan War, there was a generation known chiefly for its horrific crimes. This includes the doings of
Atreus and
Thyestes at
Argos; also those of
Laius and
Oedipus at
Thebes, Greece Thebes, leading to the eventual pillage of that city at the hands of the
Seven Against Thebes and
Epigoni. For obvious reasons, this generation was extremely popular among the Athenian tragedians.
Image:The Rage of Achilles by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo.jpeg thumb|right|250px|"The Rage of Achilles" by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
=Troy and its aftermath
=
The
Trojan War, including its causes and consequences, was the turning point between the heroic age and what the ancient Greeks considered to be their historical era. Vastly more attention was paid to this struggle than to all the many other contemporaneous events combined. The lasting popularity of the tales related to the Trojan War have kept them in circulation for millennia. The Trojan cycle includes:
*The events leading up to the war:
Eris and the
golden apple of
Kallisti, the
Judgement of Paris, the abduction of
Helen of Troy Helen, the sacrifice of
Iphigenia at
Aulis.
*The events of the
Iliad, including the quarrel of
Achilles with
Agamemnon and the deaths of
Patroclus and
Hector.
*The ruse of the
Trojan Horse and the destruction of
Troy.
*The homecomings of heroes from Troy, including the wanderings of
Odysseus (the
Odyssey) and
Aeneas (the
Aeneid), and the murder of
Agamemnon
*The children of the Trojan generation: e.g.
Orestes and
Telemachus
=Heraclids
=
The Heraclids were the descendants of Heracles who were the rightful heirs to the throne in Mycenae, Sparta, and Argos. There struggle originally started after the death of Heracles.
Hyllus attacked Mycenae and was killed. The Oracle told them to wait until "the third crop". Sixty years after the Trojan war they took over the Peleponesus and became the ancestors of the
Dorians.
Theories of Origin
In antiquity, historians such as
Herodotus theorized that the Greek gods had been stolen directly from the
Egyptians. Later on, Christian writers tried to explain Hellenic paganism through degeneration of
Biblical religion. Since then, the sciences of archaeology and linguistics have been applied to the origins of Greek mythology with some interesting results.
To begin with, extant literary sources indicate that the
Ancient Greece ancient Greeks used the word Αιθιοπία to refer to a peoples:
* whom they considered sacred, favored by the gods, and
* living immediately to the south of
ancient Egypt.
For example,
Memnon (mythology) Memnon was regarded as one of
Ancient Greece's noblest heroes. Also, a
mosaic discovered in the ruins of
Pompeii vividly depicts
Hercules as a black man ([http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/RomanAfrica2/pompei%26herc1.jpg], [http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110Tech/RomanAfrica2/#Subject]).
But, historical linguistics, on the one hand, demonstrates that particular aspects of the Greek pantheon were inherited from
Indo-European society, as were the roots of the Greek language. Thus, for example, the name
Zeus is cognate with Latin
Jupiter (god) Jupiter,
Sanskrit Dyaus and Germanic
Tyr (see
Dyeus), as is
Ouranos with Sanskrit
Varuna. In other cases, close parallels in character and function suggest a common heritage, yet lack of linguistic evidence makes it difficult to prove — as in the case of the Greek
Moirae and the
Norns of
Norse mythology.
And archaeology, on the other hand, has revealed that the Greeks were inspired by some of the civilizations of Asia Minor and the Near East.
Cybele is rooted in
Anatolian culture, and much of
Aphrodite's
iconography springs from the Semitic goddesses
Ishtar and
Astarte.
Textual studies reveal multiple layers in tales, such as secondary asides bringing
Theseus into tales of
The Twelve Labours of
Herakles. Such tales concerning tribal
eponyms are thought to originate in attempts to absorb mythology of one tradition into another, in order to unite the cultures.
In addition to Indo-European and Near Eastern origins, some scholars have speculated on the debts of Greek mythology to the still poorly understood pre-Hellenic societies of Greece, such as the
Minoans and so-called
Pelasgians. This is especially true in the case of
chthonic deities and
mother goddesses. For some, the three main generations of gods in
Hesiod's
Theogony (Uranus, Gaia, etc.; the Titans and then the Olympians) suggest a distant echo of a struggle between social groups, mirroring the three major high cultures of Greek civilization:
Minoan civilization Minoan,
Mycenaean and
Hellenic.
The extensive parallels between Hesiod's narrative and the
Hurrians Hurrian myth of
Anu,
Kumarbi, and
Teshub makes it very likely that the story is an adaptation of borrowed materials, rather than a distorted historical record. Parallels between the earliest divine generations (
Chaos (mythology) Chaos and its children) and
Tiamat in the ''
Enuma Elish'' are possible (Joseph Fontenrose, ''Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins'': NY, Biblo-Tannen, 1974).
Jungian scholars such as
Karl Kerenyi have preferred to view the origin of myths (and dreams) in universal
archetypes. Though not all readers are confident of interpretations of myth in terms of
Carl Jung's psychology of dreams (by Kerenyi or
Joseph Campbell Campbell for examples), most agree that myths are dreamlike in two aspects: they are not consistent, perhaps not wholly consistent even within a single myth-element; and they often reflect some momentary experience of the essence of the godhead, some
epiphany, which then must be assembled into a narrative thread, much as dreams are recreated as sequential happenings.
In sum, the origins of Greek mythology remain a fascinating and open question.
Did the Greeks believe their myths?
"Our own myths we call reality" is one of the axioms with which Carl A.P. Ruck and Danny Staples commence ''The World of Classical Myth''; to the Greeks, mythology was a part of their history; few ever doubted that there was truth behind the account of the
Trojan War in the ''
Iliad'' and ''
Odyssey''. The Greeks used myth to explain natural phenomena, cultural variations, traditional enmities, and friendships. It was a source of pride to be able to trace one's descent from a mythological hero or a god.
Sophisticated Greeks experienced a cultural crisis in the
5th century BC, when increased literacy and the development of logic forced a more comparative skeptical turn of mind, a crisis of which
Socrates was the most famous victim.
On the other hand, a few radical philosophers like
Xenophanes were already beginning to label the poets' tales as blasphemous lies in the
6th century BC; this line of thought found its most sweeping expression in
Plato's ''
Plato's Republic Republic'' and ''Laws''. More sportingly, the 5th century BC
tragedy tragedian Euripides often played with the old traditions, mocking them, and through the voice of his characters injecting notes of doubt. In other cases Euripides seems to be directing pointed criticism at the behavior of his gods.
Alexandrian poets at first, then more generally literary mythographers in the early Roman Empire, often adapted stories of characters in Greek myth in ways that did not reflect earlier actual beliefs. Many of the most popular versions of these myths that we have today were actually from these fictional retellings, which may blur the archaic beliefs.
Hellenistic Rationalism
The skeptical turn of the Classical age became even more pronounced in the
Hellenistic era. Most daringly, the mythographer
Euhemerus claimed that stories about the gods were only confused memories of the cruelty of ancient kings. Although Euhemerus's works are lost, interpretations in his style are frequently found in
Diodorus Siculus.
Rationalizing
hermeneutics of myth became even more popular under the
Roman Empire, thanks to the physicalist theories of
Stoicism Stoic and
Epicureanism Epicurean philosophy, as well as the pragmatic bent of the Roman mind. The antiquarian
Marcus Terentius Varro Varro, summarizing centuries' worth of philosophic tradition, distinguished three kinds of gods:
* The gods of nature: personifications of phenomena like rain and fire.
* The gods of the poets: invented by unscrupulous bards to stir the passions.
* The gods of the city: invented by wise legislators to soothe and enlighten the populace.
Cicero's ''De Natura Deorum'' is the most comprehensive summary of this line of thought.
Syncretizing Trends
One unexpected side-effect of the rationalist view was a popular trend to syncretize multiple Greek and foreign gods in strange, nearly unrecognizable new cults. If
Apollo and
Serapis and
Sabazios and
Dionysus and
Mithras were all really
Helios, why not combine them all together into one
Sol Invictus Deus Sol Invictus, with conglomerated rites and compound attributes? The surviving
2nd century 2nd century AD collection of
Orpheus Orphic Hymns and
Macrobius's ''Saturnalia'' are products of this mind-set.
But though Apollo might in religion be increasingly identified with Helios or even Dionysus, texts retelling his myths seldom reflected such developments. The traditional literary mythology was increasingly dissociated from actual religious practice.
Modern Interpreters
A bibliography of modern works on Greek myth, beginning from
Giovanni Boccaccio Boccaccio's '' Genealogia degli Dei de Gentili'': [http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Bibliography2.html Carlos Parada, Greek Mythology Link].
The developers of modern mythography and
hermeneutics, starting from Bulfinch's genteel Christian tradition, in approximate chronological order:
*
Thomas Bulfinch
*
Johann Jakob Bachofen
*
James George Frazer
*
Jane Ellen Harrison
*
Walter Burkert
*
Otto Rank
*
Carl Jung
*
Walter Otto
*
Edith Hamilton
*
Karl Kerenyi
*
Robert Graves
*
Claude Lévi-Strauss
*
Michael Grant
*
Joseph Campbell
*
Norman O. Brown
*
Timothy Gantz
*
Roberto Calasso
*
H.J. Rose
*
James Hillman
See also
*
List of Greek mythological characters
*
List of Greek mythological creatures
*
Classical mythology
*
Entheogen Ritual use of entheogens (psychoactive substances) in classical mythology and cults
*
Family tree of the Greek gods
*
Greek religion
*
Odysseus
*
Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan mythologies
Greek Cosmology
*
Elysium
*
Hades
*
Helicon
*
Hyperborea (Hyperboria)
*
Lethe
*
Mount Olympus (Olýmpos)
*
Styx (mythology) Styx
*
Tartarus (Tartaros)
Related Subjects
*
List of movies based on Greco-Roman mythology
*
Mythology of same-sex love
*
Paganism
*
Roman mythology
*
Roman religion
Sources
The main sources for Greek myth are
Homer,
Hesiod, the Greek dramatists,
Pindar,
Apollonius of Rhodes,
Apollodorus, and the Latins
Ovid,
Hyginus and
Nonnus.
Standard secondary sources in English include:
*
Walter Burkert (1985) ''Greek Religion,'' Harvard University Press, 1985.
*
Robert Graves Graves, Robert, ''The Greek Myths'' 1955.
*
Edith Hamilton, ''
Mythology (book) Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.'' 1942.
*
Karl Kerenyi Kerenyi, Karl, ''The Gods of the Greeks'' 1951.
*
Karl Kerenyi Kerenyi, Karl, ''The Heroes of the Greeks'' 1959.
* Lenardon, R. and M. Morford, ''Classical Mythology: Seventh Edition'', Oxford 2002.
*
H.J. Rose Rose, H.J., ''Handbook of Greek Mythology'', 1928.
* Carl Ruck and Danny Staples, ''The World of Classical Myth,'' 1994.
*
William Smith (lexicographer) Smith, William, ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', 1870, [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/]
*
William Smith (lexicographer) Smith, William, ''
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', 1870, [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/]
Influential, more specialized studies include:
*
Jane Ellen Harrison, ''Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion,'' 1903
*
Karl Kerenyi, ''Eleusis: archetypal image of mother and daughter,'' 1967.
*
Karl Kerenyi, ''Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life,'' 1976
* Nagy, Gregory, ''The Best of the Achaeans'', Johns Hopkins, 1979.
* Veyne, Paul ''Did the Greeks Believe in Their Myths? An Essay on Constitutive Imagination'' English translation by Paula Wissing (1988)
University of Chicago ISBN 0-226-85434-5 (paper)
External links
-
A Guide to Greek Gods, Spirits and Monsters a guide to the Ancient Greek Pantheon of Gods (''Theoi''), Spirits (''Daimones'') and Monsters (''Theres'') from various classical texts and illustrations from ancient greek vase painting.
-
Timeless Myths: Classical Mythology provides information and tales from classical literature.
-
Greek Mythology provides a complete overview of Greek myths.
-
Perseus Digital Library contains full-text documents of classical sources and modern commentaries on Greek, Roman, and Modern literature, philosophy and history. It has also images of ancient objects.
-
The Androphile Library Greek mythology section presents brief renditions of the Greek myths of male love.
-
Greek Mythology Link
-
Greek Mythology Guide
{{featured article}}
Category:Greek mythology *
Category:Greek religion
{{Link FA|es}}
af:Griekse mitologie
als:Griechische Mythologie
ar:ميثولوجيا إغريقية
ast:MitoloxÃa Griega
bg:Древногръцка митологиÑ?
ca:Mitologia grega
cv:Ð?валхи грек мифологиĕ
cs:Řecká mytologie
da:Græsk mytologi
de:Griechische Mythologie
et:Vanakreeka mütoloogia
el:Ελληνική μυθολογία
es:MitologÃa griega
eo:Helena mitologio
fr:Mythologie grecque
gl:MitoloxÃa grega
ko:그리스 ì‹ í™”
hi:यूनानी धर�म
hr:GrÄ?ka mitologija
id:Mitologi Yunani
it:Mitologia greca
he:מיתולוגיה ×™×•×•× ×™×ª
la:Mythologia Graeca
lt:Graikų mitologija
lb:Griichesch Mythologie
hu:Görög mitológia
nl:Griekse mythologie
ja:ギリシア神話
mk:Грчка митологија
no:Gresk mytologi
nn:Gresk mytologi
pl:Mitologia grecka
pt:Mitologia grega
ro:Mitologie greacă
ru:ДревнегречеÑ?каÑ? мифологиÑ?
sl:Grška mitologija
sr:Грчка митологија
fi:Kreikkalainen mytologia
sv:Grekisk mytologi
vi:Thần thoại Hy Lạp
tr:Yunan mitolojisi
uk:Давньогрецька релігіÑ?
zh:希腊神�
{{Commonscat|Greek mythology}}
{{catmore}}
Category:European mythology
Category:Greek religion
Category:Mythology by culture
bg:КатегориÑ?:Древногръцка митологиÑ?
ca:Categoria:Mitologia grega
cs:Kategorie:Řecká mytologie
da:Kategori:Græsk mytologi
de:Kategorie:Griechische Mythologie
el:ΚατηγοÏ?ία:Ελληνική μυθολογία
es:CategorÃa:MitologÃa griega
eo:Kategorio:Helena mitologio
fr:Catégorie:Mythologie grecque
ko:분류:그리스 ì‹ í™”
hr:Kategorija:GrÄ?ka mitologija
it:Categoria:Mitologia greca
he:קטגוריה:מיתולוגיה ×™×•×•× ×™×ª
ka:კ�ტეგ�რი�:ბერძნული მით�ლ�გი�
la:Categoria:Mythologia Graeca
lb:Category:Griichesch Mythologie
lt:Kategorija:Graikų mitologija
hu:Kategória:Görög mitológia
nl:Categorie:Griekse mythologie
ja:Category:ギリシア神話
no:Kategori:Gresk mytologi
pl:Kategoria:Mitologia grecka
pt:Categoria:Mitologia grega
ro:Categorie:Mitologie greacă
ru:КатегориÑ?:ГречеÑ?каÑ? мифологиÑ?
sk:Kategória:Grécka mytológia
sl:Kategorija:Grška mitologija
sr:Категорија:Грчка митологија
fi:Luokka:Kreikkalainen mytologia
sv:Kategori:Grekisk mytologi
tl:Category:Mitolohiyang Greek
vi:Thể loại:Thần thoại Hy Lạp
uk:КатегоріÑ?:Давньогрецька міфологіÑ?
zh:Category:希腊神�
*** Shopping-Tip: Greek mythology
