Greek Mythology

This introductory text offers a chronological account of the main Greek myths in surviving literary and artistic sources, and also examines the history of interpretation of Greek mythology from the 17th century to the present. Topics include the relationship between Greek myths and epic poetry, the connection between particular myths and shrines or holy festivals, the use of myth in Greek song and tragedy, and the uses and interpretations of myth by philosophers and allegorists.

“The best general introduction to Greek mythology in English.”

Graf's Greek Mythology immediately established itself, when it was first published in German in 1985, as the best introduction then available. Historical in three senses-a brief history of theories of myth, a view of the historically changing roles of myth, a sense of the processes of inventing, forgetting, and renewing myth-the book's strength lies in its combining an understanding of myth as essentially narrative, with an appreciation of the issue of authorship... This is a new edition, with footnotes, numerous minor alterations to the text, and a thoroughly updated bibliography. Times Literary Supplement -- Lowell Edmunds Bryn Mawr Classical Review Full of compelling insights... A superior work on Greek mythology done by a first-rate scholar. -- Paul Properzio New England Classical Newsletter and Journal

Fritz Graf is professor of philology in the Seminar for Classical Philology at the University of Basel in Switzerland. Thomas Marier is in the Department of Classics at the Johns Hopkins University.

This revised translation of Fritz Graf's highly acclaimed introduction to Greek mythology offers a chronological account of the principal Greek myths that appear in the surviving literary and artistic sources and concurrently documents the history of interpretation of Greek mythology from the 17th century to the present. First surveying the various definitions of myth that have been advanced, Graf proceeds to examine topics such as the relationship between Greek myths and epic poetry, the connection between particular myths and shrines or holy festivals, the use of myth in Greek song and tragedy, and the uses and interpretations of myth by philosophers and allegorists.

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