The field of mythography has grown substantially in the past thirty years, an acknowledgment of the importance of how ancient writers "wrote down the myths" as they systematized, organized and interpreted the vast and contested mythical storyworld. With the understanding that mythography remains a contested category, that its borders are not always clear, and that it shifted with changes in the socio-cultural and political landscapes, The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography offers a range of scholarly voices that attempt to establish how and to what extent ancient writers followed the "mythographical mindset" that prompted works ranging from Apollodorus' Library to the rationalizing and allegorical approaches of Cornutus and Palaephatus. Editors R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma provide the first comprehensive survey of mythography from the earliest attempts to organize and comment on myths in the archaic period (in poetry and prose) to late antiquity. The essays also provide an overview of those writers we call mythographers and other major sources of mythographic material (e.g., papyri and scholia), followed by a series of essays that seek to explore the ways in which mythographical impulses were interconnected with other intellectual activities (e.g., geography and history, catasteristic writings, politics). In addition, another section of essays presents the first sustained analysis between mythography and the visual arts, while a final section takes mythography from late antiquity up into the Renaissance. While also taking stock of recent advances and providing bibliographical guidance, this Handbook offers new approaches to texts that were once seen only as derivative sources of mythical data and presents innovative ideas for further research. The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Mythography is an essential resource for teachers, scholars, and students alike.

By offering, for the first time in a single edition, complete English translations of Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae --the two most important surviving "handbooks" of classical mythography--this volume enables readers to compare the two's versions of the most important Greek and Roman myths. A General Introduction sets the Library and Fabulae into the wider context of ancient mythography; introductions to each text discuss in greater detail issues of authorship, aim, and influence. A general index, an index of people and geographic locations, and an index of authors and works cited by the mythographers are also included.

This new edition of Anthology of Classical Myth offers selections from key Near Eastern texts-the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Epic of Creation ( Enuma Elish ), and Atrahasis ; the Hittite Song of Emergence ; and the flood story from the book of Genesis-thereby enabling students to explore the many similarities between ancient Greek and Mesopotamian mythology and enhancing its reputation as the best and most complete collection of its kind.

Here in one convenient volume are the two earliest examples of the ancient Greek novel.

Here in one convenient volume are the two earliest examples of the ancient Greek novel.

This new edition of Anthology of Classical Myth offers selections from key Near Eastern texts-the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh , Epic of Creation ( Enuma Elish ), and Atrahasis ; the Hittite Song of Emergence ; and the flood story from the book of Genesis-thereby enabling students to explore the many similarities between ancient Greek and Mesopotamian mythology and enhancing its reputation as the best and most complete collection of its kind.