Ebook: A Companion to Greek Mythology

Approaching Myth -- Thinking through Myth, Thinking Myth Through / Ken Dowden and Niall Livingstone -- PART I. Establishing the Canon. Homer's Use of Myth / Françoise Lé́toublon -- Telling the Mythology : From Hesiod to the Fifth Century / Ken Dowden -- Orphic Mythology / Radcliffe G. Edmonds III -- PART II. Myth Performed, Myth Believed. Singing Myth : Pindar / Ian Rutherford -- Instructing Myth: From Homer to the Sophists / Niall Livingstone -- Acting Myth: Athenian Drama / Jean Alaux -- Displaying Myth: The Visual Arts / Susan Woodford -- Platonic 'Myths' / Penelope Murray -- Myth in History / Alan Griffiths -- PART III. New Traditions. Myth and Hellenic Identities / Fritz Graf -- Names and Places: Myth in Alexandria / Anatole Mori -- The Myth of Rome / Matthew Fox -- Displaying Myth for Roman Eyes / Zahra Newby -- The Myth that Saves : Mysteries and Mysteriosophies / Ken Dowden -- Myth and Death: Roman Mythological Sarcophagi / Zahra Newby -- Myth in Christian Authors / Fritz Graf -- PART IV. Older Traditions. The Indo-European Background to Greek Mythology / Nicholas J. Allen -- Near Eastern Mythologies / Alasdair Livingstone and Birgit Haskamp -- Levantine, Egyptian, and Greek Mythological Conceptions of the Beyond / Nanno Marinatos and Nicolas Wyatt -- PART V. Interpretation. Interpreting Images : Mysteries, Mistakes, and Misunderstandings / Susan Woodford -- The Myth of History : The Case of Troy / Dieter Hertel -- Women and Myth / Sian Lewis -- Mythology of the Black Land : Greek Myths and Egyptian Origins / Ian Rutherford -- Psychoanalysis : The Wellspring of Myth? / Richard H. Armstrong -- Initiation : The Key to Myth? / Ken Dowden -- The Semiotics and Pragmatics of Myth / Claude Calame, translated by Ken Dowden -- PART VI. Conspectus. A Brief History of the Study of Greek Mythology / Jan N. Bremmer.;A Companion to Greek Mythology approaches the rich diversity of Greek myth from a distinctive new angle -- one that delves deeply into its origins in shared Indo-European story patterns and the Greeks' contacts with their Eastern Mediterranean neighbors. Contributions from a team of international experts trace the development of Greek myth into a shared language, heritage, and way of thinking throughout the entire Greco-Roman world. Individual essays address such topics as how myths were presented in stories, poems, dramas and all forms of visual art, as well as the role of myth in philosophy, learning, religion, mystery-cult, and Greek self-identity. Other essays explore contemporary reception of Greek myth and the potential of modern theoretical approaches. A Companion to Greek Mythology offers invaluable insights into the ancient world that will help to shape our understanding of the wide ranging appeal and influence of Greek myth across the ages.