Classical Mythology

865 Pages·2014·29.601 MB·English

by  Mark Morford

Classical
Mythology
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Classical
Mythology
TENTH EDITION
Mark P.O. Morford
University of Virginia, Emeritus
Robert J. Lenardon
The Ohio State University, Emeritus
Michael Sham
Siena College
OXFORD NEW YORK
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Dedicated to the Memory of
WILLIAM ROBERT JONES
teacher, scholar, friend
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Morford, Mark P. O., 1929- author.
Classical mythology / Mark P.O. Morford, Robert J. Lenardon.—Tenth edition.
pages cm
Includes indexes.
ISBN 978-0-19-999732-9
1. Mythology, Classical. I. Lenardon, Robert J., 1928- author. II. Title.
BL723.M67 2014
292.1’3--dc23
2013028090
Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Cover art: Athena and Heracles. Interior of a kylix by the potter Python and painter Duris, ca. 475 B.C.;
diameter 13 in. On the viewer’s left Heracles sits on a rock, wearing his lionskin and with his club resting
beside him. He is refreshed by Athena, who stands opposite and pours wine from an oinochoe (a jug for
wine) into a two-handled kylix. She wears the aegis (note the four snakes on the lower right) and holds
an owl in her left hand: her spear is held at rest and her helmet rests on a plinth. (Bildarchiv Preussischer
Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY)
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Contents
Art, Maps, and Figures vii
Preface ix
About the Authors xiii
About the Website xv
PART ONE
Th e Myths of Creation: Th e Gods
1 Interpretation and Definition of Classical Mythology 3
Appendix to Chapter 1: Sources for Classical Mythology 26
2 Historical Background of Greek Mythology 40
3 Myths of Creation 61
4 Zeus’ Rise to Power: The Creation of Mortals 84
A ppendix to Chapter 4: Parallels in Myths of Greece and the Ancient
Near East 106
5 The Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Hera, and Their
Children 117
6 The Nature of the Gods and Greek Religion 140
7 Poseidon, Sea Deities, Group Divinities, and Monsters 168
8 Athena 179
9 Aphrodite and Eros 193
10 Artemis 227
Additional Reading: Euripides’ Hippolytus 237
11 Apollo 251
Additional Reading: The Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo 274
12 Hermes 285
13 Dionysus, Pan, Echo, and Narcissus 304
14 Demeter and the Eleusinian Mysteries 339
15 Views of the Afterlife: The Realm of Hades 359
16 Orpheus and Orphism: Mystery Religions in Roman Times 388
v
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vi Contents
PART TWO
Th e Greek Sagas
Introduction to the Greek Sagas 409
17 The Theban Saga 414
18 The Mycenaean Saga 445
Additional Reading: Orestes and the Three Electras 455
19 The Trojan Saga and the Iliad 475
Appendix to Chapter 19: Meleager and the Calydonian Boar Hunt 516
20 The Returns and the Odyssey 525
21 Perseus and the Legends of Argos 548
Appendix: Bellerophon and the Chimera 557
22 Heracles 562
23 Theseus and the Legends of Attica 589
24 Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts 614
Additional Reading: Jason and Medea in Euripides 627
PART THREE
Th e Nature of Roman Mythology
25 Greek Mythology in the Roman World 643
26 Roman Mythology and Saga 673
PART FOUR
Th e Survival of Classical Mythology
27 Classical Mythology in Literature 713
28 Classical Mythology in Music, Dance, and Film 742
Glossary of Mythological Words and Phrases in English 792
The Greek Spelling of Names 804
Indexes
A. Index of Authors, Composers, and Titles I-1
B. Glossary/Index of Mythological and Historical Persons, Places, and
Subjects I-13
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Maps, Figures and
“Myth and Culture”
MAPS
1. Greece and the Near East, pages 108–109
2. Greece and Asia Minor, pages 410–411
3. The Return of Odysseus, page 533
4. The Labors of Heracles, page 565
5. The Voyage of the Argo to Colchis, page 617
6. Map of the World According to the Ideas of Hecataeus of Miletus,
page 625
7. Roman Italy and Sicily, page 675
8. Map of Early Rome, page 692
9. Greece, Crete and the Aegean, inside back cover
FIGURES
1. Genealogy of the Gods, inside front cover
2. Timeline of Historical Events and Authors, pages 54–55
3. Descendants of Chaos, page 64
4. Children of Ge and Uranus, page 65
5. Descendants of the Titans, page 67
6. Family of Prometheus, page 85
7. Lineage of Major Deities, page 118
8. Plan of the Temple of Zeus, page 124
9. Descendants of the Sea, page 175
10. Descendants of Medusa, page 175
11. Plan of the Parthenon, page 181
12. Sectional Drawing of the East End of the Parthenon, page 182
13. The Children of Cadmus, page 306
14. The Kings of Thebes, page 416
15. Descendants of Chthonius, page 420
16. The Dynasties of Thebes, page 421
17. The House of Atreus, page 447
vii
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viii Maps, Figures and “Myth and Culture”
18. The Royal House of Troy, page 482
19. The Ancestry of Perseus, page 552
20. The Ancestry of Heracles, page 563
21. The Royal Families of Athens, page 591
22. Plan of the Erechtheum, page 592
23. The Ancestry of Jason, page 616
MYTH AND CULTURE
1. The Palace at Cnossus, page 42
2. Saturn Devouring His Children, page 74
3. The Altar of Zeus at Pergamon, page 90
4. Raphaël and Poussin, page 172
5. Athena Parthenos and Pallas Athena, page 184
6. Pygmalion and the Image, page 198
7. Images of Apollo, page 272
8. The Niinnion Pinax and the Celebration of the Mysteries
at Eleusis, page 352
9. Ovid and the Iconography of the Rape of Europa, page 418
10. Two Returns of Odysseus, page 536
11. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia and its Sculptural Program, page 570
12. The Rape of Lucretia, page 704
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Preface
IT IS NOW MORE than forty years since the manuscript of Classical Mythology
was submitted to the publishers. The original authors have now revised the book
through nine more editions while keeping their research in the fi eld current.
Our work is conceived as a comprehensive source where one may go to explore
in depth the nature of the Greek and Roman deities and the heroes and heroines
of saga; in a few words, a fundamental text for the serious study of the subject of
classical mythology. Yet we also have intended to provide a fertile source where
one may nourish a sympathetic understanding of the great mythological heritage
bestowed by classical antiquity. We also consider the great infl uence of classical
mythology upon diverse artistic forms (painting, sculpture, literature, music, op-
era, dance, theater, and cinema) to be a most enjoyable and rewarding subject, too
important to be ignored. Although this infl uence becomes the focus of the chap-
ters in Part Four (The Survival of Classical Mythology), it permeates all aspects
of our presentation throughout. The tenacious persistence of Greek and Roman
mythology undeniably remains vital and pervasive in our contemporary world.
Greek and Roman myths, of indelible beauty and with great power to inspire,
present a particularly fertile and inexhaustible venue for the appreciation of the
cultural, intellectual, and artistic history of Western civilization.
Originally, Professor Morford and Professor Lenardon each undertook the
major responsibility for certain sections—Professor Lenardon wrote Part One
(Chapters 1–16) and Chapter 28 in Part Four, and Professor Morford wrote Parts
Two and Three (Chapters 17–26) and Chapter 27 in Part Four. We have continued
to use this approach, although in subsequent revisions all three authors have
contributed freely throughout the book.
Translations
Successive revisions have been extensive and far-reaching, in grateful response
to the many sensitive and appreciative critics over these many years. They have
consistently encouraged us to remain fi rm in our conviction that the literary
tradition of Greek and Roman mythology must always remain primary, but they
have also confi rmed our need and desire to incorporate, in so far as possible,
additional comparative and interpretative approaches and more far-reaching
evidence from other sources such as archaeology.
Translations of the ancient authors remain extensive, and none has been
deleted from this edition. The majority of them throughout the book (except for
Chapters 26 and 27) are by Professor Lenardon, including all thirty-three of the
ix
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