Read The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) Online
Authors: Apollodorus,Robin Hard
Timothy Gantz’s
Early Greek Myth
(Baltimore, 1993) is an invaluable guide to the literary and artistic evidence on the early mythological tradition. T. H. Carpenter,
Art and Myth in Ancient Greece: A Handbook
(London, 1991) offers a useful introduction to the treatment of myth in the visual arts. M. L. West,
The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women
(Oxford, 1985), explains the origins and nature of the genealogical scheme for heroic mythology which was adopted and developed by the early mythographer-historians, and thence by the author of the
Library
.
Paul Veyne,
Did the Greeks Believe in their Myths?
(Chicago, 1988), examines the complex and inconsistent attitudes of the Hellenistic and later Greeks to their traditional myths, and M. Detienne,
The Creation of Mythology
(Chicago, 1986), the development of our modern conception of mythology. On modern approaches to the interpretation of Greek myth since the eighteenth century, see Grafs discussion, and also the illuminating survey by J.-P. Vernant in
Myth and Society in
Ancient Greece
(Brighton, 1966). And finally, two volumes of essays may be mentioned which show some of the ways in which scholars of the present day approach the interpretation of myth: J. N. Bremmer (ed.),
Interpretations of Greek Mythology
(London, 1987) and L. Edmunds,
Approaches to Greek Myth
(Baltimore, 1990).
T
HE
original text of the
Library
contains no formal subdivisions or chapter headings; at most, the author occasionally indicates that he has concluded his account of one family and is passing on to the next. This can make a modern edition difficult to use, even where it is prefaced with an analytical summary, and a reader first approaching the work is likely to feel, quite mistakenly, that it is formless or even chaotic. To overcome these problems, and to make the work’s implicit structure immediately intelligible, I have divided the book into titled chapters and subsections, as summarized in the following table. In the text, these headings, which form no part of the original text, are italicized.
The basic pattern should be apparent at a glance. Greek mythical history begins with the Theogony, accounting for the origin of the world and the divine order within it, and culminates with the Trojan War and its aftermath; and everything that happens in between forms part of the history—or can be related to the history—of the great families of heroic mythology. Considering the richness of the mythological tradition and the multiplicity of independent centres within the Greek world, there are remarkably few main families, only six here (or seven, depending on whether the Pelasgids in Arcadia are considered to be independent from the Inachids). A thorough grasp of their history is evidently the key to an understanding not only of the present work, but of the whole pattern of Greek mythology. Genealogical tables have therefore been added after the Contents (together with some brief remarks on the heroic families and their geographical setting). The roman figures
(IA, IB
, etc.) in the Contents refer to these tables, indicating which part of the text is covered by each table.
Ouranos, Ge, and the birth of the Titans
The revolt of the Titans and rule of Cronos
The birth of Zeus and his war against Cronos and the Titans
Various children of Zeus and Hera; children of the Muses
The births of Hephaistos and Athene
The children of Poseidon; Demeter and Persephone
Deucalion, Pyrrha, and the great flood
The immediate descendants of Deucalion
[
IA
]
Ceux and Alcyone; the Aloads; Endymion
Early Aetolian genealogies; Evenos and Marpessa
Oineus, Meleager, and the hunt for the Calydonian boar
The later history of Oineus, and the birth and exile of Tydeus
[
IB
]
Athamas, Ino, and the origin of the golden fleece
Sisyphos, Salmoneus, and other sons of Aiolos
The earlier history of Bias and Melampous
[
IC
]
Pelias orders Jason to fetch the golden fleece
The women of Lemnos; in the land of the Doliones
The loss of Hylas and abandonment of Heracles
Polydeuces and Amycos; Phineus and the Harpies; the Clashing Rocks
Jason, Medea, and the seizure of the fleece
The murder of Apsyrtos and journey to Circe
The return to Iolcos and murder of Pelias
4. Early Argive mythology (the Inachids, Belid line)
The early descendants of Inachos
The wanderings of Io, and division of the Inachid line
[
IIA
]
Aigyptos, Danaos, and the Danaids
Proitos and Acrisios divide the Argolid
Bias, Melampous, and the daughters of Proitos
Excursus: the story of Bellerophon
Danae and the birth of Perseus
Perseus fetches the Gorgon’s head
The immediate descendants of Perseus
[
IIB
]
5. Heracles, and the Heraclids
Amphitryon in Thebes, and the war against the Teleboans
The birth and early life of Heracles
Heracles and the Minyans; his first marriage, and madness
Second labour: the Lernaean hydra
Third labour: the Cerynitian hind
Fourth labour: the Erymanthian boar
Fifth labour: the cattle of Augeias
Sixth labour: the Stymphalian birds
Seventh labour: the Cretan bull
Eighth labour: the mares of Diomedes
Ninth labour: the belt of Hippolyte
Tenth labour: the cattle of Geryon
Eleventh labour: the apples of the Hesperides
Twelfth labour: the capture of Cerberos
The murder of Iphitos and Heracles’ enslavement to Omphale
Marriage to Deianeira; Heracles in northern Greece
The sack of Oichalia; the death and apotheosis of Heracles
6. Cretan and Theban mythology (the Inachids, Agenorid line)
The abduction of Europa to Crete, and dispersal of the sons of Agenor
Minos, Pasiphae, and the origin of the Minotaur
Polyidos and the revival of Glaucos
[IID]
Cadmos and the foundation of Thebes
Semele and Dionysos; the death of Actaion
Successors and usurpers at Thebes
Amphion, Niobe, and their children
[IID]
Eteocles and the exile of Polyneices to Argos
Prelude in Argos: Amphiaraos and Eriphyle
The advance against Thebes and stationing of the champions
Excursus: the earlier history of Teiresias
The Theban victory and its aftermath
The Epigoni and the Second Theban War
[
IID
]
8. Arcadian mythology (the Pelasgids)
Callisto and the birth of Areas; early Arcadian genealogies
9. Laconian and Trojan mythology (the Atlantids)
The birth and early exploits of Hermes
Early Lacedaimonian genealogies; the story of Asclepios
Tyndareus, Leda, and their children
[
IIIA
]
Priam, Hecuba, and their children
[IIIB]
The exile of Peleus and Telamon
Peleus in Phthia, Calydon, and Iolcos
The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and early life of Achilles
[
IV
]
Cecrops and his descendants; the story of Adonis
Three early kings: Cranaos, Amphictyon, and Erichthonios
Pandion I and his children; Icarios and Erigone; Tereus, Procne, and Philomele
Procris and Cephalos; Oreithuia and her children
Eumolpos, and the war with Eleusis; the exile of Pandion II
Aigeus and the conception of Theseus
The war with Minos and the origin of the tribute to the Minotaur
The labours of Theseus, and his arrival at Athens
Theseus, Ariadne, and the killing of the Minotaur
Excursus: Daidalos and Icaros, and the death of Minos
Theseus and the Amazons; Phaedra and Hippolytos
[
V
]
[
VI
]
The judgement of Paris and abduction of Helen
Agamemnon assembles the Greek army
The attack on Mysia; the Greeks assemble for a second time
The landing at Troy, and the first nine years of the war
The wrath of Achilles (a summary of the
Iliad)
Penthesileia the Amazon; Memnon and the death of Achilles; the suicide of Aias
Philoctetes and the death of Paris; conditions for the fall of Troy
Menelaos and Agamemnon quarrel; Calchas and Mopsos
Agamemnon sails with the main fleet; the storm at Tenos, and Nauplios the wrecker
The fate of Neoptolemos; various wanderings and returns
The later history of the Pelopids
The return of Odysseus (a summary of the
Odyssey)
The following tables cover the six main families, as follows:
I The Deucalionids
A
The early Deucalionids
B
The Aetolian line
C
The sons of Aiolos and their descendants
II The Inachids
A
The early Inachids in Argos and the east
B
The Belid line in Argos
C
The Agenorid line: the descendants of Europa in Crete
D
The Agenorid line: the descendants of Cadmos in Thebes
III The Atlantids
A
The Laconian royal line, and the usurpers at Thebes
B
The Trojan royal line
IV The Asopids (the family of Achilles and Aias)
V The Athenian royal line
VI The Pelopids (the family of Agamemnon and Menelaos)
Most of these tables depict the mythical royal line in one of the main centres in Greece. Only one of the six families covered by the tables, namely the Athenian, conforms to the simplest possible pattern, in which a single family provides the ruling line in a single city. Generally the genealogical system is more economical, and the ruling lines in two or more cities are traced to a common ancestor and so united within the same family. Thus separate branches of the Inachid family provide the royal families of both Argos and Thebes, the two greatest centres in mythical Greece, and also of Crete. Accordingly, the family trees of the first three families, which are the largest and are divided in this way between different centres, have been subdivided in the tables.
Although the adventures of various members of these families take them to many different parts of the Mediterranean world, it is natural that the main centres of rule associated with the great families should be located in the heartland of Greece. There are two major exceptions, namely, Crete, as would be expected since it was a very ancient centre of civilization which had connections with Mycenaean Greece, and Troy, in north-western Asia Minor, for its connection with the Trojan War, the culminating adventure in the mythical history of Greece. Although the Trojans themselves were usually regarded as a non-Hellenic people, the ruling family was traced back to Greek origins through an Atlantid ancestor. Otherwise the places associated with these various families can be located on the accompanying map.