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Myths of the Greeks and Romans

Author Michael Grant
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Paperback
$24.00 US
| $32.00 CAN
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Plume
On sale Sep 01, 1995 | 496 Pages | 9780452011625
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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A fascinating study of the world’s great myths and their impact on the creative arts through the ages, this insightful and absorbing book demonstrates the dynamic effect that ancient mythology has had on the creative efforts of succeeding centuries. Distinguished historian and classical scholar Michael Grant summarizes all the myths as well as the legends of the lesser gods and heroes, and traces their origins in historical fact or religious myth. He then shows how myths have continued to evolve throughout the ages. The author’s brilliant investigations lead from Pericles to Picasso, Homer to Freud, Apuleius to Grimm—and prove that mythological themes have been continuously restated in art, science, and folklore, up to the present day.

Lively and fascinating, this in-depth study is complemented by maps, genealogical tables, and 64 pages of photographs. Included, too, are an appendix on additional myths, chapter notes, and an updated bibliography and index.

“The special value of the book lies in [its] studies of the earlier and later history of the myths . . . . The study of origins takes Mr. Grant into many different fields, including archaeology and psychology as well as classical philology. He is well read and sure footed in all of them.”—London Times Literary Supplement
Michael Grant (1914-2004) was a historian whose over forty publications on ancient Rome and Greece popularized the classical and early Christian world. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, served in British intelligence and as a diplomat during the Second World War, and afterward became deputy director of the British Council's European division, when he also published his first book. He later returned to academia, teaching at Cambridge and Edinburgh, and serving as Vice Chancellor at the University of Khartoum and at Queen's University, Belfast. View titles by Michael Grant
Foreword

Part I: The Heroes of Homer
1. The Wrath of Achilles
i. The Story Told in the Iliad
ii. Troy and Homer
iii. Achilles: Helen
iv. The Qualities of a Hero
v. The Hero and His Gods

2. Odysseus
i. The Story Told in the Odyssey
ii. Odysseus
iii. Ever-repeated Tales
iv. Beyond the World's End

Part II: Zeus, Apollo, Demeter
3. The Rise of Zeus
i. The Story Told in the Theogony
ii. Myths of Creation
iii. Zeus Was Not Always There
iv. The Destruction of the Rebels

4. Apollo and Demeter
i. The Story Told in the Hymn to Apollo
ii. The Brilliant God of Hellenism
iii. The Story Told in the Hymn to Demeter
iv. Mother Earth
v. Myth and Ritual

Part III: Agamemnon and Prometheus
5. The House of Agamemnon
i. The Story of the Oresteia Told by Aeschylus
ii. Tragic Drama Chooses Myth
iii. The God Who Exacts the Price
iv. To O'Neill, Eliot and Sartre

6. Prometheus
i. The Story of the Prometheus Bound Told by Aeschylus
ii. The Resistance Hero

Part IV: Oedipus and Antigone
7. Oedipus
i. The Story of the King Oedipus Told by Sophocles
ii. Why Is Oedipus Destroyed?
iii. The Oedipus Complex
iv. Oedipus at Colonus

8. Antigone
i. The Story of the Antigone Told by Sophocles
ii. Who Is Right and Who Is Wrong?

Part V: Heracles and Dionysus
9. Heracles Who Conquers Death
i. The Story of the Alcestis Told by Euripides
ii. A New Look at the Myths
iii. The Harrowing of Hell

10. Dionysus Who Gives Ecstasy
i. The Story of the Bacchae Told by Euripides
ii. The Irresistable Irrational

Part VI: Heroic Searchers
11. The Quest for the Golden Fleece
i. The Story of the Argonautica Told by Apollonius
ii. Alexandrians and Victorians

12. The Quest for a Lost Wife
i. The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice Told by Virgil
ii. The Holy Orphic Books
iii. The Poetic Expression of Myth

13. The Quest for a New Home
i. The Story of the Aeneid Told by Virgil
ii. Nationalism and Guilt
iii. The Two Gates of Sleep

14. The Quest for a Roman Past
i. The Story of Romulus Told by Livy
ii. Patriotic Foundation-myth
iii. The Stories of Tarquin and Horatius Told by Livy
iv. History in Legend

Part VII: The Thousand Faces of Love
15. Ovid
i. Changes of Shape
ii. Loves Sad and Heavy
iii. Loves Triumphant
iv. Pious Couples Rewarded

16. The Invisible Lover
i. The Story of Cupid and Psyche Told by Apuleius
ii. Fairy-Story
iii. Allegory?

17. He Died for Love
i. The Story of Hero and Leander Told by Musaeus
ii. Autumnal Tint

Maps
Some Additional Myths
Bibliography
Chapter Notes

About

A fascinating study of the world’s great myths and their impact on the creative arts through the ages, this insightful and absorbing book demonstrates the dynamic effect that ancient mythology has had on the creative efforts of succeeding centuries. Distinguished historian and classical scholar Michael Grant summarizes all the myths as well as the legends of the lesser gods and heroes, and traces their origins in historical fact or religious myth. He then shows how myths have continued to evolve throughout the ages. The author’s brilliant investigations lead from Pericles to Picasso, Homer to Freud, Apuleius to Grimm—and prove that mythological themes have been continuously restated in art, science, and folklore, up to the present day.

Lively and fascinating, this in-depth study is complemented by maps, genealogical tables, and 64 pages of photographs. Included, too, are an appendix on additional myths, chapter notes, and an updated bibliography and index.

“The special value of the book lies in [its] studies of the earlier and later history of the myths . . . . The study of origins takes Mr. Grant into many different fields, including archaeology and psychology as well as classical philology. He is well read and sure footed in all of them.”—London Times Literary Supplement

Author

Michael Grant (1914-2004) was a historian whose over forty publications on ancient Rome and Greece popularized the classical and early Christian world. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, served in British intelligence and as a diplomat during the Second World War, and afterward became deputy director of the British Council's European division, when he also published his first book. He later returned to academia, teaching at Cambridge and Edinburgh, and serving as Vice Chancellor at the University of Khartoum and at Queen's University, Belfast. View titles by Michael Grant

Table of Contents

Foreword

Part I: The Heroes of Homer
1. The Wrath of Achilles
i. The Story Told in the Iliad
ii. Troy and Homer
iii. Achilles: Helen
iv. The Qualities of a Hero
v. The Hero and His Gods

2. Odysseus
i. The Story Told in the Odyssey
ii. Odysseus
iii. Ever-repeated Tales
iv. Beyond the World's End

Part II: Zeus, Apollo, Demeter
3. The Rise of Zeus
i. The Story Told in the Theogony
ii. Myths of Creation
iii. Zeus Was Not Always There
iv. The Destruction of the Rebels

4. Apollo and Demeter
i. The Story Told in the Hymn to Apollo
ii. The Brilliant God of Hellenism
iii. The Story Told in the Hymn to Demeter
iv. Mother Earth
v. Myth and Ritual

Part III: Agamemnon and Prometheus
5. The House of Agamemnon
i. The Story of the Oresteia Told by Aeschylus
ii. Tragic Drama Chooses Myth
iii. The God Who Exacts the Price
iv. To O'Neill, Eliot and Sartre

6. Prometheus
i. The Story of the Prometheus Bound Told by Aeschylus
ii. The Resistance Hero

Part IV: Oedipus and Antigone
7. Oedipus
i. The Story of the King Oedipus Told by Sophocles
ii. Why Is Oedipus Destroyed?
iii. The Oedipus Complex
iv. Oedipus at Colonus

8. Antigone
i. The Story of the Antigone Told by Sophocles
ii. Who Is Right and Who Is Wrong?

Part V: Heracles and Dionysus
9. Heracles Who Conquers Death
i. The Story of the Alcestis Told by Euripides
ii. A New Look at the Myths
iii. The Harrowing of Hell

10. Dionysus Who Gives Ecstasy
i. The Story of the Bacchae Told by Euripides
ii. The Irresistable Irrational

Part VI: Heroic Searchers
11. The Quest for the Golden Fleece
i. The Story of the Argonautica Told by Apollonius
ii. Alexandrians and Victorians

12. The Quest for a Lost Wife
i. The Story of Orpheus and Eurydice Told by Virgil
ii. The Holy Orphic Books
iii. The Poetic Expression of Myth

13. The Quest for a New Home
i. The Story of the Aeneid Told by Virgil
ii. Nationalism and Guilt
iii. The Two Gates of Sleep

14. The Quest for a Roman Past
i. The Story of Romulus Told by Livy
ii. Patriotic Foundation-myth
iii. The Stories of Tarquin and Horatius Told by Livy
iv. History in Legend

Part VII: The Thousand Faces of Love
15. Ovid
i. Changes of Shape
ii. Loves Sad and Heavy
iii. Loves Triumphant
iv. Pious Couples Rewarded

16. The Invisible Lover
i. The Story of Cupid and Psyche Told by Apuleius
ii. Fairy-Story
iii. Allegory?

17. He Died for Love
i. The Story of Hero and Leander Told by Musaeus
ii. Autumnal Tint

Maps
Some Additional Myths
Bibliography
Chapter Notes

Other Books by this Author

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