A Companion to Greek Mythology

Series information:Blackwell Companions to the Ancient WorldThese volumes will each contain a mixture of narrative and thematic analysis in thirty to forty concise, newly commissioned essays written by individual scholars within their area of specialization. Ancient historyHellenistic World - Andrew Erskine, University College Dublin (2003)Roman Empire - David Potter, University of Michigan (2003)Ancient Near East - Daniel Snell, University of Oklahoma (2004)Archaic Greek World - Kurt Raaflaub, Brown University, and Hans van Wees, University College London (2004)Classical Greek World - Konrad Kinzl, Trent University, and Lawrence Tritle, Loyola Marymount University (2004)Roman Republic - Nathan Rosenstein, Ohio State University, and Robert Morstein-Marx, University of California, Santa Barbara (2005)Volumes are planned on Late Antiquity and Byzantium and Ancient Egypt.Literature and CultureLatin Literature - Stephen Harrison, Corpus Christi College, Oxford (2004)Ancient Epic - John Miles Foley, University of Missouri (2004)Greek and Roman Historiography - John Marincola, New York University (2005)Greek Tragedy - Justina Gregory, Smith College (2005)Classical Mythology - Ken Dowden, University of Birmingham (proposed here)Greek Literature - Pat Easterling, Cambridge (approached)Other volumes are planned on the Classical Heritage, Greek and Roman Comedy, Greek Religion, and Roman Religion.Main blurb:This book is an essential reference work for anyone interested in understanding the mythology of the classical world and its influence on western civilization.It begins by examining the relationship between myth and other traditional tales - folktales, sagas, legends - and between myth and historical narrative. The book then provides an account of all the major ancient and modern theories of myth and the role of myth in religion. Sections on myth in Greek and Roman literature are followed by an account of the "afterlife" of Greek myth from the Reniassance to the present day.The Companion to Classical Mythology supplies the context necessary to understand classical myth. It will be a vital resource for students of classical, English and comparative literature, as well as students of ancient religion.

Ken Dowden is Professor of Classics and Director of the Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Uses of Greek Mythology (1992), European Paganism (2000), and Zeus (2006).

Niall Livingstone is a Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Birmingham. He is the author of Isocrates’ Busiris (2001) and, with Gideon Nisbet, a forthcoming book on Greek epigrams.

. Defining Myth. Myth and Oral tradition. Myth and FolktaleI. The Origins of Mythology. Indo-European Mythology. Comparative Mythology. Greek Mythology and the Near EastII. Myth and History. The Trojan War. Myth in History. Myth and Belief. Myth and PropagandaV. Theories of Myth0. Ancient Theories1. Allegorical Interpretations2. Universal Theories of Myth3. Psychoanalysis4. Feminist Approaches5. Rithual Explanations of Myth6. Structuralist Theories of Myth7. The Semiotics of Myth. Myth and Religion8. Myth in Graeco-Roman Religion9. Pagan Myth and Christianity0. Myth and Gnosticism1. Mithraic MythologyI. Myth and the Arts in Greece2. Myth in Early Greek Literature3. Myth in Greek Tragedy4. Myth in Plato5. Myth in Hellenistic Literature6. Myth and Greek ArtII. Myth and the Arts in Rome7. Myth in Early Roman Literature8. Myth in Vergil9. Myth in Ovid0. Myth in Later Latin Literature1. Myth in Roman ArtIII. The Afterlife of Myth2. Myth in the Renaissance3. Myth in the Modern World I - Literature4. Myth in the Modern World II - Film