Approaches to Greek MythLowell Edmunds “A handy introduction to some of the more useful methodological approaches to and the previous scholarship on the subject of Greek myths.” —Phoenix Since the first edition of Approaches to Greek Myth was published in 1990, interest in Greek mythology has surged. There was no simple agreement on the subject of “myth” in classical antiquity, and there remains none today. Is myth a narrative or a performance? Can myth be separated from its context? What did myths mean to ancient Greeks and what do they mean today? Here, Lowell Edmunds brings together practitioners of eight of the most important contemporary approaches to the subject. Whether exploring myth from a historical, comparative, or theoretical perspective, each contributor lucidly describes a particular approach, applies it to one or more myths, and reflects on what the approach yields that others do not. Edmunds’s new general and chapter-level introductions recontextualize these essays and also touch on recent developments in scholarship in the interpretation of Greek myth. Contributors are Jordi Pŕmias, on the reception of Greek myth through history; H. S. Versnel, on the intersections of myth and ritual; Carolina López-Ruiz, on the near Eastern contexts; Joseph Falaky Nagy, on Indo-European structure in Greek myth; William Hansen, on myth and folklore; Claude Calame, on the application of semiotic theory of narrative; Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, on reading visual sources such as vase paintings; and Robert A. Segal, on psychoanalytic interpretations. “A valuable collection of eight essays . . . Edmunds’s book provides a convenient opportunity to grapple with the current methodologies used in the analysis of literature and myth.” —New England Classical Newsletter and Journal |
Contents
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Christiane SourvinouInwood | |
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Common terms and phrases
Adonis Aethra ancient Ancient Greece Apollo Arcesilas archetype Argonauts Athenian Athens Battus Bremmer Burkert Cambridge Carneia century classical commentary complex context cult cultural Cyrene Cyrenean Detienne divine Dumézil Eastern edition Eliade ephebe epic Euphemus example father figure folktales Frazer Freud Freudian FrGHist function Georges Dumézil Gilgamesh gods Greece Greek myth Greek mythology head Heracles hero Herodotus Hesiod Homer iconographic Iliad Indo-European initiation inland interpretation Jung Jungian king legend Libya literary literature London López-Ruiz marginal means Medea mother myth and ritual mythical mythographical mythography Nagy narrative narrator Odysseus Oedipus oral origin Orpheus Orpheus's Oxford Paris pattern Phoenician Pindar poem poet poetic poetry Poseidon puer Pythian reference religion representations represented rites scene schema schol scholars semantic Sourvinou-Inwood 1979 Sparta story symbolic texts theme theory Thera Theseus Theseus’s tradition Translated Trojan Trojan War Ugaritic unconscious University Press vase Vernant woman Zeus