2017611 PerseusEncyclopedia,Abacus,antiphusandCtimenus,Apollodorus

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PersEnc.A.13.apollodorus

Apollodorus

Apollodorus,aTroezenian

Paus.10.9.10

Apollodorus(2),Athenianleaderofmercenaries

Paus.1.29.10

Apollodorus(3),tyrantofCassandria

Paus.4.5.4ff.

Apollodorus(4)

Apollodorus,Libraryc.100200AD

InthesecondcenturyBC,ApollodorusofAthenswasascholarwhostudiedunderthefamousAristarchusat
Alexandria,butleftthatcityaround146BC,perhapsforPergamon.Hespentmuchofhislaterlifeworkingat
Athens,andproducedawiderangeofmajorscholarlyworks.IntheByzantineperiod,hisnamebecame

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D13%3Aentry%3Dapollo 1/3
2017611 PerseusEncyclopedia,Abacus,antiphusandCtimenus,Apollodorus

associatedwiththeLibrary,themythologicalhandbookwhichnowsurvivesasourbestsinglesourceon
Greekmythology.

ApollodorusofAthenscouldnot,however,havecomposedtheLibrary.Thetextthatwepossesscitesa
Romanauthor,CastortheAnnalist,whowasacontemporaryofCicerointhefirstcenturyB.C.Sincethereisno
reasontodoubtthathispassagebelongstotheLibrary,thetextwhichwehavewascomposedatleastacentury
afterthehistoricalApollodorusofAthenswasinhisprime.TherealauthoroftheLibraryofApollodorusisthus
unknown.Scholarlyopinion,arguingfromthelanguageusedbythetext,generallyplacestheLibraryinthefirst
orsecondcenturiesA.D.

OneaspectoftheLibrarywhichalsosuggeststhatitisnottheworkofApollodorustheAtheniancontributesto
thiswork'sgreatvalueformodernscholars:whereApollodorustheAthenianseemstohaveinterpretedancient
mythsaccordingtotheintellectualtrendsofhisday,theauthoroftheLibraryreportsitsmythswithlittle
interpretationanddrawsoftenuponveryoldandconservativesources.TheLibrarypreservesmanymythological
variantswhichGreekepicandlyricpoetryseemtopresupposewithoutdirectlymentioning,andthusoften
seemstoprovideapictureofGreekmythologyasitappearedinthearchaicandclassicalperiod.Apollodorusis
thusaninvaluablesourcetothestudentofGreekmythology.

sourcesusedbyApollodorus

TheLibrarywascomposedatleastfourhundredyearsafterthedeathofAlexandertheGreat(theconventional
endoftheClassicalperiod),butthisworkneverthelessderivesinlargepartfromveryearlysourcesandgivesus
abetterideaofGreekmythologyinthearchaicandclassicalperiodthanotherworkswrittencenturiesearlier.

Inanumberofcases,wecanseehowtheLibraryfollowssurvivingsources,andthereadercancomparethe
originalswiththeversionsintheLibrarytogetasenseofhowfaithfulthistextis:Apollod.3.5.79Sophocles,
OedipusTyrannusApollod.1.9.15Euripides,AlcestisApollod.1.9.28Euripides,MedeaApollod.E.7Homer,
OdysseyApollod.1.9.1626ApolloniusofRhodes,Argonautica

ThemostimportantlostsourceusedbytheLibraryseemstohavebeenPherecydesofAthens,aproseauthor
fromthefifthcenturyBC,whocomposedalongworkonGreekmythology.Manyofthemostusefultraditions
preservedinApollodorusseemtoderivefromPherecydes,andApollodorusthusoffersusglimpsesofmythsas
theywererecordedataveryearlydate.

ThetextoftheLibraryisnotcomplete,andthelatersectionsaremissing.Twomanuscripts,however,contains
largelyidenticalsummariesoftheLibraryasawhole,andJamesFrazer,theeditoroftheLoebEdition
Apollodoros[Frazer,1913],createdtheEpitome,acompositetext,drawnfromthesetwomanuscript
summaries.FrazerincludesthatsectionofthisEpitomewhichtakesupwheretheregulartextbreaksoff,thus
providingamoreorlesscompleteversionofwhole.

Inaddition,theindexandespeciallythenoteswhichaccompanythetextoftheLibraryintheLoebClassical
LibraryeditionwerecomposedbySirJamesFrazer,theauthoroftheGoldenBough.Theindexisthorough,and
thenotescontainreferencestomostoftheothermajorliterarysourcesforthemythsmentionedintheLibrary.A
readerinterestedinseeinghowGreektextsportraythestoryofHeraklesandtheHesperidescanbeginby
lookingfortheHesperidesintheindextoApollodorus,checkwhatApollodorushastosayandthenlookupthe
referencescollectedbyFrazerinthenotes.

Apollodorus.GodsandHeroesoftheGreeks:theLibraryofApollodorustranslatedwithIntroductionand
NotesbyMichaelSimpson.Amherst,MA:UniversityofMassachusettsPress,1976.vi+311.Apollodorus.
TheLibrary.LoebClassicalLibrary.2vols.Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1921.Apollodorus.
TheLibraryofGreekMythology:TranslatedwithNotesandIndices.Lawrence,Kansas:CoronadoPress,
1975.x+297.

GregoryCrane
Createdinelectronicform.

TheAnnenbergCPB/Projectprovidedsupportforenteringthistext.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D13%3Aentry%3Dapollo 2/3
2017611 PerseusEncyclopedia,Abacus,antiphusandCtimenus,Apollodorus

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D13%3Aentry%3Dapollo 3/3