Introduction to Classical Mythology

The Mythology of the Greeks

Edith Hamilton outlines how the myths of ancient Greece came to be, describing these
myths as one of the first literary traditions to emerge after humans climbed out of the
"primeval slime." These stories are a mark of a civilized culture. Hamilton points out, "we do
not know when these stories were first told in their present shape; but whenever it was,
primitive life had been left behind. The myths as we have them are the creation of great
poets." She credits Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, as the first to commit the
myths to print at least a thousand years before the Christian era.
Although other cultures, such as the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians, had gods and
myths of their own, their gods often took on animal shapes and lived removed from
humanity. By contrast, the Greek gods possessed human qualities, including taking on human
form and succumbing to human fallibility. Their intrigues and exploits reveal an imaginative
approach to the creation of myths that would have been unique at the time. The gods interact
with humans, and live among them at times. They are objects of fear because they can be
"very powerful and dangerous when angry," but they are also objects of amusement. For
example, Zeus's many failed attempts to hide his many affairs from his wife, Hera, reveal
very human weaknesses.

Hamilton cautions that these myths are not to be treated as religious text, as they served
a variety of purposes beyond a basis for worship. They can be read as early attempts at
scientific inquiry—attempts to explain natural phenomena and understand fundamental
elements of human nature. Some mythical stories reinforce moral principles and social
norms. Others are presented as "pure entertainment, the sort of thing people would tell each
other on a long winter's evening."

The Greek and Roman Writers of Mythology

In compiling the myths, Hamilton draws from a number of sources in ancient Greece
and Rome. The most notable of these sources is Homer, the blind Greek poet who authored
the oldest Greek myths, the Iliad, which tells of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey, which
describes the journey of the Greek hero Odysseus as he returns from the Trojan War. Homer's
work dates to at least 1,000 BCE. Hamilton's other major source is Ovid, the Latin poet
whose work appears during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus and becomes "a
compendium of mythology." She also cites other early Greek poets, including Hesiod, a
farmer turned poet around 800 or 900 BCE, and Pindar, a lyric poet famous for odes to
participants in national festivals around 600 BCE. She also draws from Aeschylus,
Sophocles, and Euripides, best known for their tragic poetry and dramatic writings around
400 or 500 BCE. Contemporary to these writers is Aristophanes, another Greek playwright
best known for his comedies. The author cites Alexandrian poets Theocritus, Bion, and
Moschus, whose work dates around 250 BCE.
From the 2nd century CE come the Roman Apuleius and the Greek Lucian.
Apollodorus is a Greek source whose work is as comprehensive as Ovid's, but less dynamic
and much more difficult to date, with estimates ranging from 100 BCE to 800 CE. Other
sources include the Greek Pausanias and the Romans Virgil, Catullus, and Horace. In general,
Hamilton expresses a preference for the Greek writers as definitive sources, whose writings
were informed by their proximity to the stories and their belief in what they wrote.
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HESIOD PINDAR THEOCRITUS