Barry B. Powell , after graduation from Berkeley and Harvard, taught at Northern Arizona University, then took a job at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught for 34 years. He is a master of many languages, both ancient and modern, and for many years taught Egyptian philology and culture at Wisconsin, in addition to courses in Classics. His book Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet, which advanced the thesis that one man invented the Greek alphabet in order to record the poet Homer, has become a classic and changed the way we think about the origins of Western Culture. He has written many other books, including two novels and a book of poetry. His book Classical Myth, is the best-selling book on the topic, and is now in its seventh edition. His book Homer is the best-selling study of this author. The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society (second edition, with Ian Morris) is widely used in college classrooms. He is currently preparing a translation of the Iliad and the Odyssey. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he and his wife Patricia enjoy the company of their children and grandchildren.  

Preface   

PART I Definitions and Background

1.         The Nature of Myth   

2.         The Cultural Context of Classical Myth   

3.         The Development of Classical Myth   

PART II Divine Myth

4.         Myths of Creation: The Rise of Zeus   

5.         Myths of Creation: The Origins of Mortals   

6.         Myths of Zeus, His Wife Hera, and His Brother Poseidon

7.         Myths of the Great God Apollo

8.         Myths of Hermes, Pan, Hephaestus, Ares

9.         Myths of the Female Deities   

10.       Myths of Fertility: Demeter and Related Myths   

11.       Myths of Fertility: Dionysus   

12.       Myths of Death: Encounters with the Underworld  

PART III Legends

13.       Gilgamesh: Introduction to Heroic Myth  

14.       Perseus and Myths of the Argive Plain   

15.       Heracles   

16        Theseus and the Myths of Athens   

17.       The Myths of Crete   

18.       Oedipus and the Myths of Thebes   

19.       Jason and the Myths of Iolcus and Calydon   

20.       The Trojan War   

21.       The Fall of Troy and Its Aftermath   

22.       The Return of Odysseus   

PART IV Roman Myth

23. Legends of Aeneas    

24. Legends of Early Rome

PART V Interpretation

25. Theories of Myth Interpretation   

Reference Charts

            Chronology of the Ancient World

            The Greek and Roman Pantheon   

Index   

PERSPECTIVES

1.1       The "Myth of Atlantis"

1.2       The Brothers Grimm   

2          Frank Miller's 300

4.1       Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Children   

4.2       The Biblical Creation Story  

5.1       Kratos: God of War

5.2       Prometheus and the Romantics   

6.1       The Three Graces   

6.2       The Loves of Zeus in European Art    (color insert)

7          Bernini’s Apollo and Daphnê   

8          Pan and Pastoral Tradition   

9          Venus: Images of Beauty in European Art    (color insert)

10.1     Rossetti’s Proserpina Holding the Pomegranate   

10.2     H. D.’s “Adonis”   

11.1     Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadnê   

11.2     Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy

12.1     Vampires   

12.2     Michelangelo’s The Sibyl of Cumae   

12.3     Dante’s Inferno   

13        J. R. R. Tolkien’s Modern Hero in The Lord of the Rings   

14.1     Vasari’s Perseus and Andromeda   

14.2     Classical Myth and the Stars   

15        Daumier’s Hercules in the Augean Stables

16        Boccaccio’s Misfortunes of Famous Men   

17.1     Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson

17.2     Picasso’s Minotauromachia   

17.3     Brueghel’s The Fall of Icarus   

18        Gustave Moreau’s Oedipus and the Sphinx   

19.1     Seneca’s Medea   

19.2     Delacroix’s Médée   

20.1     Yeats’s “Leda and the Swan”   

20.2     The Beauty of Helen   

21.1     The Trojan War in European Art    (color insert)

21.2     Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida   

22.1     Ulysses   

22.2     The Legends of Odysseus in European Art    (color insert)

22.3     Cavafy’s “Ithaca”   

23        Aeneas, Augustus, and Mussolini   

24.1     David’s Oath of the Horatii   

24.2     The Lucretia of Rembrandt and Shakespeare   

25        Apuleius’ Allegory of Cupid and Psychê 

MAPS

  I.        The Ancient Mediterranean (inside front cover)

 II.        Southern and Central Greece, chapter  2  

III.       The Ancient Near East, chapter 3

IV.       The Argive Plain, chapter 14

V.        Heracles' Adventures in Greece, chapter 15

VI.       Locations of Heracles' Deeds Abroad, chapter 15

VII.      The Labors of Theseus, chapter 16

VIII. The Voyage of the Argo, chapter 19

IX.       The Troad, chapter 20

X.        Ancient Italy, chapter 23 

XI.       The Travels of Aeneas, chapter 23

XII.      Imperial Rome, chapter 24  

XIII.     Greece, the Aegean, and Western Asia Minor (inside back cover)

CHARTS

CHART 3 Near Eastern Gods and Goddesses

CHART 4.1 The First Generation of Gods

CHART 4.2 The Offspring of Gaea and Uranus

CHART 4.3 The Offspring of Gaea and Pontus

CHART 4.4 Hittite and Greek Theogonies Compared

CHART 5 The Descent of the Greek Tribes from the Race of Titans

CHART 6.1 The Twelve Olympians

CHART 6.2 Zeus’s Divine Consorts and Their Children

CHART 14 The Descent of Perseus

CHART 15.1 The Descent of Heracles

CHART 15.2 Heracles' Wives and Offspring

CHART 16.1 Cecrops and His Descendants

CHART 16.2 The House of Erichthonius

CHART 17 The House of Crete

CHART 18 The House of Cadmus

CHART 19.1 The House of Aeolus

CHART 19.2 The House of Calydon

CHART 20.1 The House of Atreus

CHART 20.2 The House of Tyndareüs

CHART 20.3 The House of Troy

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.