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Title: Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Volume 2 by Timothy Gantz ISBN: 0-8018-5362-1 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: March, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Ian Myles Slater on: Invaluable Analysis
Comment: Anyone who expects this book (in either the one-volume hardcover original, or the slightly-revised two-volume paperback) to be a complete account of Greek Myths, with or without their Roman adaptations, has missed the "Early" and the "Guide to ... Sources" in the title.
It is not a substitute for H.J. Rose's old "A Handbook of Greek Mythology, Including Its Extension to Rome," or Kerenyi's "Gods of the Greeks" and "Heroes of the Greeks," or Tripp's dictionary-style "Handbook of Classical Mythology," or Robert Graves' well-known, but eccentric, and not always reliable, "The Greek Myths." If you *need* comprehensive accounts, including at least some Roman stories, Rose and Tripp are excellent; Kerenyi concentrates on Greek subjects, and draws as exclusively as he can on Greek sources.
"Early Greek Myth" is a very detailed analysis of the evidence for stories of gods and heroes which are attested in *early* sources -- Aeschylus and the early Sophocles are Gantz's preferred demarcation. Unfortunately, as everyone who has looked into the matter is only too aware, most of the best evidence is missing, and the scholar is forced to turn to later -- sometimes much later -- summaries, quotations, and retellings which claim to be based on such early sources. A good deal of datable information comes from art, which often is archeologically and stylistically datable (the well-studied sequence of Athenian painted vases is constantly cited), but not always reliable as a direct reflection of a lost poem or play.
Gantz is meticulous, and presents an extremely balanced view, although he obviously favors some solutions to problems of interpretation. I have been reading Greek myths, and about them, for decades, and his accomplishment dazzles me. It is not easy reading, and sometimes slow going -- particularly if you stop to find in other books the pictures described this un-illustrated volume. (Of course, an illustrated version would be priced out of sight -- but it doesn't help that the references for art objects give only their "official" or "standard" publications, likely to be found in major libraries, but not on an ordinary reader's shelf.)
Among the available illustrated narrative accounts of Greek myths, Kerenyi's sparse but reliable treatments include some of the famous or intriguing vase paintings Gantz cites. Those two volumes (not Kerenyi's analytical and interpretive studies) might be the best companion for a reader baffled by Gantz's allusions to famous stories and obscure sources.
Many of the best-known stories are absent from Gantz, or mentioned only in passing, for the simple reason that there is no early evidence for them. Some actually appear only in Roman times, sometimes exclusively in Latin, as do some of the best-known versions of stories once told in very different terms. Actually, there may be a place for a similar study of *Late* Greek Myths, and of Greek myths in Latin sources. But what Gantz has provided here is remarkable enough.
Rating: 5
Summary: Indispensable Tool for Serious Students of Greek Myth
Comment: Anyone who seriously engages Greek myth in all its variants on a scholarly level needs to have this book. This is not a book to read through for entertainment. It's a reference work, and a very good one at that. If you need precise, reliable accurate acounts of a myth and its development over time, this book is for you. If you're looking for an entertaining read, look elsewhere. Not that the book is poorly written. It isn't. But it's really a sort of discursive catalog of evidence for scholars, not a book to curl up with in front of the fireplace.
The book comprehensively catalogs the primary sources for the major mythic traditions of Greece. It is particularly useful because it avoids making assumptions on what the myths were like in the early period. Inexperienced students of Greek myths tend to view them through the more elaborated narratives of later authors like the tragedians, Ovid, or Apollodorus. The result is that they often make erroneous assumptions about what a given mythic narrative actually contained in earlier periods. This book goes through myths element by element and indicates what is attested from the earliest sources. It is particularly valuable because it emphasizes iconographic data as well as literary evidence. If you dip into this book , you will often be surprised to find that canonical versions of myths often bear little resemblance to the earliest attestations.
Aside from the Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae, this may be the most important work on Greek Myth in decades. Oh, and you really need to buy both volume 1 and volume 2.
Rating: 2
Summary: Not as complete as you might expect
Comment: I study mythology and legends in Ancient Greece and so I got this book in the hopes it could lead me in new directions. The fact is, that I easily have more sources on the legends I work with than this book does. As a result I am deeply disappointed in this book and its claims to be a great resource. My advice is to check with the nearest university library near you and the read some of the principle source books in the field you are interested in; they'll have more references and moreinformation than this collection but you may need to read French or German to benefit from them. Can't read French or German? Then this book may be your best starting point to begin your own investigations into classical mythology.
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Title: The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollodorus, Robin Hard ISBN: 0192839241 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore by Jennifer Larson ISBN: 0195144651 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism by Henry Corbin, Nancy Pearson, Zia I. Khan ISBN: 0930872487 Publisher: Omega Publications Pub. Date: May, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Myth and Society in Ancient Greece by Jean-Pierre Vernant, Janet Lloyd ISBN: 0942299175 Publisher: Zone Books Pub. Date: 29 August, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Living Myth : Personal Meaning as a Way of Life by D. Stephenson Bond ISBN: 1570626847 Publisher: Shambhala Pub. Date: 01 May, 2001 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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