Greek Mythology Encyclopedia

[Blu-Benny]

well, i've been reading the Percy Jackson books and w/god of war 3 coming out this last week, my greek mythology juices have been flowing again.

does anyone have or know of a great reference book for anything and everything that has to do w/greek mythology??

people, places, stories, everything.

i've been looking for quite a while and can't find anything i really like.

i'd want one that gives a breakdown of who everyone is, what they've done, pictures or artists drawings.

thanks for any help or suggestions anyone has.

[Lord_Stewie]

I suggest going to the public Library in your area and grabbing anything that has something to do with Homer. Epic stories are hidden in there.


PS. Roman = Greek Mythology.

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by Lord_Stewie

PS. Roman = Greek Mythology.

[Melesine]

No Roman does not = Greek Mythology. The Romans had their own myths.

Oxford Classical Dictionary by Simon Hornblower is a great source for almost everything during the Classical Period.

The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollodorus
A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology by Harold Newman
Hesiod: Theogony, Works & Days, Shield by Hesiod Translated by Athanassakis ( Theogony especially is a must read IMO)
The Homeric Hymns by Apostolos N. Athanassakis(translator)
A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World by David Sacks
Religion in Hellenistic Athens (Hellenistic Culture and Society) by Jon D. Mikalson
Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore by Jennifer Larson
Divine Escorts: Nereids in Archaic and Classical Greek Art by Judith M. Barringer
The Gods of the Greeks by Kerenyi
The Heros of the Greek by Kerenyi ( he also has other books on Greek mythology )

That is my short list. If you want to get into how Greek Religion was practiced I have more on that.


online http://www.theoi.com/ is a good source.




you didn't ask but for Rome I love Religions of Rome volumes 1 and 2 by Mary Beard

[jhiggy23]

John Edward Zimmerman's "Dictionary of Classical Mythology" is all you need. The above poster has excellent recommendations if you want to get into it to a higher degree, but Zimmerman is all you need for a quick, basic, accurate understanding.

I used it as quick reference when I used to write extensively about Shakespeare.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Melesine

No Roman does not = Greek Mythology. The Romans had their own myths.

The Roman Borrowed a great majority of the Greek Myths. The only difference is the names changed to latin. Some characters kept their names i.e Hercules, and others had a latin name instead i.e Zeus = Jupiter.

You could argue that some stories/myths are different and that is a given and I won't deny that but a great majority is taken from the Greeks.

So I could see that Roman = Greek is slightly off but still true.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Lord_Stewie

The Roman Borrowed a great majority of the Greek Myths. The only difference is the names changed to latin. Some characters kept their names i.e Hercules, and others had a latin name instead i.e Zeus = Jupiter.

You could argue that some stories/myths are different and that is a given and I won't deny that but a great majority is taken from the Greeks.

So I could see that Roman = Greek is slightly off but still true.

I'm no expert, but the way you explained it here is how I always understood it to be.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by Steve

I'm no expert, but the way you explained it here is how I always understood it to be.

I studied Latin and Roman Myths in College. Part of what I had to learn was the history behind Roman Myths. I would say Roman Myths is about 93.5% taken from the Greeks.

[Melesine]

The Romans did adopt some of the Greeks mythology but they added those myths to their already existing ones.

[Jellybeans]

Originally Posted by Melesine

No Roman does not = Greek Mythology. The Romans had their own myths.

Oxford Classical Dictionary by Simon Hornblower is a great source for almost everything during the Classical Period.

The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics) by Apollodorus
A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology by Harold Newman
Hesiod: Theogony, Works & Days, Shield by Hesiod Translated by Athanassakis ( Theogony especially is a must read IMO)
The Homeric Hymns by Apostolos N. Athanassakis(translator)
A Dictionary of the Ancient Greek World by David Sacks
Religion in Hellenistic Athens (Hellenistic Culture and Society) by Jon D. Mikalson
Greek Nymphs: Myth, Cult, Lore by Jennifer Larson
Divine Escorts: Nereids in Archaic and Classical Greek Art by Judith M. Barringer
The Gods of the Greeks by Kerenyi
The Heros of the Greek by Kerenyi ( he also has other books on Greek mythology )

That is my short list. If you want to get into how Greek Religion was practiced I have more on that.


online http://www.theoi.com/ is a good source.




you didn't ask but for Rome I love Religions of Rome volumes 1 and 2 by Mary Beard

Great site!