Classical Mythology in Context encourages students to directly encounter and explore ancient myths and to understand them in broader interpretative contexts. Featuring a modular structure that coincides with the four main components of a classical mythology course--history, theory, comparison, and reception--each chapter (with the exception of Chapter 1) is built around one central figure or topic. Classical Mythology in Context provides: A sustained discussion of religious practices and sacred places that offers a key approach to the historical contextualization of Greek myths An introduction to--and integration of--theoretical approaches to myth in each chapter that shows how these approaches affect the ways in which students understand myths and mythic figures Ample selections of primary sources, all from the Oxford World's Classics series A robust comparative approach examining Greek myths alongside other myths from the Mediterranean Basin and the Ancient Near East An approach to the reception of myths as interpretation and reflection in Western art, with an emphasis on contemporary culture An Ancillary Resource Center (ARC) that includes PowerPoint-based lecture slides and an Instructor's Resource Manual A Companion Website that provides additional student and instructor resources FEATURES Compelling and relevant illustrations provide visual evidence for placing myths in context Abundant maps help students locate all sites in Greece, the larger Greek world, and the Ancient Near East A detailed Timeline for Greece, Rome, and the Ancient Near East helps students situate key works within their cultural and historical contexts "The Essentials": In Part I, these boxes appear at the start of each chapter, introducing students to the most essential information about a god or goddess and previewing that chapter's content. In Part II, they appear whenever a new hero or heroine is introduced. "Before You Read" section for each primary source and critical reading is prefaced with a brief contextual overview followed by questions that encourage critical thinking Paired chapters explore different aspects of a god, hero, or heroine, equipping students with analytical tools that can be applied to other topics A list of Key Terms at the end of each chapter helps students review and retain its most important points A "For Further Exploration" annotated bibliography at the end of each chapter provides a starting point for students who wish to learn more about the chapter's content A Select Bibliography at the end of the book, divided by chapter (and further divided by chapter section) emphasizes scholarly works that are accessible to students A Combined Glossary and Index includes a pronunciation key, the Greek form (where relevant), and brief description for all figures, places, and rituals in the text

Table of Contents:
*=Primary Source Preface: About the Author: PART I: GODDESSES AND GODS Genealogy of the Greek Gods Timeline of Classical Mythology Map: Greece and Greek-Speaking Cities in Anatolia 1. CLASSICAL MYTHS AND CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONS 1.1 What Is a Myth? Myth, Legend, and Folklore A Three-Point Definition of a Mythological Corpus 1.2 What Is Classical Mythology? Myths from Ancient Greece Myths from the Ancient Near East Myths from Ancient Rome 1.3 How Do We Make Sense of Classical Myths? History Theory Comparison Reception 1.4 Why Study Classical Myths in the Twenty-First Century? 2. CREATION 2.1 History: A Greek Creation Story Historical Settings of Hesiod's Theogony Hesiod's Creation Story: The Theogony * Hesiod, Theogony 2.2 Theory: The Social World Shapes Myths * Ivan Strenski, from "Introduction" to Malinowski and the Work of Myth 2.3 Comparison: Levant: Creation Stories * Genesis 1:1-3:24 2.4 Reception: Titans in Modern Art Paul Manship, Prometheus, the Light Bringer Lee Oscar Lawrie, Atlas 3. ZEUS AND HERA 3.1 History: Order and Rebellion Zeus Hera Zeus and Prometheus Bound * Aeschylus, from Prometheus Bound 3.2 Theory: Universal Questions Shape Myth Wendy Doniger, from The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth 3.3 Comparison: Levant: Flood Stories * Genesis 6-9 3.4 Reception: Leda and the Swan in Modernist Poetry Marie Laurencin, Leda and the Swan William Butler Yeats, Leda and the Swan Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), "Leda" 4. DEMETER AND HADES 4.1 History: Life and Death Hades Demeter * Unknown, Hymn 2: To Demeter 4.2 Theory: Myths Reinforce Social Norms * Helene P. Foley, from "A Question of Origins: Goddess Cults Greek and Modern" 4.3 Comparison (Mesopotamia): A Sumerian Mother Goddess * Unknown, from In the Desert by the Early Grass 4.4 Reception: Persephone in Contemporary Women's Poetry * Rita Frances Dove, "The Narcisssus Flower" (1995) * Rachel Zucker,"Diary [Underworld]" (2003) * Alison Townsend, "Persephone in America" (2009) 5. APHRODITE, HEPHAESTUS, AND ARES 5.1 History: Love and Strife Aphrodite Hephaestus Ares Eros Unknown, Hymn 5: To Aphrodite 5.2 Theory: Myths Challenge Social Norms * John J. Winkler, from "The Laughter of the Oppressed: Demeter and the Gardens of Adonis" 5.3 Comparison: Mesopotamia: Ishtar * Unknown, The Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld 5.4 Reception: Pygmalion in Hollywood Pygmalion: My Fair Lady: Pretty Woman: Lars and the Real Girl: 6. ATHENA AND POSEIDON 6.1 History: Wisdom and War Athena's Birth Athena's Practical Intelligence and Men's Activities Poseidon Athena and the City of Athens * Aeschylus, from Eumenides 6.2 Theory: The Mind Structures Myth in Oppositions Simon Goldhill, from Aeschylus: The Oresteia 6.3 Comparison: Egypt: Neith * Unknown, from "Cosmogonies at the Temple of Esna" 6.4 Reception: Athena as a Political Allegory Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the People" François-Charles Morice and Léopold Morice, "The Statute of the Republic" Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus" Frédéric Bartholdi, "The Statue of Liberty" 7. HERMES AND HESTIA 7.1 History: From Herms to Hermes Hermes's Hills Ithyphallic Herms Beardless Hermes Hestia * Unknown, Hymn 4: To Hermes 7.2 Theory: The Mind Structures Myth in Archetypes * Lewis Hyde, from Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth and Art 7.3 Comparison: Egypt: Thoth * Unknown, "The Hymn to Thoth" * Plato, from Phaedrus 7.4 Reception: Hermaphroditus in Pre-Raphaelite Art Charles Algernon Swinburne, "Hermaphroditus" (1863) Edward Burne-Jones, "The Tree of Forgiveness" Aubrey Beardsley, "A Hermaphrodite amongst the Roses" 8. ARTEMIS AND APOLLO 8.1 History: From Adolescence to Adulthood Artemis Apollo * Unknown, Homer, Hymn 3: To Apollo * Unknown, Homer, Hymn 27: To Artemis 8.2 Theory: Myth, Ritual, and Initiations Jane Harrison and the Cambridge Ritualists Arnold van Gennep and Rites of Passage * Ken Dowden, "Initiation: The Key to Myth?" 8.3 Comparison: Anatolia and Rome: Cybele Artemis and the Phrygian Great Mother Artemis in Roman Ephesus * Xenophon, from An Ephesian Tale 8.4 Reception: Actaeon and Daphne in Contemporary Poetry Alicia E. Stallings, "Daphne" Seamus Heaney, "Actaeon" Don Paterson, "A Call" 9. DIONYSUS 9.1 History: Encountering Dionysus Viticulture, Wine, and Fertility Theater and Masks Mystery Cults Euripides's Bacchae * Euripides, from Bacchae * Unknown, Hymn 7: To Dionysos 9.2 Theory: Initiations and Inversions Liminality and Initiation Rituals Liminality and Dionysus * Eric Csapo, from "Riding the Phallus for Dionysus: Iconology, Ritual, and Gender-Role De/Construction" 9.3 Comparison: Anatolia and Rome: Cybele and Attis The Great Mother in Greece The Great Mother in Rome * Catullus, "Attis" 9.4 Reception: Dionysus as a God of the 1960s Dionysus in '69: The Rocky Horror Picture Show: The Bacchae of Euripides: A Communion Rite: PART II: HEROES AND HEROINES 10. ACHILLES: THE MAKING OF A HERO 10.1 History: Defining Greek Heroes Five Traits of Greek Heroes Heroes in Cult Heroes in Myth Heracles Theseus Oedipus Achilles * Homer, from the Iliad 10.2 Theory: The Plot of the Hero's Story * Vladimir Propp, from Morphology of the Folktale 10.3 Comparison: Mesopotamia and Rome: Gilgamesh and Aeneas Gilgamesh and the Burden of Mortality Aeneas and the Founding of Rome * Unknown, from the Epic of Gilgamesh * Vergil, from Aeneid 10.4 Reception: Achilles and War Poetry Patrick Shaw-Stewart, "I Saw A Man This Morning" Randall Jarrell, "When Achilles Fought and Fell" Michael Longley, "Ceasefire" Jonathan Shay, from Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character 11. MEDEA: THE MAKING OF A HEROINE 11.1 History: Defining Heroines Five Traits of Greek Heroines Heroines in Cult Heroines in Myth Helen Clytemnestra Hecuba Medea * Euripides, from Medea 11.2 Theory: The Plot of the Heroine's Story * Mary Ann Jezewski, from "Traits of the Female Hero: The Application of Raglan's Hero Trait Patterning" 11.3 Comparison: Rome: Medea Seneca's Medea Ovid's Medea * Ovid, from Metamorphoses 11.4 Reception: African American Medea Countée Cullen, The Medea, and Some Other Poems Owen Dodson, The Garden of Time Toni Morrison, Beloved 12. ODYSSEUS AND QUEST HEROES 12.1 History: The Hero's Quest Defining a Quest Hero Perseus Bellerophon Jason Odysseus * Homer, from the Odyssey 12.2 Theory: The Quest Hero Joseph Campbell's Monomyth Subjective Experience and the External Landscape W.H. Auden, from "The Quest Hero" 12.3 Comparison: Mesopotamia and Rome: Gilgamesh and Aeneas Gilgamesh and the Waters of Death Odysseus in the Underworld Aeneas in Avernus * Vergil, from Aeneid * Unknown, from the Epic of Gilgamesh 12.4 Reception: African American Odysseus Sterling A. Brown, "Odyssey of Big Boy" Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God 13. IPHIGENIA AND QUEST HEROINES 13.1. History: The Heroine's Quest Changing Definitions of Heroes and Heroines in Ancient Greece The New Heroine (and the New Hero) Iphigenia in Aulis and among the Taurians * Euripides, from Iphigenia among the Taurians 13.2. Theory: A Paradigm for the New Heroine Apuleius' Tale of Amor and Psyche Defining the New Heroine in Anthropology and Literature Lee R. Edwards, from Psyche as Hero: Female Heroism and Fictional Form 13.3. Comparison: Rome: Thecla Saints and Martyrs in Early Christian Communities New Heroines and Martyrs Thecla as a Christian Heroine * Unknown, from "The Acts of Paul and Thecla" 13.4 Reception: Ten Years of Iphigenia in New York City Charles L. Mee's Iphigenia 2.0 Michi Barall's Rescue Me: A Postmodern Classic with Snacks Select Bibliography: Text Credits: Image Credits: Glossary/Index: