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Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources

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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 time-specific 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 of controversies, 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. Those intrigued by the problems posed by the artistic treatments will probably want to look at Thomas H. Carpenter's "Art and Myth in Ancient Greece: A Handbook" (1991), richly illustrated and probably not too technical to follow, before going on to, say, John Boardman's splendid popular volumes on ancient Greek art forms, in which mythology is of lesser concern.

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. In fact, there may be a place for similar modern studies of *Late* Greek Myths, and of Greek myths in Latin sources. [Note: Alan Cameron's "Greek Mythography in the Roman World" (American Classical Studies, No. 48), published in 2004, looked like it might fill the gap, but apparently analyzes specific texts in great detail.] But what Gantz has provided here is remarkable enough.

(Addendum; Professor Timothy Nolan Gantz passed away on January 20, 2004; a charming obituary appeared in The Georgia Classicist, Vol. XXV, No. I, which can be found on-line.)

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 <I>Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae</I>, 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.

I picked up the book in an attempt to go beyond the Greek myths themselves and look at their origins, what sources they came from, familiarize myself with all the different versions of the individual stories. This is not a book of coherent narratives; every section (say, Tantalus) paraphrases conflicting variants of myths one after another, indicating their sources (artwork, plays, written histories) and attempting to rationalize away conflicting details. Some of the sources will offer complete stories - others contain only a small detail that somehow survived through the years, leaving the author wondering whether or not it was a part of yet another undiscovered variant of the same myth.

Because the reader is faced with so many versions of a single story, all of which are presented one after another, it is often impossible to remember ANY of the variants by the time one reads a section. This is not a work of fiction - it is a work of scholarly analysis, presenting stories as evidence and offering rationalizations. It is up to the reader to pick and choose among the variants and synthesize them into a coherent story, if that is at all possible.

This is certainly an exhaustive, scholarly text, and it would be a very valuable resource for graduate students and professors. For someone with a more casual interest in Greek mythology, however, it's just about unreadable. Try Hamilton, Bulfinch, or Morford, instead.

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.