Classical Mythology: Images and Insights grew out of the authors' many years of teaching Greek and Roman myth
to undergraduates at California State University, Sacramento. Unique among textbooks on this topic, our book approaches
the study of myth through complete works of Greco-Roman literature, including six complete Greek dramas and generous
excerpts from the narratives of Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and Ovid, and through carefully-chosen examples of Classical
works of art, both painting and sculpture. Combining literary masterpieces with the visual arts, this integrative
approach offers readers a comprehensive experience with both cognitive and aesthetic appeal.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
PART ONE The Nature and Function of Myth
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Greek Myth
CHAPTER 2 Ways of Interpreting Myth
PART TWO Epic Myths and the Heroic Quest
CHAPTER 3 In the Beginning: Hesiod�s Creation Story
CHAPTER 4 Alienation of the Human and Divine: Prometheus, Fire, and Pandora
CHAPTER 5 The Divine Woman in Greek Mythology
CHAPTER 6 The Olympian Family of Zeus: Sharing Rule of the Universe
CHAPTER 7 In Touch with the Gods: Apollo�s Oracle at Delphi
CHAPTER 8 Dionysus: Rooted in Earth and Ecstasy
CHAPTER 9 Land of No Return: The Gloomy Kingdom of Hades
CHAPTER 10 Heroes of Myth: Man Divided Against Himself
CHAPTER 11 Heroines of Myth: Women in Many Roles
CHAPTER 12 Heroes at War: The Troy Saga
CHAPTER 13 A Different Kind of Hero: The Quest of Odysseus
PART THREE Tragic Heroes and Heroines
CHAPTER 14 Myth and the Tragic Vision in the Theater of Dionysus: Euripides� Bacchae
CHAPTER 15 The House of Atreus: Aeschylus�s Oresteia
CHAPTER 16 The Tragic House of Laius: Sophocles� Oedipus Cycle
CHAPTER 17 A Different Perspective on Tragedy: Euripides� Medea
PART FOUR The World of Roman Myth
CHAPTER 18 The Roman Vision: Greek Myths and Roman Realities
CHAPTER 19 Virgil�s Roman Epic: The Aeneid
CHAPTER 20 The Retelling of Greek Myths: Ovid�s Metamorphosis
PART FIVE The Western World�s Transformations of Myth
CHAPTER 21 The Persistence of Myth
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Credits
Index
