Exploring Greek Myth (eBook)

MATTHEW CLARK is Associate Professor of Ancient Greek Literature and Culture in the Department of Humanities at York University in Toronto. His previous publications include Out of Line: Homeric Composition Beyond the Hexameter (1997), A Matter of Style: Writing and Technique (2002), and Narrative Structures and the Language of the Self (2010).

List of Illustrations vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Chapter One: The Knife Did It 1
Definitions and Characteristics for the Study of Myth

Chapter Two: Six Hundred Gods 15
Greek Myth and Greek Religion

Chapter Three: Homer's Beauty Pageant 30
The Traditions of Myth

Chapter Four: Pelops' Shoulder 43
Sources for the Study of Myth

Chapter Five: Ikaros' Wings, Aktaion's Dogs 54
Myth and Meaning

Chapter Six: The Bones of Orestes 68
Heroes in Myth and Society

Chapter Seven: Born from the Earth 80
Founders of Cities and Families

Chapter Eight: The Judgment of Paris 97
Comparative Myth

Chapter Nine: Boys in Dresses, Brides with Beards 111
Myth and Gender

Chapter Ten: Agamemnon's Mask? 126
Myth and History

Chapter Eleven: Orestes on Trial 140
Myth and Thought

Chapter Twelve: Plato and the Poets 154
Philosophy and Myth

Chapter Thirteen: Conclusion 168

Notes 171

References 179

Index 187

"This volume admirably achieves Clark's goal of
bridging "the gap between the introductory books and the
scholarly studies. Summing Up: Recommended.
Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers."
(Choice, 1 October 2012)

"There is no better guide to virtually all one needs to know
to begin to appreciate what myth was and meant to the ancient
Greeks. Exploring Greek Myth is the first book a student should
read after the myths themselves." - Eric Csapo,
University of Sydney

"Exploring Greek Myth is an ingenious and learned
approach to a topic that is all too often treated superficially and
even condescendingly. Matthew Clark shows the depth of thought that
myth requires of its interpreters, and his book truly speaks for
itself in its eloquence and insight." - Gregory
Nagy, Francis Jones Professor of Classical Greek Literature and
Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University