Classical mythology : images and insights / Stephen L. Harris, Gloria Platzner.

Table of Content

PART ONE THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF MYTH

Chapter 1 Introduction to Greek myth.
Greek religion and the nature of the divine
Social and political functions of myth.
The Literary quality of Greek myth and its association with communal observances
Myth, legend, folklore, and saga
Distinctive qualities of Greek literary myth.

Chapter 2 Ways of Interpreting myth
Ancient ways of viewing myth
Some modern Interpretations of myth
Myth theory and the birth of Athene
The autonomy of myth
Questions for discussion and review
Works cited
Etc.

PART TWO EPIC MYTHS AND THE HEROIC QUEST
Chapter 3 In the beginning: Hesiod's creation story
Egyptian myths of creation
Mythical attempts to scale the heavens
The nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
Two different accounts of creation in genesis
Etc.

Chapter 4 Alienation of the human and divine: Prometheus fire, and Pandora
Humanity's' alienation from the God's: Prometheus and fire.
The trickster
Humanity's decline: Pandora and eve
Biblical parallels to the Pandora myth: Adam, Eve, and the loss of paradise
Humanity's Alienation from nature as the price of civilization
Etc.

Chapter 5 The great Goddess and the Goddesses: The divine woman in Greek mythology
The great Goddess
Gaea
Author unknown,

Chapter 6 The Olympian family of Zeus: Sharing rule of the Universe
The Older Olympians
The major classical Gods and Goddesses
The younger Olympians
The Gods at home: Adultery on Olympian

Chapter 7 In touch with the Gods: Apollos' Oracle at Delphi
The Shrine at Delphi: communicating with the Gods prehistoric Delphic
Apollo's prehistory
Apollo and Dragon: the transition from earth Goddess to sky God.
Apollos' birth
Festivals and ceremonies of Delphi
Etc.

Chapter 8 Dionysus: Rooted earth in earth Ecstasy
Dionysian and Apollo: contracts and connections
The Dionysian myth
Parallels between Dionysus of Thebes and Jesus of Nazareth.
Author unknown,

Chapter 9 Land of No return: The gloomy kingdom of Hades
The Homeric view of the afterlife
The location and geography of Hades' realm
Persephone: queen of the underworld
Descents into the underworld
The transmigration of afterlife
Etc.

Chapter 10 Heroes of myth: man divided against himself
The heroic pattern
The heroic pattern: archetypal events
Gilgamesh: the first hero of the world myth
The early hero Perseus
The archetypal hero
Etc.

Chapter 11 Heroines of myth: women in many roles
The heroine: women's mysteries in man's world women's rituals.
Patterns of the heroine myths
The Heroine as mother or wife
The heroine as a helper-maiden
The heroine as hero-impersonator
Etc.

Chapter 12 Heroes at war: the Troy saga
The decision of Paris
The historicity of troy
The implications of the story
Conflict in society and the cosmos
The Trojan cycle continues: events proceedings the Iliad
Etc.

Chapter 13 A different kind of Hero: the quest of Odysseus
Differences between the Iliad an the Odyssey
The sequence of events in the homeward voyage of Odysseus
Post-Homeric traditions about Odysseus and his family

PART THREE TRAGIC HEROES AND HEROINES
Chapter 14 The theater of Dionysus: myth and the tragic vision
The city Dionysian and the birth of drama
The tragic vision
Myth into drama

15 The house of Atreus: Aeschylus's Oreteia
Aeschylus's Drama of crime and Redemption
An overview, etc

chapter 16 the tragic house of Laius: Sophocles' Oedipus cycle
The world of Sophocles
Sophocles: The citizen and writer
Oedipus Rex, etc

chapter 17 A Different perspective on Tragedy: Euripides' Medea and the bacchanal

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 metamorphoses

PART FIVE THE WESTERN WORLD'S TRANSFORMATIONS OF MYTH
chapter 21 The persistence of myth

Includes bibliographical references (p. 1069-1078) and index.