A Companion to Greek Mythology presents a series of essays that explore the phenomenon of Greek myth from its origins in shared Indo-European story patterns and the Greeks’ contacts with their Eastern Mediterranean neighbours through its development as a shared language and thought-system for the Greco-Roman world.

• Features essays from a prestigious international team of literary experts
• Includes coverage of Greek myth’s intersection with history, philosophy and religion
• Introduces readers to topics in mythology that are often inaccessible to non-specialists
• Addresses the Hellenistic and Roman periods as well as Archaic and Classical Greece

• A COMPANION TO GREEK MYTHOLOGY 6
  • Contents 8
  • List of Illustrations 11
  • List of Maps 14
  • List of Tables 15
  • Notes on Contributors 16
  • To the Reader 21
  • Acknowledgements 24
  • Glossary 25
  • Abbreviations 28
  • Approaching Myth 32
    • 1 Thinking through Myth, Thinking Myth Through 34
  • PART I Establishing the Canon 56
    • 2 Homer’s Use of Myth 58
    • 3 Telling the Mythology: From Hesiod to the Fifth Century 78