Cassell dictionary of classical mythology

831 Pages·1998·14.59 MB·English

by  March

CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OF
CLASSICAL
MYTHOLOGY
Jenny March
CASSELL&co
First published in the UK 1998 by Cassell & Co
Wellington House, 125 Strand, London WC2R OBB
This edition 2001
Copyright © Dr Jennifer R. March 1998
The right of Dr Jennifer R. March to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by
her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information
storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers and
copyright owners.
Distributed in the United States by
Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016, USA
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-304-35 788-X
Designed by Gwyn Lewis
Cartography by Lovell Johns Limited
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Bookmarque Ltd, Croydon, Surrey
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Introduction 9
The Dictionary 15
APPENDICES
Maps 796
Genealogical Tables 800
Greek and Latin Authors 810
Select Bibliography 815
Index of Place Names 817
For my dear family
for Len, Alex, Robbie and Felicity,
and for Jessica, Rosanna, Tom, Joe, William,
Sam, Jenny, Rachel and Harry - my other magnum opus
PREFACE
have long had a passion for Greek myths, so when a letter came
Î
four years ago from Cassell, asking whether I would like to write
their Dictionary of Classical Mythology, I had no hesitation in
replying with a resounding 'Yes!'. At the time I had no real idea of
quite what a massive project I was taking on, nor of how it would
dominate my life, especially in its final stages. But I have never - or at
least never for long - regretted that initial happy response.
1 must express my warm thanks to a number of people. To Nigel
Wilcockson, who originally commissioned this book. To Susan Wood
ford, who valiantly read my manuscript and offered many useful
comments (but is in no way responsible for any deficiencies remain
ing). To my husband, Len, who supported me throughout in all
manner of ways, and who gave invaluable help with such intrica
cies as the computer-generation of genealogies. To everyone at Cas
sell who saw the book through the press, and particularly to Sarah
Chatwin and Richard Milbank, who were unfailingly cheerful and
helpful to an anxious author through the final stages of publication.
I thank my friends for their encouragement, and for their patience
with my absence, physical and mental. I thank especially Barbara
Goward, who cheered and supported me when, at times, I felt that I
would never be finished; and Phyllis Pitt, who first taught me Greek,
and from whom a card arrived at a particularly low moment saying
that now the end must be in sight (though it wasn't, for I was running
late), and adding, T think of Odysseus, coming home to Ithaca.' I
carried on, my courage renewed.
And finally I thank my family, who have borne with me through
it all, and who are always there for me, as I for them, on and on with
out end. To them I dedicate this book.
Jenny March SEPTEMBER 1998

INTRODUCTION
For centuries people have spoken of the Greek myth sas of something
to be rediscovered, reawoken. The truth is, it is the myths that
are still out there waiting to wake us and be seen by us, like a tree
waiting to greet our newly opened eyes.
Roberto Calasso, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony
yths were at the heart of ancient Greek life and culture.
M
They held a central place in poetry at public and private
festivals, and were told and retold by the poets, changing
and developing as time went by, and from the sixth century BC onwards
forming the subject of gripping dramas played out on the tragic stage.
But these myths were more than mere stories. To the Greeks they were
history, telling of real people in the real past; and a man's genealogy,
often originating from a divine mythical ancestor, showed his place in
the world and his relation to the great heroes of myth1. Myths too
were portrayed in the visual arts: on wall paintings, now all lost, in
sculptures, and above all on the pots that were an integral part of
everyday life, since Greek vase-painters were (luckily for us) the most
prolific illustrators of myth. Even the physical world - rivers, springs,
woods, mountains, the very earth itself - was alive with divine pres
ences; and in the time of Homer, whose Iliad and Odyssey give us our
first recorded myths, the gods still walk among men.
In due course, after the Roman conquest of Greece, the Romans
adopted these Greek myths. They took over, for instance, the whole
Olympian hierarchy of gods, together with their mythologies, and
grafted them where possible on to their own Italian divinities. As
Horace famously pronounced, "Greece, taken captive, captured her
savage conqueror" (Epistles 2.1.156). Often the Romans made their
own unforgettable adaptations of the Greek originals (Virgil's Dido
comes at once to mind, or of some of the brilliant metamorphoses in
Ovid), but on the whole they added few new myths of their own.
10 Introduction
Together this body of Greek and Roman myths forms the 'Classical
Mythology' of our title.
It covers the widest range of human experience. Compare, for
instance, the bloody violence of Atreus and his kin with the simple
goodness of Philemon and Baucis, or the comic fate of Midas with
the tragic fate of Pentheus, or the very different loves and lusts shown
in the myths of Admetus and Alcestis, of Tereus, of Hero and Leander,
of Myrrha, or of Ceyx and Alcyone. Small wonder, then, that classi
cal myths have lived on with a perennial vitality, becoming a con
tinuing inspiration for creative artists through the ages. Ancient
authors explored complex issues of social and personal identity
through the medium of myth, and ever since then these myths have
stirred and shaped and enriched the Western imagination, becom
ing inextricably woven into the fabric of our culture. Always they
have provided a rich vein of of metaphor and imagery for artists of all
kinds, down the centuries until the present day. Fluid and adaptable,
they have been used time and again to give fresh insights into
mankind's changing experience in a changing world. In recent years
there has been a tremendous resurgence of interest in this mythol
ogy, so this book has been written both as a celebration of a vital
and fascinating subject, and as a key to the world of classical myth for
anyone wishing to delve more deeply into its many delights.
My aim has been to retell the myths as readably as possible, detail
ing any major variants and including, where appropriate, my own
translations from ancient writers to give life to my narrative. Where
relevant, I touch on a myth's use in ancient art2 and on its influence
in the postclassical arts3.1 also supply many references, so that read
ers may, if they wish, go back to the original literary sources4, and I
give suggestions for further reading, occasionally at the end of an
entry, and more generally in the Select Bibliography at the end of
the book. For clarity, I also include in the end matter two maps of
the ancient world, a list of the ancient sources and their chronology,
and a few of the more important genealogies. There is also an index
of place names, so that travellers can easily locate the myths which
have relevance to the places they wish to visit. The spelling of ancient
names is always a thorny problem, and my own solution has been
to adopt the most familiar current usage.
A word should be said on how to approach the cross-references