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Scholarship
Bibliography and Teaching
O'Connor, J. F., and Rowland, R. J. Teaching Classical Mythology, Education Papers 5. New York: American Philological Association, 1987. An extremely helpful collection of opinions about content and method with significant bibliography.
Peradotto, John. Classical Mythology: An Annotated Bibliographical Survey. Urbana: American Philological Association, 1973. A valuable and inexpensive guide in which the subject is neatly categorized and books are evaluated; one must look elsewhere for updated bibliography.
Interpretation, Analysis, and Comparative Studies
Anderson, Graham. Fairytale in the Ancient World. London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
Bremmer, J., ed. Interpretations of Greek Mythology. New Jersey: Barnes & Noble, 1986.London: Routledge, 1988. A collection of essays.
Burkert, Walter. Structure and History in Greek Mythology and Ritual. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979; paperback, 1982. By far the best explanation of the significance of structural theories.
Buxton, R. G. A. Imaginary Greece: The Contexts of Mythology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994. An introduction, with emphasis on social contexts in which Greek myths were narrated.
Calasso, Roberto. The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993.
Detienne, Marcel. The Creation of Mythology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Dowden, K. The Uses of Greek Mythology. London: Routledge, 1992. A judicious assessment of psychoanalytical approaches on pp.32-34, and 180.
Dundes, A., ed. Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Theory of Myth. University of California Press,1984. A collection of writing by major interpreters of myth, including Frazer, Eliade, Malinowsji, Jung, and Lévi-Strauss.
Eliade, Marcia. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, 1954.
Edmunds, Lowell, ed. Approaches to Greek Myth. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990. A collection of essays. An article by E. Caldwell, "The Psychoanalytical Interpretation of Greek Myth," seeks to reconcile Freudian and structuralist approaches.
Felton, D. Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost Stories from Classical Antiquity. Austin: University of Texas Press, A folkloric and literary analysis of ancient ghost stories and the influence and development of themes in modern times.
Fontenrose, Joseph. The Ritual Theory of Myth. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971.
Frazer, James G. The New Golden Bough: A New Abridgement of the Classic Work. Edited by Theodor H. Gaster. New York: Criterion Books, 1959; Mentor Books, 1964.
Gomme A.W. "The Position of Women at Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C." Essays in Greek History and Literature. New York: Essay Index Reprint Series, Books for Libraries Press, 1967.
Gordon, R. L., ed. Myth, Religion, and Society: Structuralist Essays by M. Detienne, L. Gernet, J.-P. Vernant, and P. Vidal-Naquet. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Kirk, G. S. Myth: Its Meaning and Function in Ancient and Other Cultures. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. Valuable for its critical views of comparative studies.
--. The Nature of Greek Myths. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1974. Useful for its treatment of different approaches to myth.
Leach, E. Claude Lévi-Strauss. New York: Viking Press, 1970. A good exposition of Lévi-Strauss; in the chapter "The Structure of Myth," Leach offers structural analysis of several Greek myths.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. The Savage Mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966 [1962].
--. The Raw and the Cooked. Translated by J. and D. Weightman. New York: Harper & Row, 1969. Volume 1 of the four volumes of Mythologiques; its "Overture" is the best introduction to Lévi-Strauss.
Malinowski, B. Magic, Science, and Religion. New York: Doubleday, 1955. Includes "Myth in Primitive Psychology," 1989 [1926].
Propp, Vladimir. Morphology of the Folktale. 2d ed. Translated by Lawrence Scott. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968 [1928]. The pioneer work in the structural theory of myth.
Puhvel, Jaan. Comparative Mythology. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. A study of the prehistoric origins of mythical patterns in India, Iran, Greece, Rome, and elsewhere.
Sebeok, T. A., ed. Myth: A Symposium. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1971. An especially valuable collection of essays on the major approaches to the interpretation of myth.
Segal, Robert A. Joseph Campbell: An Introduction. New York: Meridian, 1997 (1987).
Strenski, Ivan. Four Theories of Myth in Twentieth-Century History: Cassirer, Eliade, Lévi-Strauss and Malinowski. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1987. An iconoclastic judgment of mythography and mythographers. For Strenski (p. 194) no such thing as myth exists, "Rather, what exists is the artifact 'myth' along with the 'industry' manufacturing the concept as it is used here and there."
Thompson, Stith. Motif-index of Folk-literature. 6 vols. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1966. The basic reference book for folktale motifs.
Strenski, Ivan, ed. Malinowski and the Work of Myth. Princeton, 1992. Collection of central writing by Malinowski.
Vernant, J.-P. Myth and Society in Ancient Greece. Translated by J. Lloyd. New York: Zone Books, 1990 [1974].
Walker, Steven F. Jung and the Jungians on Myth: An Introduction. New York: Garland, 1995.
West, M.L. The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements
in Greek Poetry and Myth. New York: Oxford University Press,
1999. Detailed identification of the links between Hesiod, the
Homeric epics, lyric poets, and Aeschylus and the Near East and
possible avenues of transmission.
Myth and Psychology
Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Goddesses in Everywoman: A New Psychology of Women. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. A psychologist provides archetypal descriptions of the Greek and Roman goddesses and shows how they provide meaningful patterns for the understanding of the character, behavior, and personality of women today.
--. Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men's Lives and Loves. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. A sequel for men.
Eisner, Robert. The Road to Daulis: Psychoanalysis, Psychology, and Classical Mythology. New York: Syracuse University Press, 1987. Chapters include "Oedipus and His Kind," "Electra and Other Monsters," and "Apollo and His Boys."
Evans, Richard I. Dialogue with C. G. Jung. 2d ed. New York: Praeger, 1981. Basic concepts clearly presented through Jung's own words.
Jung, C. G., et al. Man and His Symbols. New York: Dell, 1968. Only the first essay ("Approaching the Unconscious") is by Jung.
Lloyd-Jones, H. "Psychoanalysis and the Study of the Ancient World," in P. Horden, ed., Freud and the Humanities. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985, pp. 152-180. (reprint in Greek Comedy [etc.]: The Academic Papers of Sir Hugh Lloyd Jones, Oxford, 1990, pp. 281-305. Hostile criticism of psychoanalytical theory by an authoritative classical scholar.
Mullahy, Patrick. Oedipus Myth and Complex: A Review of Psychoanalytic Theory. New York: Grove Press, 1955. An excellent survey.
Schneiderman, Leo. The Psychology of Myth, Folklore, and Religion. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1981. Chapters include "The Mystical Quest," "The Cult of Fertility," and "Jason and the Totem."
Woolger, Jennifer Barker, and Woolger, Roger J. The Goddess Within: A Guide to the Eternal Myths That Shape Women's Lives. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1987. The major goddesses considered as types, with a bibliography of novels and plays and a list of movies (on video), identifying characters that embody these types.
Walker, Steven. Jung and the Jungians (Theories of Myth). New York: Routledge, 2001.
Feminism, Homosexuality, and Gender
Bacchilega, Cristina. Gender and Narrative Strategies. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. The representation of women in four classic fairytales and postmodern revisions in literature and film.
Clark, G. Women in the Ancient World. Greece and Rome Surveys 21. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Fantham, E. "Women in Antiquity: a Selective (and Subjective) Survey." Échos du Monde Classique 30 (1986): pp. 1-24.
--. Women in the Classical World: Image and Text. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Foley, H. P., ed. Reflections of Women in Antiquity. New York: Gordon & Breach, 1981. First published in Women's Studies 8, nos. 1-2 (1981).
Fone, Byrne. Homophobia: A History. New York: Metropolitan Books (Henry Holt), 2000. An important study, the first part of which deals with the ancient world.
Halperin, David M. One Hundred Years of and Homosexuality, and Other Essays on Greek Love. New York: Routledge, 1989. He argues that modern attitudes towards homosexuality are inadequate for an understanding of sexual mores in the ancient world.
Hawley, Richard and Levick, Barbara, eds. Women in Antiquity: New Assessments. New York: Routledge, 1995. Includes discussion of women's roles in religious ritual and mythology.
Lefkowitz, Mary R. Women in Greek Myth. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1986.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves. New York: Schocken, 1975. See especially Chapters 2 and 6.1.
Sargent, B. Homosexuality in Greek Myth. London: Athlone Press, 1987.
Rabinowitz, Nancy Sorkin and Richlin, Amy, eds. Feminist Theory and the Classics. New York: Routledge, 1993. A collection of essays, some of which include approaches to mythology.
Thornton, Bruce S. Eros: The Myth of Ancient Greek Sexuality. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997. An insightful exploration of the destructiveness of Eros in Greek imagery and metaphor and the links between ancient and present-day attitudes and concerns about sex, love, and family.
Williams, Craig A. Roman Homosexuality, Ideologies of Masculinity in Classical Antiquity. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Winkler, John J. Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece. New York: Routledge, 1990. A study of the sexuality of women (e.g., Penelope and Sappho) and the interpretation of rituals (e.g., in honor of Demeter, Aphrodite, and Adonis).
Two scholarly journals, Arethusa and Helios, are especially receptive to feminist scholarship. Arethusa 6 (1973) and 11 (1978) have been mostly reprinted in J. J. Peradotto and J. P. Sullivan, eds., Women in the Ancient World: The Arethusa Papers (Albany: State University of New York, 1984). Helios 12, no. 2 (1985) contains a debate on "Classical Studies vs. Women's Studies," by Marilyn Skinner, Mary Lefkowitz, and Judith Hallett.
Iconography, Religion, and Feminist Interpretations
Dexter, Miriam Robbins. Whence the Goddesses: A Source Book. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press, 1990. A history of goddesses through a comparison of the iconography with the literary tradition.
Ehrenberg, Margaret. Women in Prehistory. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. The role of women from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age, with a consideration of matriarchy in Minoan Crete.
Eller, Cynthia. The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Won't Give Women a Future. New York: Beacon Press, 2000. An argument against the validity of interpretations of feminists such as Marija Gimbutas, who imagine in a time of goddess worship a gynocentric golden age before the onslaught of patriarchy.
Gimbutas, Marija. Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, 7000-3500 B.C.: Myths and Cult Images. New and updated ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982. A study of figurines, which includes analysis of "Mistresses of Waters," "The Great Goddess of Life," "Death and Regeneration," and the "Year God."
--. The Language of the Goddesses. Foreword by Joseph Campbell. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. An analysis of the symbols in the archaeological evidence under the major categories of "Life-Giving," "The Renewing and Eternal Earth," "Death and Regeneration," and "Energy and Unfolding."
Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), eds. John Boardman et al. Zurich: Artemis Verlag, 1981-1997.
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