Art and Myth in Ancient Greece (World of Art)

A comprehensive, scholarly yet succinct illustrated survey of myth as it appears in Greek art

The Greek myths are so much part of our culture that we tend to forget how they entered it in the first place. Visual sources – vase paintings, engraved gems and sculpture in bronze and stone – often pre-date references to the myths in literature, or offer alternative, unfamiliar tellings. In some cases visual art provides our only evidence, as there is no surviving account in ancient Greek literature of such important stories as the Fall of Troy, or Theseus and the Minotaur.

T. H. Carpenter’s illuminating and succinct survey will enable you to identify scenes from myths across the full breadth of archaic and classical Greek art. Copiously illustrated, it is an essential reference work for everybody interested in the art, drama, poetry or religion of ancient Greece.

Contents List

Preface • 1. Introduction • 2. A Demonstration of Method: The Return of Hephaistos; Troilos and Achilles • 3. Portraits of the Gods • 4. The Ascendancy of the Olympians • 5. Perseus; Bellerophon • 6. Herakles • 7. Theseus • 8. Argonauts; Calydonian Boar Hunt • 9. The Trojan War • 10. The Aftermath of the War

About the Author

T. H. Carpenter is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Ohio University where he has taught since 1997. Professor Carpenter’s other books include Dionysian Imagery in Fifth-century Athens and Mythology, Greek and Roman.