Encyclopedia of greek and roman mythology

 to informational summary. Indeed, there are many advantages to factual clarity and simplicity, since a summary of the basic outlines of the most common versions of the story of Heracles, for example, will be more useful to a beginning student of mythology than a treatment weighed down with every variant version extant in ancient literature. This leaves the danger, however, that the student will be left with the notion that there is essentially one Heracles consistent across all ancient texts. Informational reference works tend to have a homogenizing effect on their subject. We have attempted to deal with both potential problems by offering, on the one hand, concise entries on mythological figures that contain the most important versions of the myths and the ones that are the most prominent in the major works of ancient literature and, on the other hand, longer entries on ancient authors and their individual works. The entries on mythological figures are based on a close reading of the primary sources. In creating these entries, we have striven to bring to light important differences in the Greek and Roman versions of the myth, rather than producing a streamlined narrative. We have also included references to the major classical sources; these references are necessarily selective but allow the reader to consult the ancient works themselves. Mythological figures are listed under their Greek names, with crossreferences indicated under the Roman names. The index can assist in finding entries. Entries on the more important literary works include an introduction to the work, a synopsis, and critical commentary. Users of this reference book, then, can begin by consulting the entry on Heracles and become acquainted with his story. They can then go on to read about the different representations of Heracles in Apollonius of Rhodess Voyage of the Argonauts, the eighth book of Virgils Aeneid, Sophocles Trachiniae, Ovids Metamorphoses, and so forth. Conversely, a reader of Statiuss Thebaid who is interested in the character of Hypsipyle can read the mythological Introduction entry detailing her basic story and, in addition, consult the entry on Apolloniuss Voyage of the Argonauts, where she plays an important role. Cross-references to other entries are designed to facilitate this movement between entries on mythological figures and entries on ancient authors and works. As we said above, the underlying aim is to enable the student to appreciate ancient myth in the light of ancient literature, rather than presenting myth as a fossilized set of stories abstracted from the multiple contexts of their telling. In the same spirit, we have included information on the visual representation of classical myths in various media. Myths were not narrated solely in verbal form, and the artistic representations often surprise us by emphasizing scenes or dimensions of a story less prominent or even omitted in textual versions. We have based our selection of entries on their relevance to and prominence in the central works of classical literature and art. This reference work is not meant to be an exhaustive repository of mythological figures. More unusual mythological figures and, in general, recondite detail may be sought in Pierre Grimals richly erudite Dictionary of Classical Mythology. The distinguishing feature of our book, by contrast, is the inclusion of substantial entries on literary works, particularly those that are significant in mythological terms. This latter criterion guided our selection of literary entries. There is an individual entry, for example, on each of Euripides plays, because the subject matter of Euripidean tragedy is mythological. By contrast, there is only one synthetic entry on Aristophanes, and no entries on his individual works, because Aristophanes comedies, while they do sometimes include mythological elements, are not predominantly focused on myth but rather on a comic vision of contemporary Athenian society. At the same time, some works and authors, while important in mythographical terms, are less likely to appear on an undergraduate reading list, and, in general, are more obscure. Thus, while we have included a brief informational entry on Diodorus Siculus, Introduction there is no extensive discussion of his work. In effect, two criteria are at work in determining the inclusion and extent of literary entries: the importance of the work in literary terms and its relevance to our understanding of mythology. xi The myths of the classical world may be classed among the richest legacies of Western civilization. We hope that our reference work contributes to the understanding and enjoyment of these astonishing stories. A 6 Achelous A river god who engaged in a legendary combat with Heracles. Classical sources are Apollodoruss Library (1.8.1, 2.7.5), Diodorus Siculuss Library of History (4.34.3, 4.35.3), Hyginuss Fabulae (31), Ovids Metamorphoses (9.1100), Philostratuss Imagines (4.16), and Sophocles Trachiniae (921). During the 11th of his Twelve Labors, Heracles descended to Hades, where he met the ghost of Meleager. There, Meleager extracted from Heracles the promise that on the heros return from the underworld he would find and marry his sister Deianira. Heracles successfully battled Achelous in a wrestling match for the hand of Deianira. The battle was hard fought because the river god was capable of changing form. Achelous became a snake, then a bull. Heracles pulled off one horn and defeated him. This horn was associated with a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. The combat of Achelous and Heracles was frequently represented in antiquity; Philostratuss Imagines includes a description of a painting showing various scenes from the myth. Achilleid Statius (ca. 9296 c.e.) The Achilleid, an unfinished epic poem on which Statius worked between the publication of his Thebaid (91/92 c.e.) and his death (ca. 96 c.e.), tells the beginnings of the story of the hero Achilles.  Only one book and a portion of the following book exist. Statiuss epic is notable for following the entire life story of a single hero, rather than relating a more concentrated series of connected events forming part of a single phase of action. As elsewhere, Statius displays a playful yet rigorous self-consciousness as he simultaneously enacts well-established epic conventions, examines their mechanisms and internal tensions, and sometimes pushes them to their breaking point. In the surviving fragment, Statius pays special attention to the category of gender and its complex interaction with the inherited codes of the epic genre. Synopsis Book 1 The poet addresses the muse (see Muses) and bids her tell of Achilles. Homer has made him famous, but there is more to be told about the hero. Statius, already author of the Thebaid, will tell the heros entire life. He asks the emperor Domitian to grant pardon that he does not yet write an epic on his deeds; Achilles will furnish the prelude. Paris is leaving Sparta with Helen and making for Troy. Thetis, observing his ship, is alarmed and delivers a speech: She recognizes the fulfillment of a prophecy made by Proteuswar is coming, and her son Achilles will wish to join it. She wishes she had done more  to prevent this unhappy outcome but will ask Neptune (see Poseidon) for a storm to oppose Pariss ship. In pitiable tones, she approaches Neptune and asks him to oppose the ship carrying Paris, robber and profaner of hospitality. Neptune replies that the war between Greece and Troy has been ordained by Jupiter (see Zeus) and cannot be prevented: He consoles her with a prophecy of Achilles heroic career. She conceives of another plan and seeks out the dwelling of Chiron, who has charge of Achilles. Chiron eagerly runs to meet her and leads her into the cave. She tells of her presages of doom and demands that he hand over Achilles to her immediately: Concealing her true aim, she claims that she is going to take him to the edge of Ocean (Oceanus) and purify him. Chiron assents and comments that Achilles seems to be growing more aggressive and violent, less liable to listen to his tutor. Achilles at that moment returns, holding lion cubs he has just captured, and embraces his mother. Patroclus follows closely behind. They have a banquet together, and Achilles sings songs of heroes. Thetis stays awake afterward, trying to think of a good hiding place for Achilles: After ruling out various possibilities, she chooses the island of Scyros. She calls forth her two-dolphin chariot, picks up the slumbering Achilles in her arms, and carries him down to the sea. As she departs with her son, Chiron and the local deities lament. Waking up the next day, a disoriented Achilles asks where he is. Thetis explains to him her concern about his mortality and the coming danger, and, drawing on mythical exempla, encourages him to wear womens clothing. Achilles resists until he sees Deidamia, daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros, participating in festivities of Pallas and becomes immediately infatuated. His mother perceives this and encourages him to join their dancing in womans guise. He allows the womans clothing to be placed on him. She fashions him into a woman and coaches him on feminine demeanor. Thetis then presents him to the king as Achilles sister, asking him Achilleid to keep her safely secluded. The group of girls accepts him happily. Thetis addresses the island and bids it keep Greek ships far away. Agamemnon, in the meanwhile, stirs up war, inciting indignation at Pariss deed. The poet lists the numerous communities joining the expeditionall except Thessaly, since Achilles is too young and Peleus too old. The Greek fleet gathers at Aulis, including well-known heroes, but all yearn for the absent Achilles. He is hailed already as the greatest of the Greeks and most likely to defeat Hector. Protesilaus presses Tiresias to reveal to them the location of Achilles. Tiresias goes into a prophetic trance and sees that Achilles is on the island of Lycomedes, shamefully wearing womens clothing. Tydeus and Ulysses (see Odysseus) decide to seek him out and bring him back. They depart. In the meanwhile, Deidamia alone suspects that Achilles is a man, for he has been courting her, teaching her to play the lyre, while she teaches him to weave. She half-knows that he is a man and desires her but will not allow him to confess. In a grove sacred to Bacchus, the women are celebrating a triennial rite at which no men are allowed to be present. Achilles, however, begins to regret his lost male pursuits and complains that he cannot even play the mans part in love. He rapes Deidamia, then reveals himself to her as Achilles. He consoles her with the greatness of his lineage and commits to protecting her from her fathers anger. Feeling love for Achilles herself, and also fearing for his safety, she keeps his secret, conceals her pregnancy, and eventually gives birth. In the meantime, Ulysses and Diomedes navigate the Cyclades and approach Scyros. The two heroes disembark and begin walking toward the palace. Diomedes wonders why Ulysses purchased Bacchic wands, cymbals, and other objects, and Ulysses does not yet say why but bids him bring all these along with a shield, a spear, and the trumpeter Agyrtes. Ulysses introduces himself and Tydeus and claims to be spying out approaches to Troy. Lycomedes invites them to be his guests. Achilleid Rumor spreads of the Greek leaders arrival. Achilles is eager to see them and their arms. The women are invited to join the banquet along with the guests. Deidamia strives to conceal Achilles, but he begins to give himself away by his unmaidenlike demeanor. In order to draw Achilles out Ulysses craftily speaks of war and the ignoble choice of those who remain behind. The next day Tydeus brings forth the gifts. The maidens, including Achilles, perform Bacchic rites and dances, but Achilles stands out as unfeminine. Afterward, the women flock to the Bacchic gifts and adornment, while Achilles rushes to the weapons. Ulysses whispers to him that he knows who he is and encourages him to join the war; the trumpeter blows a blast on the trumpet, and Achilles is revealed as a man. Deidamia cries out, and Achilles addresses Lycomedes, revealing his identity and his relation with Deidamia, asking for her in marriage and placing his grandson at his feet. Lycomedes is won over. That night, Deidamia laments that their marriage is so soon to be over, that Achilles departs for war and will soon forget about her or take other women as his companions. He promises her that he will stay true to her and bring her back gifts from Troy. The poet observes that Achilles words are destined to remain unfulfilled. Book 2 (fragmentary) Achilles, splendid now in his arms, makes sacrifice and addresses his mother, informing her that he is joining the expedition against Troy. Deidamia, holding her child Pyrrhus (see Neoư ptolemus), follows his departure with her eyes. Achilles is momentarily regretful as he gazes toward her but is drawn back to his warlike spirit by Ulysses, and he asks to hear the causes of the war. Ulysses tells of the rape of Helen and whips up Achilles into a bellicose rage by imagining how it would be if someone similarly seized Deidamia. Diomedes then asks Achilles to recount his own upbringing. Achilles tells them how Chiron raised him to be very tough and strong.  He was trained in running, hunting, warfare, and other manly pursuits. He recalls all that he can, then remarks that his mother knows the rest. Commentary With the Achilleid, Statius continues his daring and highly original adaptation of the epic tradition to unconventionally framed mythological themes. In the Thebaid, Statius took a mythological sequencethe Seven against Thebeswith strong tragic associations and, in adapting them to epic narrative, went out of his way to intensify the presence of tragedy and tragic paradigms within the space of epic. Statius is a writer at once intensely and selfconsciously traditional, and at the same time audaciously original. In the present instance, Statius writes the story of the hero Achilles a figure so famously and indelibly represented by Homer in his Iliad that there would seem to be no plausible area for improvement or emulation. Statius points out, however, that there is more to Achilles story than Homer wrote about, and this more constitutes an important justification for his epic. Statius will fill in the interstices with episodes Homer does not include, yet in such a way as to transform our perception of the properly heroic episodes that Homer does include and that Statius now commits to rewriting (although, in the event, the poem remained incomplete, and Statius did not arrive at the Iliadic portion of Achilles narrative). Provocatively, Statius will write the entire hero, i.e., the whole story of his life, instead of a mere distillation of his heroic career. In making this choice, Statius violates the epic convention, spanning the period from Homers practice to Horaces precepts, of commencing epic narration in medias res, i.e., starting in the midst of an ongoing development rather than from the very beginning. Statius was exceptionally alert to questions of beginning and ending, as, for example, the beginning of his Thebaid demonstrates, and he was thus equally aware of the consequences