Unit One Introduction 1
Why Study Greco-Roman Mythology? 1
What Is Mythology? 1
How to Approach Mythology? 3
Greek Mythology 10
Unit Two Creation Myths 15
Account from Bilbo's World 15
Account from Hesiod's Theogony 16
The Pelasgian Creation Myth 17
The Homeric and Orphic Creation Myths 19
Account from Metamorphoses by Ovid 20
Unit Three Five Ages of Man:Human Alienation from the Divine 23
The Five Ages of Mankind 23
Alienation of the Human and the Divine 27
Prometheus and mankind 27
Pandora's box 30
The Deucalion flood/deluge 31
Unit Four Titanic and Olympian Genealogy 35
Uranus and Cronus 35
Gaia's Children 36
Cronus and Zeus 37
War Between Old and Young Gods 39
The Olympian Gods and Goddesses 40
Nature of the major Olympians 41
Minor gods and goddesses and demi-gods 52
Unit Five Olympian Gods 55
Zeus 55
Apollo 61
Dionysus 68
Apollo versus Dionysus 75
Unit Six Olympian Goddesses 77
Hera 77
Aphrodite 82
Athena 88
Unit Seven Greek Heroes(Ⅰ) 94
Perseus(Medusa) 94
Heracles(12 Labors) 99
Unit Eight Greek Heroes(Ⅱ) 109
Theseus(the Minotaur) 109
Jason(the Golden Fleece) 115
Unit Nine Trojan War Saga:The Iliad 125
Homer's The Iliad 126
The Wrath of Achilles 127
The War 129
During the Truce 131
In the Battlefield 133
Achilles back in the War 135
The Death of Hector 139
Unit Ten Trojan War Saga:The Odyssey 143
Telemachus 143
The Wandering on the Sea 145
The Return and Reunion 152
Unit Eleven Roman Mythology 157
Roman Myths 157
Major Roman Deities 158
Deification of Julius Caesar 163
Ovid's Metamorphoses 165
Phaethon:quest for the impossible 166
Pyramus and Thisbe:love lost by mistake 170
Mercury and Battus:faithful to one's promise 171
Unit Twelve Roman Hero:The Aeneid 173
Virgil's The Aeneid 173
From Troy to Italy 173
Dido 178
The Underworld 179
The War 182
Unit Thirteen Greek Tragedy:Medea(Ⅰ) 189
Unit Fourteen Greek Tragedy:Medea(Ⅱ) 217
Unit Fifteen Myth and Art 239
Myth and Art(ancient) 239
Myth and Art(modern) 241
Myth and Culture Study 245
The Future of Myth 248
Literary Texts for Reading 250
Song from Alexander and Campaspe,John Lyly 250
Prometheus Unbound,P.B.Shelley 251
"Helen",Hilda Doolittle 251
"Leda and the Swan",W.B.Yeats 253
"Cassandra",Louise Bogan 254
Symposium,Plato 254
Supplementary Reading 259
Glossary:Names and Places 414
Bibliography 480