Greek myths and legends. Stories about the Greek gods and goddesses and the fantastic adventures of the heroes of Greek mythology, as well as glossary entries on many of the famous names from Greek mythology.
Here is background to the story of the Trojan War and to the heroes of Greek mythology.
Here you'll see the lineage of Achilles and information on some of his divine forebears.
Glossary entry on Andromeda. Andromeda was rescued by Perseus, married him, produced 6 children and was transformed into a constellation.
Glossary entry on Argus. The giant Argus had 100 eyes.
The tales from Greek mythology written by Thomas Bulfinch.
The story of Cadmus and the founding of the city of Thebes. Among other events, Cadmus slew a dragon that had eaten his men.
The story of Juno's jealousy, her adulterous husband Jupiter, and the reason the bear constellations never sets.
The Calydonian Boar Hunt is the most famous ancient Greek hunt, shown in literature, artwork, and even on sarcophagi.
Occasionally in Greek mythology someone's children are served up at a dinner feast.
The story of a hunter whose wife thinks he is having an affair with the breeze and winds up shot by her husband's javelin.
Glossary entry on Demophon. Demophon is the name of two figures from Greek legend. This Demophon is connected with the Eleusinian Mysteries.
The story of Deucalion and Pyrrha is the Flood Myth of Greek mythology.
The Greeks believed in a Dorian Invasion of their homeland.
Each of the ten tribes of Athens was named for a hero. That is what is meant by an eponymous hero.
Glossary entry on Erechtheus. Erechtheus was the autochthonous founder of Athens who named the city after the goddess Athena.
Descendants of chaos include night and day, darkness and light, and a hots of ailments and some pleasures like sexual love (philotes), sleep (hynos) and dreams (oneiroi).
Etext of The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum.
An introduction to Greek Mythology and all the fascinating Greek gods and goddesses. Greek Mythology remains a part of western culture.
Nathaniel Hawthorne tells some of the main stories from Greek mythology in charming ways that happen to be suitable for children. Hawthorne is a great introduction to the myths. Here are my summaries of his tales, with links to Hawthorne's full versions of The Minotaur, The Pomegranate, Pygmies, Dragon's Teeth, Circe's Palace, and the Golden Fleece.
Article on Hermes contains family trees of the god going back to his great grandparents Ouranos and Gaia, who are also his great-great grandparents and his great-great-great grandparents.
The House of Atreus was cursed. Among its unlucky members were Pelops, whose shoulder was eaten by Demeter, Menelaus, whose wife was taken by
Paris, Agamemnon, who was murdered by his own wife after he murdered their daughter, and Orestes, who was hounded by the Furies.
Preface to a collection of Greek myths and legends for children written by Charles Kingsley, who covers the heroes Theseus, Perseus, and Jason.
The story of Juno's jealousy, her adulterous husband Jupiter, and the mortal Io who suffered the consequence.
Story of the adventures of the heroes known as Argonauts and led by Jason to capture the Golden Fleece.
Jason, the Argonauts, and Jason's quest for the Golden Fleece.
Tales from Greek mythology about the heroes Jason, Theseus, and Perseus, from Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley.
William Butler Yeat's poem based on Greek mythology about the story of Leda and the Swan.
Book Review of Simon Goldhill's "Love, Sex, and Tragedy," a new answer to the "Why study classics?" question.
Review of "Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths," by Andrew Calimach. Stories of Tantalus, Pelops, Laius, Ganymede, Hylas, Orpheus, Hyacinth, Narcissus, and Achilles.
In common parlance the stories of the Greek and Roman deities and heroes are indiscriminately referred to as myths and legends. If we wish to be more careful, however, we can differentiate between the two types of story, and between them and folktales and fairy tales, although a story may shift between these different categories, or may contain elements from each of them.
Profile of Niobe. In Greek mythology, Niobe was the proud and fertile daughter of Tantalus who lost all her children as a result of her boast to the mother of Apollo and Artemis, Leto (Latona).
The mythological origins of the Olympic games.
Index of people in the House of Atreus.
Story of Perseus who cut off the head of the Gorgon Medusa.
According to ancient Roman mythology and Ovid's Metamorphoses, Philemon and Baucis had lived out their long lives nobly, but in poverty. Jupiter, the king of the gods, had heard of the virtuous couple, but based on all his previous experiences with humans, he had serious doubts.
The story made famous and fun of in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.
Review of Thomas Cahill's overview of ancient Greece, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea - Why the Greeks Matter.
Theseus encountered Sinis on his journey from Troezen to Athens after he had killed the so-called club-man Periphetes by using the club-man's club on him, in Epidaurus. Likewise, Theseus used the pine-bender's own trees to kill him.
Thomas Bulfinch's Greek Mythology is called The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes. This page presents a table of contents.
Story of Theseus and the Minotaur and the later adventures of Theseus.
The legendary seer Tiresias, famous from
The Odyssey and the Oedipus legends, appears in Ovid's
Metamorphoses as the first (unhappy) transgendered individual. His plight came to the attention of the contentious king and queen of the gods.
A starting point for looking at the nature of myths is to say that myths are stories shared by a group, and which are a part of their cultural identity. As such, they are important to understand when looking at the history of a people. There is no completely satisfactory definition of myth*, although many of the world's greatest thinkers have provided partial answers.
A look at some of the most famous betrayals in ancient Greek mythology.
