This document summarizes the introduction to a course on classical mythology. It outlines that the course introduction has three main sections: 1) defining classical mythology, 2) difficulties in studying classical mythology, and 3) the format and approach of the course. The course will provide synopses of myths, examine their cultural context, and discuss larger issues represented by the myths.

1. Introduction
This first lecture introduces students to the overall plan of the
course. The lecture falls into three main sections.
The first of these considers definitions of the terms “classical”
and “mythology.”
The second section discusses some of the problems inherent in
studying classical mythology.
The third section outline and explains the course’s format and
approach, which will include some synopsis of specific myths,
discussion of the cultural background of the myths, and
examination of larger issues implied by them.

2. n This introductory lecture has three main
objects.
n -The lecture beings by defining the terms
“classical” and “mythology.”
n -The second section of the lecture considers
some of the difficulties inherent in the study of
classical mythology.
n -The third section outlines the approach and
format of the course.

3. n What is meant by “classical
mythology”?
n “Classical” in this context refers to the
cultures of ancient Greece and Rome.
n 1. Ancient Greek culture’s highpoint
occurred in Athens in the 5th century
B.C.
n 2. Roman culture reached its zenith in
the 1st centuries B.C. and A.D.
n 3. These two cultures shared the bulk of
their mythology, because Rome simply
adapted Greek mythology wholesale.
n 4. In this course, I will use the terms
“classical” and “Greek” mythology
interchangeably.

4. n “Mythology” is an ambiguous term.
n Strictly speaking, the ”-ology” ending means “the study of”; thus, “mythology”
means “the study of myth.”
n However, the work “mythology” is frequently used to mean “a culture’s body of
myths.”
n Myth is a notoriously difficult concept to define, as we will see in the next two
lectures.
n For this lecture, we need a basic, working definition to start with.
n I define myth as “traditional stories a society tells itself that encode or represent
the world-view, beliefs, principles, and often fears of that society.”
n We will look at definitions in much more detail in the next two lectures, but this
definition is sufficient for now.

5. n Many scholars subdivide traditional tales into three
categories: myth, legend, and folktale.
n In this scheme, myth refers only to stories that concern
the gods and their rites. It is closely connected with
religious ritual.
n Legend refers to traditional stories rooted in historical
fact, describing the (greatly exaggerated) adventures of
people who actually lived, such as Robin Hood or
George Washington.
n Folktale refers to stories that are primarily entertaining
and that often involve animals or ordinary but clever
humans, such as Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks.
n These subdivisions are useful, but in fact the categories
overlap so much that the distinctions seem artificial.
n This course will cover traditional stories that would
count as “legend” according to this division; we will
even see a few examples of “folktale.”

6. n If myths are traditional tales that a society
tells itself about itself, then the next question
must be: which societies use myth, and
why?
n All societies have myths; however, myth is
most important in preliterate cultures.
n Modern, literate cultures have many
different forms of explanation available to
them, including theology, psychology,
philosophy, ethics, history, and so on.
n All these depend on a sophisticated and
long-lived literate tradition.
n In a preliterate culture, myth is the only
means available to explain and discuss a
whole range of phenomena and concepts.

7. n This idea is important for the question of
what myth really means.
n Modern Western culture makes a
distinction between fact and fiction, true
and false, actual and imaginary.
n When myth is the only available form of
explanation, these distinctions cannot be so
clear cut. The question “What does it really
mean?” is anything but simple.
n In Greek myth, Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos
(Sky) are good examples of this. As
anthropomorphized, deities, they are also
physical “realities” –our usual distinction
between metaphorical and literal doesn’t
apply.

8. n Greek mythology, like most other mythologies,
developed in a preliterate culture. Trying to
study Greek mythology, thus, is somewhat
paradoxical, because literature is our main
source of access to that mythology.
n Many modern scholars of myth work with
living cultures.
n This anthropological approach means that
scholars of living cultures can observe myth in
its “native habitat.”
n In studying classical mythology, we are, in
effect, trying to “do” anthropology backward
in time, on a culture without living
representatives.
n Our sources for this are literature and
archaeological artifacts. Both present
formidable problems.

9. n Even in as well-documented
and well-studied a society as
classical Greece, the written
version of myths present
difficulties for scholars.
n Written versions of myth are
“frozen,” as in the case of
Oedipus, whose final fate was
described differently by
Sophocles and Homer.
n Because myths were the
“givens” of the society, literary
works frequently refer to
myths without giving a full
synopsis of them.

10. n Only a fraction of ancient Greek literature has survived, and it often does not
tell us what we would most like to know about people’s religious beliefs and
practices, daily lives, and so on.
n One book that we will use a great deal in this course is The Library of Greek
Mythology, by Apollodorus (who probably lived in the 1st or 2nd century
AD), which gives summaries of most of the myths we will discuss.

11. n What are the implications for our study of classical mythology?
n We are studying only particular variants of the myths.
n Sometimes we can reconstruct a fairly full version of the myth as it underlies the written variants
and as it must have existed in the living culture of ancient Greece.
n Many times we cannot; references remain tantalizingly obscure.
n Occasionally a work of art will preserve what is clearly a very different version from the ones
preserved in literature, which reminds us that living myth is not fixed.
n We cannot recover all the nuances of the myths’ functions in their original society, any more than
we can recover all their variants.
n Within these limitations, however, we can use what we know about the society to shed light on the
myths and what we know about the myths to shed light on the society.

12. n These lectures will concentrate on several of the most famous and most
important myths of Greco-Roman culture. The course has four main points:
n First, the lectures will familiarize students with the primary classical myths that
are covered by the course. Most myths will include some synopsis of the relevant
myth’s storyline. We will frequently address the surviving variants of the myths
and the implications of these variants for our understanding.
n Second, the lectures will discuss the cultural aspects of the myths under
consideration within their formative culture (i.e., ancient Greece).
n Third, we will consider how well (or poorly) these myths “match” carious
theories about myth and will discuss the usefulness of these theoretical
approaches for our understanding of classical myth.
n Finally, we will explore the use of these myths throughout the 3000 or more
years of their existence as it was adapted in the arts, literature and music of the
Western tradition.