Mythological narrative plays an important role in almost every piece of Greek literature. Nonetheless, the Biblioteca is the only surviving manuscript of Greek mythology from the ancient Greek period. This work contains a large amount of original information about Greek mythology (such as the genealogy of the gods), mainly heroic myths, and is an important document for modern scholars to study ancient Greek mythology. Because Apollodorus, who lived from 180 to 120 BC, completed many related works based on it, it is now customary to call the author of the book "Pseudo-Apolodorus".
The earliest references are Homer's two epic poems: "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey". Other epics in this area have been attributed to the "Epic Collection", but these works are basically unreliable today. Although this collection was originally called the "Homeric Hymns," it actually has nothing to do with Homer; they are actually hymns handed down from an earlier period known as the Lyric Period. Hesiod, a poet basically contemporary with Homer, comprehensively recorded early Greek myths about the formation of the world, the origin of the gods, Titans and giants, as well as detailed genealogy, folklore, human beings in his work "Theogony" Myths about disease history. Hesiod's "Works and Days" systematically recorded the knowledge of farming production at that time and showed a calm and beautiful scene of rural life. It includes descriptions of Prometheus, Pandora, and the Five Ages. These psalms give advice and an overview of the best way to live during that dangerous time.
Lyric poems often use mythology as a background, but their descriptions often deviate from fact and add more to the author's fantasy. The more famous lyric poets of ancient Greece include Pindar, Byclides, Simonides and the pastoral poets Theocritos and Beon. Their works contain a large number of mythological elements. In addition, myth is also a central theme of classical Athenian drama. Most of the tragedies of the three great tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides are based on the heroes of the mythical age and the Trojan War. Many famous tragic stories (such as Agamemnon and his children, Oedipus, Jason and Medea, etc.) are used as themes in classical tragedies. The comedian Aristophanes also used mythology as a theme in his works "The Bird" and "The Frog".
The historians Herodotus and Diodorus and the geographers Pausanias and Strabo all traveled across Greece, and they all recorded what they heard along the way. Their records prove that there are numerous unknown versions of myths and legends in different regions. Herodotus, in particular, studied a large number of traditions and discovered many Greek and Eastern historical or mythological roots. He also tried to reconcile these origins so that different cultural ideas blended together.
The poetry of Hellenistic civilization and ancient Rome was more literary and artistic. Despite this, it still contains many important details that are lost in other works. These works mainly include: the works and commentaries of the Roman poets Ovid (Metamorphoses), Statius, Gaius, Seneca, Virgil and Servius; Greek poets in modern times: Works of Nonnus, Antoninus Liberaris, and Quintus Smyrnaeus; works of poets of the Hellenistic period: Apollonius, Callimachus, Pseudo-Eratosthenes, and Bardini; Ancient Works by Greek and ancient Roman novelists Eprias, Petronius, Lorianus and Heliodorus. Roman writers, such as Hyginus, considered fabrication and astronomy as the two most important compendiums of mythology. The imagination of Philostratos the Elder and the Younger and the descriptions of Callistratos are two other sources of the myth. Finally, Anobius and some Byzantine Greek writers refined the myth's details based on earlier Greek writings that are now unknown. Preserved books on these myths include Hesikios' Dictionary of the Suda and the treatises of John Tyzer and Eustathius. Christianity quotes Greek mythology for teaching: ?ν παντ? The knowledgeable Sudeis believed that the image of Daedalus matched Pasiphi's evil interest in the bull transformed by Poseidon: "Since the origin and fault of these demons have been attributed to Daedalus, and he has been blamed by them. Hated, so he became the protagonist of Proverbs. " Most of the ancient Greek myths or legends come from ancient Greek literature, including "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" in "Homer's Epic", and "Hesiod" (Ησοδο). Works and Days and Theogony, classics such as Ovid's Metamorphoses, and plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Greek mythology originated from the ancient Aegean civilization and is slightly similar to the Chinese Shang and Zhou civilization. They are the ancestors of Western civilization, with outstanding nature and extraordinary imagination. In those primitive times, they felt mysterious and incomprehensible about natural phenomena and human life and death, so they continued to fantasize and meditate.
In their imagination, everything in the universe is alive. However, after the Dorians invaded the Aegean civilization, they had to look outside to expand their living space because the Greek peninsula where they lived was overpopulated. At this time, they worshiped heroes, which resulted in many national heroic stories in which humans and gods were intertwined. These stories of people, gods, and objects created by people have been quenched by time and are collectively called "Greek mythology" by historians. The period from the 11th to the 7th and 8th centuries BC is called the "Mythic Age." Mythological stories were originally passed down orally, and it was not until the seventh century BC that the great poet Homer recorded them in the "Epic". The Mycenaean civilization discovered by the legendary German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the 19th century and the Minoan civilization in Crete discovered by the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in the 20th century were both It provides explanations for a large number of questions raised by Homer and provides archaeological evidence for many mythological details about gods and heroes. Unfortunately, the Mycenaean and Minoan Linear B scrolls, the monumental evidence of myths and rituals, are mainly used to record inventories, although quite a few names of gods and heroes appear in them.
The geometric designs of pottery from the 8th century BC are often based on the siege of Troy or the adventures of Heracles. The importance of the visual expression of these myths is shown in two aspects: First, many Greek myths appeared on pottery today much earlier than written records, such as the Twelve Labors of Heracles and the only way to capture Cerberus alive. This item has written records at the same time as the pottery, and other written records are later than the pottery paintings; secondly, the pottery designs sometimes even depict some myths or scenes that do not have written records. Sometimes the first-hand record of a mythological story comes from geometric art, but by the time it appears in written records, it is often centuries later.
During the Archaic period (about 750 to 500 BC), the Classical Greek period (about 480 to 323 BC), and the Hellenistic period (about 323 to 146 BC), the Dutch Horse-style and many other mythological scenes abounded, which were corroborated by written records, and the Temple of the Sun of Apollo was discovered by archaeologists in 2002.