
Greek Mythology
Poetics, Pragmatics and Fiction
Claude Calame(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 26. June 2014
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-107-43481-3 (ISBN)
Description
Myths are not simple narrative plots. In ancient Greece, as in other traditional societies, these tales existed only in the poetic or artistic forms in which they were set down. To read them from an anthropological point of view means to study their meaning according to their forms of expression - epic recitation, ritual celebration of the victory of an athlete, tragic performance, erudite Alexandrian poetry, antiquarian prose text; in other words, to study the functions of Greek myths in their permanent retelling and reshaping. Falling between social reality and cultural fiction, Greek myths were evolving creations, constantly adapting themselves to new conditions of performance. Using myths such as those of Persephone, Bellerophon, Helen and Teiresias, Claude Calame presents an overview of Greek mythology as a category inseparable from the literature in which so much of it is found. The French edition of this book was first published in 2000.
Reviews / Votes
'... for any reader who desires an introduction to myth theory or who wants to explore particular texts in more depth, Calame's Greek Mythology provides an excellent place to start.' RosettaMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
471 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-43481-3 (9781107434813)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
05/2009
Cambridge University Press
€122.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Claude Calame is Directeur d'etudes, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, and has published widely on Greek poetry and myth. His most recent books include Myth and History in Ancient Greece: The Symbolic Creation of a Colony (2003), Masks of Authority: Fiction and Pragmatics in Ancient Greek Poetics (2005) and Poetic and Performative Memory in Ancient Greece: Heroic Reference and Ritual Gestures (2008). Janet Lloyd is a highly regarded translator of scholarly books from French, who divides her time between Cambridge and Jaen.
Content
Foreword; 1. Narrative and poetic creations; 2. Bellerophon and the pragmatics of epic narrative; 3. Clytemnestra and Orestes at the Pythian games; 4. Io, the Danaids, the outside and tragic inflections; 5. Helen and the purposes of historiography; 6. Tiresias in an Alexandrian hymn; 7. Pausanias and the pantheon of Troezen; 8. Conclusion: virtual realities.