ClSt/ComL 200:
Directory of Online Resources

• Texts: many of the texts that we will read in this class are available online (though in different translations from those that I have ordered).
  • Classical Greek and Latin authors are widely available via the Internet.
    • The best single source on the Internet for classical Greek texts is, by far, the Perseus Project web site. The texts are available here in English translation and in the original Greek with links to online lexical and grammatical aids. All Perseus texts are linked to explanatory notes, maps, images, and other resources. There is also a searchable hypertext encyclopedia of Greek mythology, history, art, etc. For anyone who is even casually interested in this material, Perseus is a resource well worth exploring.

    • The Center or the Computer Analysis of Texts (CCAT) at Penn maintains an archive of texts available by the gopher protocol. These texts do not contain hypertext links, but they are searchable online.

  • The texts that we will be reading are available online in various formats as follows:
    • Aeschylus
      § Prometheus Bound (assignment for Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2; hypertext version available from Perseus
      § Seven against Thebes (assignment for Wednesday, January 31); hypertext version available from Perseus
    • The Bible --
      § Genesis 1 -3 (assignment for Thursday, January 18 and Friday, January 19) is available in hypertext (various translations) and plain text (King James version only) editions.
    • Herodotus, Histories --
      § chapters 1 - 6 (assignment for Thursday, January 25 and Friday, January 26; hypertext version from Perseus)
    • Hesiod --
      § Theogony (hypertext version from Perseus)
      outline of the structure of the Theogony
        * lines 490 - 616 on Prometheus (assignment for Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2; hypertext version from Perseus)
      § Works and Days (hypertext version from Perseus)
        * lines 42 - 109 on Prometheus (assignment for Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2; hypertext version from Perseus)
    • Homer --
      § Odyssey
        * book 8, lines 250 - 369, "The Second Song of Demodocus: Ares and Aphrodite" (assignment for Wednesday, February 7; hypertext version from Perseus)
      § The Homeric Hymns:
        * Hymn 2, "Hymn to Demeter" (assignment for Wednesday, Jamuary 24; (hypertext version from Perseus)
    • Native American material --
      § six creation myths (assignment for Thursday, January 18 and Friday, January 19
    • Ovid's Metamorphoses (plain text from the University of Vermont gopher, an 18th c. English translation by several hands)
    • outline of the structure of the Metamorphoses
    • outline of Ovid's Fasti (Books 1-4)
    • Pausanias (hypertext edition from Perseus: see further below) --
      § on the sacred precinct at Olympia (assignment for Monday, January 22): the full description begins at book 5 chapter 10 and extends to book 6, chapter 21.3. You need not read the entire description in detail, but you should pay close attention to the following sections: 5.10.1 - 6.21.3)
    • Pindar, Victory Odes --
      § Olympian 1 (assignment for Monday, January 22; hypertext version from Perseus)
      § Olympian 2 (assignment for Monday, January 22; hypertext version of Perseus)
    • Plato --
      § "Critique of Homer" from The Republic
      § "The Myth of Er" (hypertext version from Perseus)
    • Sophocles --
      § Oedipus the King (hypertext version from Perseus or plain text from CCAT)
      § Oedipus at Colonus (hypertext version from Perseus or plain text from CCAT)
      § Antigone (hypertext version from Perseus or plain text from CCAT)
    • Thucydides, Histories --
      § book 1, chapters 1 - 13.1 (assignment for Thursday, January 25 and Friday, January 26; hypertext from Perseus
    • Vergil, Eclogue 4 (assignment for Wednesday, February 22; online editions available)

• Handbooks, ancient and modern:
  • A well-indexed guide to an online hypertext edition of Apollodorus' Library, an ancient Greek mythological encyclopedia, is available from Perseus.
  • Pausanias' Description of Greece is a series of guided tours to many fascinating ancient Greek places. A hypertext version is available from Perseus, along with a brief entry on the author and his work. Many of the places Pausanias describes have mythological significance.
  • A plain text of Bullfinch's Mythology is available from the University of Vermont gopher

• Other Mythology Sites:
  • Home Page and Syllabus for Classics 222, "Classical Mythology," which is currently being taught at The Ohio State University by Professor June W. Allison
  • Two mythology courses, "In Search of the Hero" and "Euripides and Myth" taught at Baylor University by Prof. John Thorburn. There is also a page containing a brief outline of Greek mythology with links to primary sources.
  • Greek Mythology, a site created and maintained by professional computer programmer and mythology enthusiast John Hunt.
  • Mythology in Western Art, a repository of (fairly large and slow-loading) images of classical myths representing all periods of art history. This site also features a brief bibliography.
  • Mythtext is a site that offers information on the Greek and Roman pantheons as well as on the mythologies of several other cultures.
  • The Princeton Greek Mythology HQ, which features an interactive map of ancient Greek mythology and links to a Greek mythology course taught at Princeton by Prof. Ruth Webb and to pages on women in Greek mythology by students Mark Woon and Tina Lee.
  • A quick and dirty guide to the Greek myths from the producers of the (IMHO) apallingly stupid TV series "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"

• Related sites of interest:
  • An excellent Greek Astronomy site.
  • Another excellent bibliographical resource guide to the History of Astrology
  • Catastrophism: The Emerging Science of Origins
  • "World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts" organized by theme
  • Mythologies of non-Greek cultures:
    • Assyrian and Sumerian Mythology (and see below)
    • India: "Cooking for the Gods, a site that explores the mythic element in daily experience in Bengal
    • China: "Early Myth and The Goddess in Ancient China "is a discussion of the feminine in Shang and Chou Dynasty myth and the central role played by the Myth of the Sacred Mulberry Tree (Fu Sang). Until quite recently, the existence of mythic narrative in ancient China was questioned. Breakthrough research has now reconstructed the central myth of China's earliest dynasty - the Shang. This book draws upon the latest archeology research and analysis of early texts to uncover important events in the lives of early gods and goddesses and identify the important role played by the sacred Mulberry Tree. There are extensive discussions of early Chinese and Manchu shamanism and their possible commonalities with Western metaphor."
    • Hawaii
    • Ireland
    • Mithraism, "The Legacy of the Roman Empire's Final Pagan State Religion"
    • Norse
    • Sumerian
  • Themes and resources for independent exploration
    • Creation

  ---

  Back to the syllabus for ClSt/ComL 200.