Apollodorus

Apollodorus Atheniensis

The Library provides in three books a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Written in clear and unaffected style, the compendium faithfully follows the Greek literary sources. It is thus an important record of Greek accounts of the origin and early history of the world and their race. This work has been attributed to Apollodorus of Athens (born c. 180 BCE), a student of Aristarchus. But the text as we have it was written by an author probably living in the first or second century of our era. In his highly valued notes to the Loeb Classical Library edition (which is in two volumes) J. G. Frazer cites the principal passages of other ancient writers where each particular story is told and compares the various versions to those in the Library.

Βιβλιοθηκη

Apollodori Atheniensis, bibliothecae libri tres

Pseudo-Apol·lodor

The immortal characters of Greek mythology enact their dramas, conflicts, and passions in the "Library of Apollodorus." Probably composed in the first century A.D., it is the only Greek handbook of mythology to survive antiquity, and is a major source of our knowledge of Greek myths. Beginning with the birth of the gods and ending with the death of Odysseus, the 'Library' traces the destinies of such great mythic figures as Prometheus, Oedipus, Heracles, Daedalus, and the heroes of the Trojan War. Michael Simpson's new translation captures the fine simplicity and straightforwardness of the original. Leonard Baskin's drawings throw a unique contemporary light on this ancient world.

Apollodorus Atheniensis

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