Dick Caldwell's Greek Myths

Dick Caldwell's Greek Myths
	There is no true, or correct, version of Greek myth (although the Greek Ministry of Culture evidently thought so when they accused Disney Animation of creating a false version of the ancient myth in the movie Hercules). During antiquity the myths were constantly changing; in the field of drama alone, the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides all wrote versions of famous myths (Oedipus or Orestes, for example) which differed not only from the other dramatists but also from the earlier stories found in epic poetry. So I make no claim that my version is the only true or correct one. My only claim is that I have considered all the available variants, and chosen those which seemed to me most enduring and coherent. In other words, if someone asked me to tell them a Greek myth, the versions here are what I would say.
Contents:
THE MYTHS OF ARGOS Zeus and Io Danaos and the Danaids Danae and Perseus Bellerophon Pelops The Genealogy of Herakles Herakles' Life Before the Labors The Birth and Childhood of Herakles Herakles and the Thespian Lion The Madness of Herakles The Labors of Herakles Labors 1-8 and Labors 9-12 Herakles' Life After the Labors Eurytos and Iole Omphale of Lydia Troy and Elis Pylos, Aleos and Aug Kalydon Trachis: The Death of Herakles The Children of Herakles	THE MYTHS OF CRETE Zeus and Europa Minos and His Family Theseus and Ariadne Daidalos and Ikaros Katreus and Glaukos THE MYTHS OF THEBES Kadmos and Harmonia The Daughters of Kadmos Dionysos Labdakos to Laios Antiope, Zethos, Amphion Niobe Laios Oidipous

Professor Emeritus of Classics, USC (other positions at the Universities of Minnesota, Texas, and Colorado), consultant to Disney's "Hercules," author of Hesiod's Theogony, The Origin of the Gods, Vergil's Aeneid, and dozens of articles on subjects ancient and modern. He has written many books and articles about antiquity (and other subjects) and he has been taking people on unconventional tours to the eastern Mediterranean for 25 consecutive years. He is (for what it's worth) the world's leading authority on the psychoanalytic study of antiquity, he knows (and will tell you) the secret meaning of all the Greek myths, he speaks modern Greek, some Turkish, and hardly any Arabic, and he claims to know everyone in Greece and Turkey. Comments or Questions? E-mail Dick