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Bibliotheca(Pseudo-Apollodorus)

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Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)

TheBibliotheca(Ancient Greek:Βιβλιοθήκη,Bibliothēkē,'Library'), also known as theBibliothecaof Pseudo-Apollodorus,is acompendiumofGreek mythsandheroic legends,genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second centuryCE.[1]The author was traditionally thought to beApollodorus of Athens,but that attribution is now regarded as false. As a result, "Pseudo-"has been affixed toApollodorus.

General overview[edit]

TheBibliothecaof Pseudo-Apollodorus is a compressive collection of myths, genealogies and histories that presents a continuous history ofGreek mythologyfrom theTheogonyto the death ofOdysseus.[2]The narratives are organized by genealogy, chronology and geography in summaries of myth.[2][3]The myths are sourced from a wide number of sources like early epic, early Hellenistic poets, and mythographical summaries of tales.[2]HomerandHesiodare the most frequently named along with other poets.[4]Oral tradition and the plays written byAeschylus,SophoclesandEuripidesalso factored into the compilation of myth in theBibliotheca.[2][5]TheBibliothecawas written in the first or second century CE by an author who is referred to as Pseudo-Apollodorus to differentiate from Apollodorus of Athens, who did not write theBibliotheca.[6]The text is largely intact except for the last section, ending in the middle of the narrative ofTheseus.[2]In the later scholarship it is used as a reference material.[2]

List of myths[edit]

Source:[7][8]

  • PeliasordersJasonto fetch the golden fleece.
  • Catalogue of theArgonauts.
  • The women of Lemnos; in the land of the Doliones.
  • The loss of Hylas and abandonment ofHeraclesPolydeuces and Amycos; Phineus and theHarpies;the Clashing Rocks.
  • Jason,Medea,and the seizure of the fleece.
  • The murder of Apsyrtos and journey toCirce.
  • To the land of the Phaeacians Anaphe; Talos in Crete.
  • The return to lolcos and murder of Pelias.
  • The later history of Medea.

4. Early Argive mythology (the Inachids, Belid line)

  • The early descendants ofInachos.
  • The wanderings oflo,and division of the Inachid line.
  • Aigyptos, Danaos, and the Danaids Proitos and Acrisios divide the Argolid Bias, Melampous, and the daughters of Proitos Excursus: the story ofBellerophonDanae and the birth ofPerseus.
  • Perseus fetches theGorgon's head (Medusa) Perseus andAndromeda.
  • The later history of Perseus.
  • The immediate descendants of Perseus.
  • The exile ofAmphitryon.

5. Heracles, and the Heraclids

  • Amphitryon in Thebes, and the war against the Teleboans.
  • The birth and early life ofHeracles
  • Heracles and the Minyans; his first marriage, and madness.
  • First labour: theNemean lion.
  • Second labour: theLernaean hydra.
  • Third labour: theCerynitian hind.
  • Fourth labour: theErymanthian boar.
  • Fifth labour: the cattle of Augeias.
  • Sixth labour: theStymphalian birds.
  • Seventh labour: theCretan bull.
  • Eighth labour: themares of Diomedes.
  • Ninth labour: the belt ofHippolyte.
  • Tenth labour: thecattle of Geryon.
  • Eleventh labour: theapples of the Hesperides.
  • Twelfth labour: the capture ofCerberos.
  • The murder of Iphitos and Heracles' enslavement to Omphale.
  • The first sack ofTroy.
  • Campaigns in the Peloponnese.
  • Marriage to Deianeira; Heracles in northern Greece The sack of Oichalia; the death and apotheosis of Heracles.
  • The children of Heracles.
  • The return of the Heraclids.

6. Cretan and Theban mythology (the Inachids, Agenorid line).

  • The abduction of Europa to Crete, and dispersal of the sons of Agenor Minos and his brothers.
  • Minos,Pasiphae, and the origin of theMinotaurCatreus and Althaimenes.
  • Polyidos and the revival of Glaucos.
  • Cadmos and the foundation of Thebes Semele and Dionysos; the death of Actaion Successors and usurpers at Thebes Amphion, Niobe, and their children Laios andOedipus.

7. The Theban Wars

  • Eteoclesand the exile ofPolyneicestoArgos.
  • Prelude in Argos: Amphiaraos and Eriphyle.
  • The advance againstThebesand stationing of the champions.
  • Excursus: the earlier history ofTeiresias.
  • The Theban victory and its aftermath.
  • The Epigoni and the Second Theban War.
  • The later history of Alcmaion.

8. Arcadian mythology (the Pelasgids)

9. Laconian and Trojan mythology (the Atlantids)

  • Early Trojan mythology.
  • Priam,Hecuba,and their children.

10. The Asopids

11. Cecrops and his descendants; the story of Adonis Three early kings: Cranaos, Amphictyon, and Erichthonios.

  • Pandion I and his children; Icarios and Erigone; Tereus, Procne, and Philomele.
  • Procris and Cephalos; Oreithuia and her children Eumolpos, and the war with Eleusis; the exile of Pandion II Aigeus and the conception ofTheseus.
  • The war with Minos and the origin of the tribute to the Minotaur.
  • The labours of Theseus, and his arrival at Athens.

Epitome

12. The Pelopids

13. The Trojan war

  • Thejudgement of Parisand abduction ofHelen.
  • Agamemnonassembles the Greek army.
  • The attack onMysia;the Greeks assemble for a second time.
  • The Greeks call in at Tenedos.
  • The landing at Troy, and the first nine years of the war.
  • The wrath ofAchilles(a summary of the Iliad) Penthesileia the Amazon; Memnon and the death of Achilles; the suicide ofAjax.
  • Philoctetes and the death of Paris; conditions for thefall of Troy.
  • Thewooden horse.
  • The sack of Troy.

14. The returns

  • Menelaosand Agamemnon quarrel; Calchas and Mopsos.
  • Agamemnon sails with the main fleet; the storm at Tenos, and Nauplios the wrecker.
  • The fate ofNeoptolemos;various wanderings and returns.
  • The later history of the Pelopids.
  • The return ofOdysseus(a summary of theOdyssey).
  • The later history of Odysseus.

Authorship[edit]

A certain "Apollodorus" is indicated as author on some surviving manuscripts,[9]this Apollodorus has been mistakenly identified withApollodorus of Athens(bornc. 180 BCE), a student ofAristarchus of Samothracewho also worked in Alexandria. It is known—from references in the minorscholiaon Homer—that Apollodorus of Athens did leave a similar comprehensive repertory on mythology, in the form of a verse chronicle.[9]The mistaken attribution was made by scholars following Photius' mention of the name, though Photius did not name him as the Athenian and the name was in common use at the time.[10]For chronological reasons, Apollodorus of Athens could not have written the book, the author of theBibliothecais at times referred to as the "Pseudo-Apollodorus", to distinguish him from Apollodorus of Athens.[9]Modern works often simply call him "Apollodorus".[10]The form of the text that has survived is generally placed in late 1st or second century BCE.[10]

Manuscript tradition[edit]

The first mention of the work is by Photius, patriarch ofConstantinoplein 9th century CE, in his "account of books read".[11]The last section of theBibliothecawhich breaks off during the section on Theseus is missing in surviving manuscripts, Photius had the full work and mentions that the lost section had myths about the heroes of theTrojan War.[11]Byzantine authorJohn Tzetes,who lived in Constantinople in the twelfth century, often cited the Bibliotheca in his writings.[12]It was almostlostin the 13th century, surviving in one now-incomplete manuscript,[13]which was copied forCardinal Bessarionin the 15th century.[i]Any surviving manuscripts of the Bibliotheca are descended from a fourteenth century manuscript in theBibliothèque nationale de France,in Paris.[11]

Printed editions[edit]

The first printed edition of theBibliothecaof Pseudo-Apollodorus was published inRomein 1555.[14]Benedetto Egio(Benedictus Aegius) ofSpoleto,was the first to divide the text in three books.[ii]Hieronymus Commelinus[fr]published an improved text atHeidelberg,1559. The first text based on comparative manuscripts was that ofChristian Gottlob Heyne,Göttingen,1782–83. Subsequent editions Jurgen Muller (1841) and Richard Wagner (1894) collated earlier manuscripts.[14][15][16]In 1921Sir James George Frazerpublished an epitome of the book by conflating two manuscript summaries of the text,[17]which included the lost section.

Scholarship[edit]

TheBibliothecahas been referenced in scholarship throughout history. As a mythographical work It has influenced scholarship on Greek Mythology.[18]Anepigramrecorded by the important intellectualPatriarch Photius I of Constantinopleexpressed its purpose:[iii]

It has the following not ungraceful epigram: 'Draw your knowledge of the past from me and read the ancient tales of learnedlore.Look neither at the page ofHomer,nor ofelegy,nortragic muse,norepic strain.Seek not the vaunted verse of thecycle;but look in me and you will find in me all that the world contains'.

Photius is one of the first surviving reviews of the use of theBibliothecain the field.[19]Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries BCE, theBibliothecawas referred to in scholarship about Ancient Greece most often found in letters from scholars of the time.[19]Much of the modern scholarship on the work has focused on the interpretation of its manuscripts by various translators and compilers of theBibliothecain later editions.[19][20]A critical view of past interpretations, compilations, and organization has also been a source of contention. The sources of information that may have informed the creation of theBibliothecaare also studied in the modern scholarship.[20]The question of authorship is another area of study that has shaped the interpretation of the work throughout history.[21]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Bessarion's copy, deposited in theBiblioteca Marciana,Venice, found its way into the Greek manuscripts ofArchbishop Laudand came with them to theBodleian Libraryin 1636. (Diller 1935:308, 310).
  2. ^He based his division on attributions in thescholia minoraon Homerto Apollodorus, in three books. (Diller (1935,pp. 298, 308–9)).
  3. ^Victim of its own suggestions, theepigraph,ironically, does not survive in the manuscripts. For the classic examples ofepitomesandencyclopediassubstituting in Christian hands for the literature ofClassical Antiquityitself, seeIsidore of Seville'sEtymologiaeandMartianus Capella.

Citations[edit]

  1. ^Hard (2004,p. 3);Perseus Encyclopedia,"Apollodorus (4)";Simpson (1976,p. 1).
  2. ^abcdefAldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^Fletcher, K. F. B. 2008. "Systematic Genealogies in Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and the Exclusion of Rome from Greek Myth."Classical Antiquity27:59–91. JSTOR 10.1525/ca.2008.27.1.59.
  4. ^Kenens, Ulrike. 2011. "The Sources of Ps.-Apollodorus' Library: A Case Study."Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica97:129–46. JSTOR 23048902.
  5. ^Huys, Marc. 1997. "Euripides and the Tales from Euripides: Sources of Apollodoros' Bibliotheca?"Rheinisches Museum140 308–27.
  6. ^Diller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 inStudies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
  7. ^"Apollodorus, Library, book 1, chapter 1, section 1".perseus.tufts.edu.Retrieved2024-06-10.
  8. ^Aldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  9. ^abcDiller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 inStudies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
  10. ^abcAldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^abcAldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  12. ^Diller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 inStudies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
  13. ^Bibliothèque nationale,Paris.
  14. ^abDiller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 inStudies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
  15. ^Wagner, Richard (1894).Mythographi Graeci: Apollodorus.Bibliotheca; Pediasimi Libellus De Duodecim Herculis Labores[Greek mythology: Bibliotheca of Apollodorus, a small book of the twelve labors of Hercules] (in Ancient Greek and German). Nabu Press (published 2010).ISBN978-1142820275.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ^Aldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  17. ^Frazer, James G.1913.Apollodorus.Loeb Classical Library.
  18. ^Diller (1935,pp.296,300).
  19. ^abcDiller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 inStudies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
  20. ^abKenens, Ulrike. 2011. "The Sources of Ps.-Apollodorus' Library: A Case Study."Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica97:129–46. JSTOR 23048902.
  21. ^Aldrich, Keith (January 1, 1975).The Library of Greek Mythology.Lawrence, Kan: Coronado Press. pp. 1–4.ISBN0872910725.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Works cited[edit]

External links[edit]

Library resourcesabout
Bibliotheca
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