Maurizio, 'Classical Mythology: Images and Insights', Bryn Mawr Classical Review 9510
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/bmcr/bmcr-9510-maurizio-classical
@@@@95.10.16, Harris/Platzner, Classical Mythology
Stephen L. Harris and Gloria Platzner, Classical Mythology:
Images and Insights. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1995. Pp. xxi +
1065. $37.95. ISBN 1-55934-146-7.
Reviewed by Lisa Maurizio and Brendon Reay --
Stanford University
maurizio@ or brendon@leland.stanford.edu
David Frauenfelder, reviewing Barry Powell's Classical
Myth in a recent issue of BMCR (95.5.3), noted that
"it is something of a surprise that so few new comprehensive
textbooks have emerged to challenge the hegemony of Morford and
Lenardon's Classical Mythology" (hereafter M.&L.). The
field of contenders is now becoming crowded, with Powell, Carl
Ruck and Danny Staples's The World of Classical Myth: Gods and
Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes (Durham, 1994),
Hypermyth (Salt Lake City: Hermes, 1993), Richard P.
Martin's Classical Myth and its Context (Berkeley and Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 1996) with a comparative
emphasis, and the present ambitious volume, Classical
Mythology: Images and Insights by Stephen L. Harris and
Gloria Platzner (H.&P.). M.&L., now in its fifth edition and
linked via Hypercard to Harvard's Perseus Project, has become the
benchmark for textbooks on classical mythology in the U.S. and is
thus the text with which we compare H.&P. in this review.
H.&P. is a long book, roughly 400 pages longer than M.&L., but
not larger, squeezed by virtue of its 10-pt type between covers
that reproduce the M.&L. "footprint". Portable, but a bit hard on
the eyes. H.&P. consists of 23 chapters organized into five
parts. A general discussion of myth and its interpretation ("The
Universality of Myth"), is followed by a presentation that
replicates the historical chronology of the ancient sources: "The
Preclassical World of Gods and Heroes", "The World of Classical
Tragedy", "The World of Roman Myth", and "The Western World's
Transformations of Myth". A glossary, a select bibliography keyed
to individual chapters, and an index round out the volume. Each
chapter is organized clearly and identically: a single paragraph
summary of the chapter's "key themes" precedes the main
discussion and presentation of the ancient source(s), which are
followed at the end by suggested "questions for discussion and
review", "works cited" (where there are any), and "recommended
reading". While the fifth edition of M.&L. contains two sections
of attractive color plates and numerous black and white photos,
H.&P. have more photos (black and white only), many of which are
of archaeological sites and finds. Finally, H.&P. is complemented
by an Instructor's Manual and Test Bank by Nina
Rosenstand, which features an overview of main points of each
chapter, and supplies true/false, multiple-choice, and essay
questions.
In part one, "The Universality of Myth", H.&P. define myth,
outline early Greek history, describe ancient sources for Greek
myths, and overview seminal interpretations. In many ways, their
treatment of these topics varies little from M.&L.'s, which is
not to say that they are identical either. M.&L. fit all this
information into an introduction; H.&P. take two chapters. While
M.&L. give one brief paragraph on the differences between myth,
saga, legend, and folktale, H.&P. discuss these differences, as
well as the orality of Greek myths (though M.&L. eventually get
to this point, H.&P. are more thorough), the similarity of myths
to dreams, and some of distinctive qualities of Greek myth
(humanism, individualism and competitiveness). Similiar in both
books is their run-down of sources--Homer, the hymns, tragedy,
Apollodorus--with one to five paragraphs on each. While M.&L.
list more interpretative approaches than H.&P., H.&P. are more
thorough when explaining the approaches they have selected. H.&P.
also organize their material more thoughtfully, dividing
"externalist" theories--those that view myth as explanation--from
psychological theories. What one wishes for in both texts,
however, is a more general discussion of the relationship of myth
and society, especially Greek religion, beyond a perfunctory
account of myth and ritual.
H.&P.'s second part, "The Preclassical World of Gods and
Heroes" covers Hesiod, Homer and the Homeric Hymns, and is
followed by "The World of Classical Tragedy", which is introduced
by a whole chapter on the nature of tragedy. Whether this
division between the preclassical and classical world is more
successful than M.&L.'s thematic division between myth/divinities
and sagas/heroes will perhaps depend on how each instructor
conceives their course. The benefit of this approach is clear
enough: students will gain a good sense of Greek literary history
and the nature of the sources of Greek myth. Some of the
difficulty of this arrangement is pointed up by the existence of
two chapters on Dionysus * one in the preclassical part and one
in the classical. In addition, it is not evident why the
gods/goddesses should be restricted to the preclassical part.
This choice has the unfortunate consequence of suggesting that
worship of such divinities is more pronounced in the earlier
period.
In their first part on preclassical world, H.&P. wisely
provide a complete translation of the Theogony (Apostolos
N. Athanassakis's), which they introduce by highlighting some of
its major themes. In M.&L., the Theogony is not quoted in
its entirety, and is confusingly interwoven in their discussion
of this text. As in the first part, H.&P. highlight fewer themes
than M.&L. and discuss them more thoroughly. Of particular note
is their treatment of Aphrodite's birth, Athena's birth (which is
followed by a host of clear, well marked interpretations), and
Pandora's creation. Indeed, one of the distinguishing marks of
H.&P.'s treatment of myth in general is their thoughtful
discussion of how gender plays a significant role in Greek myth.
Without fanfare and polemics they often discuss myth in terms of
the gendered dynamics of its characters and do more for advancing
the importance of such considerations than M.&L. manage in their
brief and dismissive paragraph on feminism in their opening
survey of approaches. (However, H.&P.'s chapter on the great
goddess, which relies uncritically on the work of Gimbrutas, may
be the glaring exception to this characterization of their
work--a chapter which nonetheless might provide fodder for
interesting class discussion.)
While M.&L. provide a substantive ten to forty pages on about
eight different divinities, H.&P. again are more selective and
more thorough. They discuss only the great goddess (a dubious
category), Apollo, Dionysus, and Hades in any significant detail.
Despite being roughly one thousand pages, H.&P. devote only(!)
one third to the gods/goddesses. We found the limited attention
to divinities a significant loss, especially because their
chapter on Apollo, for example, is quite successful. It contains
a significant amount of material on Delphi and artfully connects
Greek myth with Greek institutions and ways of thinking, even if
one might want to argue with some of their interpretations (for
example, they link Apollo's exile for slaying Python with his
"moral responsibility" and follow, more or less, the Nietzschean
dichotomy between reason and irrationality to explain the
presence of both Dionysus and Apollo at Delphi). Indeed, M.&L.
offer less interpretative analysis here and elsewhere. In the
Apollo chapter at least, this is because M.&L. spend less time on
Delphi than H.&P. do and fill their chapter with excerpts from
Ovid on Apollo's love affairs, which are briefly mentioned in
H.&P. Both include the Homeric Hymn to Pythian Apollo.
Part two concludes with Greek heroes and the Homeric epics.
Chapter 10, "The Hero: Man Divided against Himself," presents a
lucid blend of story summary, the characteristics that mark the
heroes of Greek myth, and an account of heroism (excluding
Perseus) that turns on the contradictory impulses Greek heroes
exhibit: "the fulfillment of their godlike capacity to excel" and
"the expression of their instinctive savagery or violence." We
missed some mention, however brief, of the ritual components of
heroes and hero worship in Greek culture (also absent in M.&L.).
In chapter 11, a summary of the judgement of Paris and the
subsequent events that precipitate the Trojan war segues to more
general remarks: the timelessness of Greek myth, and the uneasy
intersection of the human and divine. Background material about
Homeric epic and brief theme summaries (e.g. "the hero's nature",
"the gods", "the heroic code", "the role of women") introduce the
Iliad. H.&P.'s presentation of the Iliad
underscores one of this text's great advantages over M.&L.: the
inclusion under one cover of larger quantities of ancient sources
in translation. Here, H.&P. present more than 2800 lines of
Fitzgerald's translation of the Iliad, mostly excerpts of
70 or more lines (only book 1 is presented in its entirety)
interspersed with summaries. Chapter 12 presents some 2500 lines
of Mandelbaum's translation of the Odyssey after fine
introductory remarks about Odysseus' particular brand of heroism,
Athena's role in the poem, and "Odysseus and Images of the
Feminine."
H.&P. include eight tragedies (all in their entirety except
The Libation Bearers) in "The World of Classical Tragedy",
the third part of their book. Each tragedy is thoughtfully
introduced and followed by H.&P.'s characteristic questions for
discussion and review. Included are Prometheus Bound,
Oresteia, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus,
Medea, and Bacchants. The incorporation of so many
tragedies under one cover is a welcome feature. However, the
treatments of these plays tend to focus on questions internal to
the text at hand. How these plays pertain to the question of myth
and heroism as it was defined earlier by H.&P. seems lost. In
H.&P.'s account of Medea, for example, she emerges as a strictly
Euripidean creation who bears no relationship to the heroes
discussed earlier. Her story is seen as a critique of "tragic"
heroism, a specifically literary category. No mention is made of
heroism understood as a cultural phenomenon, a topic more
pertinent to a discussion of Medea within the context of Greek
myth. This intensely "literary" emphasis and absence of ritual
and cultic context is a weakness of H.&P.'s section on tragedy
overall. "The World of Classical Tragedy" concludes with a
chapter on Plato, which contains summaries of Aristophanes's
speech from the Symposium and the myth of Atlantis from
the Republic, and Cornford's translations of the myth of
Er and the allegory of the cave from the Republic.
Part four, "The World of Roman Myth", focuses on the Roman
reception and transformation of Greek myth, and includes excerpts
from the Aeneid and Metamorphoses. H.&P. begin with
a thoughtful overview of Roman mythology. While M.&L.'s
introduction to Roman mythology focuses on the who, what and
where of Italic gods, H.&P. provide a fine discussion of how and
why the Romans adapted Greek myths. According to H.&P., the
Romans transformed Greek myth by redefining deities and
emphasizing different ones; by historicizing myth; by
politicizing myth; by reinterpreting myth in light of Roman
ideals. Summaries (why not Livy himself?) of the stories of
Romulus and Remus, and the rape of the Sabine women, illustrate
the results of these transformations. In H.&P.'s discussion,
then, Roman myths emerge not as pale imitations of Greek myths,
but instead as an important, dynamic aspect of Roman
self-invention. The downside to H.&P.'s valuable discussion is
that it loses sight of the Roman blending of indigenous and Greek
material that M.&L.'s account captures.
H.&P.'s inquiry into the hows and whys of Roman mythology
concludes with a brief summary of Roman heroism, a deft
transition to the following chapter's presentation of the
Aeneid. After a brief introduction to Vergil's life and
works, H.&P. compactly sketch the central themes and characters
of the poem, and juxtapose a reading of the poem that insists on
"Rome triumphant" with an "ironic" viewpoint. Some 2700 lines of
Mandelbaum's translation (from books 1, 2, 4, 6, and 12) are
provided; summaries fill in the blanks. We wonder if space
considerations dictated a roughly 2700-line ceiling to excerpts;
how an account of Roman mythology that highlights the
historicization and politicization of myth can omit book 8,
especially Evander's "tour of Rome" and the description of
Aeneas' shield, is otherwise inexplicable. Chapter 21 concludes
H.&P.'s treatment of Roman mythology with a brief account of
Ovid, and themes and characters of the Metamorphoses,
followed by almost 1000 lines excerpted from books 1, 4, and 15
of Humphries's translation.
While the separation of the preclassical and classical world
into two parts presented certain drawbacks, here, H.&P.'s choice
to present their material chronologically clearly has great
value. In showing how Romans invented themselves through their
transformation of Greek myth, H.&P. illustrate how vital myths
and myth-making can be for any people. Their final part on the
"Western World's Transformations of Myth" also makes this point
effectively (as does M.&L.), with its discussion and sampling of
later poems (excerpts from Dante, Milton; complete works by
Sidney, Lyly, Donne, Byron, Tennyson, Yeats, and Auden) and art
(e.g. Botticelli, Titian, Lorrain, Dali, Picasso) on mythological
subjects. A "Select List of Primary Works that Reinterpret
Classical Myths" directs the reader to additional works of
fiction, poetry, drama, painting, sculpture, music, and film.
H.&P. have produced an excellent textbook for teaching
classical mythology. Its chief virtues are its inclusion of large
quantities of ancient sources in a single volume, its balanced
presentation of background information about Greek culture and
literature, its succinct but illuminating discussion of the hows
and whys of Roman mythology, and its stimulating, though not
polemical, interpretive viewpoints. Our issues with it are
registered above. H.&P. rivals the standard that M.&L. has
established; it deserves serious consideration by all teachers of