Here follows the second installment of the Priceton University Library Catalogue. Books in II cover the 2500-year span of the civilization of Ancient Greece and Rome, beginning in the Early Helladic, through the Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, down to the Fall of the Roman Empire. Pagan and Hellenistic Jewish sources are included; Early Christian texts will be listed in BIBLIOTHECA III (The Middle Ages). Most of the primary texts are collected in the Loeb Classical Library (hereafter, LCL), with Greek/Latin and English on facing pages. Other notable translations are sometimes included. In what follows, primary authors are in upper case, secondary in lower. Latin texts and secondary sources will follow in subsequent postings.
II. Ancient Greece and Rome
i. Greece: General; Dictionaries and Companions; Language; History; Geography; Literature; Art and Architecture
General
Durant, The Life of Greece (1939)
Kitto, The Greeks (1951)
Jaeger, Paedeia: The Ideals of Greek Culture (1939)
Webster, Everyday Life in Classical Athens (1969)
Tarn, Hellenistic Civilisation (1961)
Warrington, Everyman’s Classical Dictionary (1961)
Smith, Smaller Classical Dictionary (1910)
Language
Crosby and Schaeffer, An Introduction to Greek (1928)
Liddell and Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1871)
History HERODOTUS of Halicarnassus (c. 484-424 B.C.), History (Persian Wars), ed. Godley (LCL)
The History of Herodotus, tr. Rawlinson (1858)
THUCYDIDES (c. 464-401), Peloponnesian Wars, ed. Smith (LCL)
The Peloponnesian War, tr. Finley (1951)
XENOPHON (c. 430-356), Hellenica, Anabasis, ed. Brownson and Todd (LCL)
Hellenica, tr. Warner (1966)
Anabasis, tr. Rouse (1959)
PLUTARCH of Chaeronea (c. 46-120 A.D.), Parallel Lives, ed. Perrin (LCL)
Bury, A History of Greece (1900)
Samuel, The Mycenaeans in History (1966)
Cary, A History of the Greek World: 323-146 B.C. (1932)
Geography
STRABO (c. 63 B.C.- 21 A.D.), Geography, ed. Jones (LCL)
PAUSANIAS (2nd A.D.), Periegesis (Itinerary of Greece), ed. Jones and Wycherley (LCL)
Guide to Greece, tr. Levi (1971)
Thomson, Everyman’s Classical Atlas (1961)
Literature (General)
Murray, The Literature of Ancient Greece (1897)
Rose, A Handbook of Greek Literature (1934)`
Harvey, The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1937)
Epic
HOMER (c. 800 B.C.?), Iliad; Odyssey, ed. Murray (LCL)
Iliad, tr. Lattimore (1951)
Odyssey, tr. Fitzgerald (1963)
Lord, The Singer of Tales (1965)
Bowra, Heroic Poetry (1952)
Beye, The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Epic Tradition (1966)
Kirk, Homer and the Epic (1965)
Steiner and Fagles, eds., Homer: A Collection of Critical Essays (1962)
HESIOD (c. 700?), Works and Days; Theogony; Catalogues of Women, etc., ed. Evelyn-White (LCL)
PSEUDO-HOMER (The “Homeridae”, c. 750-550?), The “Epic Cycle” (Thebais; Epigoni; Cypria; Aethiopis; Little Iliad; Sack of Ilium; Returns, etc.), ed. Evelyn-White, supra
Homeric Hymns (including Hymn to Demeter), ed. Evelyn-White, supra
APOLLONIUS RHODIUS (c. 295-230), Argonautica, ed. Seaton (LCL)
Apollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of Argo, tr. Rieu (1959)
Lyric
ARCHILOCHUS of Paros (c. 680-640)
SEMONIDES of Amorgos (mid 7th)
TYRTAEUS of Sparta (c. 650-600)
MIMNERMUS of Colophon (c. 650-600)
ALCMAN of Sparta (late 7th)
STESICHORUS of Himera (late 7th – mid 6th)
SOLON of Athens (c. 630-550)
SAPPHO of Mytilene (c. 620-550)
ALCAEUS of Mytilene (last quarter 7th-mid 6th)
HIPPONAX of Ephesos (c. 600-550)
PHOCYLIDES of Miletus (mid 6th)
XENOPHANES of Colophon (c. 570-480)
ANACREON of Teos (c. 560-490)
SIMONIDES of Ceos (c. 556-568)
THEOGNIS of Megara (c. 550-500)
PINDAR of Thebes (c. 522-446)
BACCHYLIDES of Ceos (first half 5th)
Anthologia Lyrica Graeca, ed. Diehl
Elegy and Iambus, ed. Edmonds (LCL)
Lyra Graeca, ed Edmonds (LCL)
Greek Lyrics, tr. Lattimore (1949)
The Love Songs of Sappho, tr. Roche (1963)
The Odes of Pindar, tr. Lattimore (1947)
Bowra, Greek Lyric Poetry (1961)
Drama
AESCHYLUS (525-456), Oresteia: Agamemnon, Libation Bearers, Eumenides; Suppliant Maidens; Persians; Seven against Thebes; Prometheus Bound, ed. Smyth (LCL)
SOPHOCLES (496-406), Theban Trilogy: Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone; Ajax; Women of Trachis; Electra; Philoctetes, ed. Storr (LCL)
EURIPIDES (485-407), Alcestis; Medea; Heracleidae; Hippolytus; Cyclops; Heracles; Iphigenia in Tauris; Helen; Electra; Phoenician Women; Bacchae; Hecuba; Andromache; Trojan Women; Ion; Rhesus; Supplicant Women; Orestes; Iphigenia in Aulis, ed. Way (LCL)
The Complete Greek Tragedies, tr. Grene and Lattimore (1953f.)
ARISTOPHANES (445-380), Acharnians; Knights; Clouds; Wasps; Peace; Birds; Lysistrata; Thesmophoriazusai; Frogs; Ecclesiaszusai; Ploutos, ed. Rogers (LCL)
Aristophanes: Plays, tr. Dickinson (1957)
Harsh, A Handbook of Classical Drama (1944)
Kitto, Greek Tragedy (1939)
Murray, Aeschylus: The Creator of Tragedy (1940)
Euripides and His Age (1918)
Bowra, Sophoclean Tragedy (1944)
Waldock, Sophocles the Drmatist 1951)
McCall, ed., Aeschylus: A Collection of Critical Essays (1972)
Woodard, ed., Sophocles: A Collection of Critical Essays (1966)
Segal, ed., Euripides: A Collection of Critical Essays (1970)
O’Brien, ed., Twentieth Century Interpretations of Oedipus Rex (1968)
Pastoral
THEOCRITUS (c. 310-), Idylls
MOSCHUS (c. 150), Idylls
BION (c. 100), Idylls (including Lament for Adonis)
The Greek Bucolic Poets (Theocritus, Bion, Moschus), ed. Edmonds (LCL)
Theocritus, Bion, & Moschus, tr. Lang (1880)
Romance
DIO CHRYSOSTOM of Prusa (40-120 A.D.), The Hunters of Euboea
XENOPHON of Ephesus (2nd or 3rd A.D.), An Ephesian Tale
LONGUS (3rd A.D), Daphnis and Chloe
HELIODORUS (3rd A.D.), Aethiopica
ACHILLES TATIUS (3rd A.D.), Clitopho and Leucippe
Longus: Daphnis and Chloe, ed. Edmonds (LCL)
Achilles Tatius, ed. Gaselee (LCL)
The Greek Romances of Heliodorus, Longus, and Achilles Tatius, tr. Smith (1855)
Three Greek Romances, tr. Hadas (1953)
Satirical Fiction
LUCIAN of Samasota (c. 125-190 A.D.), including Zeus Indisposed; Menippus in Hell; Icaromenippus, etc., ed. Harmon. LCL
Lucian: Satirical Sketches, tr. Turner (1961)
Art and Architecture
Richter, A Handbook of Greek Art (1959)
Boardman, Greek Art (1964)
Robertson, Greek and Roman Architecture (1929)
Lawrence, Greek Architecture (1957)
Scranton, Greek Architecture (1972)
ii. Greek and Roman Mythology and Religion
The Myths
The Greek myths have been collected, recounted, alluded to, and commented upon throughout the entire corpus of Greek and Roman literature (including the philosophers and moralists). The wellsprings of Greek mythology are HOMER’s Iliad and Odyssey, and HESIOD’s Theogony and Works and Days. Of special note among the post-Homeric poets are the Homeric Hymns, PINDAR, and the dramatists AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES, EURIPIDES, and ARISTOPHANES. (See BIBLIOTHECA II, i, supra.) Amongst the Latin poets, the most important are OVID (infra) and
VIRGIL (PUBLIUS VERGILIUS MARO) (70-19 B.C.), Aeneid, Eclogues, Georgics, ed. Fairclough, LCL (1916)
On the nature of myth and its relation to history and philosophy, see
ARISTOTLE of Stageira (384-322 B.C.), Poetics, ed. Rhys Roberts, LCL (1965)
Aristotle, Horace, Longinus: Classical Literary Criticism, tr. Dorsch (1965)
On the varieties and types of fabula, see the opening chapters of
MACROBIUS (c. 400 A.D.), Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, ed. Eyssenhardt (1893)
Macrobius: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, tr. Stahl (1952)
The following are the most important ancient anthologies of the myths:
OVID (PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO) (43 B.C.-A.D. 17), The Metamorphoses, ed. Miller, LCL (1916)
Ovid: The Metamorphoses, tr. Gregory (1958)
HYGINUS (first half of 1st A.D.), Fabularum Liber
Hyginus: The Myths, tr. Grant (1960)
APOLLODORUS (2nd A.D.?), Bibliotheca
Apollodorus: The Library, ed. Frazer, LCL (1921)
Apollodorus: The Library, tr. Hard (1997)
On classical mythology and religion, see Frazer, Jung, Rank, Raglan, Eliade, Campbell, Graves, Gaster, Robertston, Weston, et. al., BIBLIOTHECA I, The Ancient Near East, supra. Also:
Kirk, The Nature of Greek Myths (1974)
Rose, Handbook of Greek Mythology (1928)
Grant, Myths of the Greeks and Romans (1962)
Hamilton, Mythology (1940)
Graves, The Greek Myths, 2 vols. (1955)
Guthrie, In the Beginning: Some Greek Views on the Origins of Life and the Early State of Man (1957)
Ancient Allegorical Commentaries on Homer and Classical Mythology
These, too, can be found scattered throughout the entire ancient literary corpus. Allegorical commentary was an ongoing literary, theological, and philosophical project, pursued in conjunction with the ancient Greek critique and defence of Homer, poetry, and the Olympian gods, and the efforts of the philosophers (especially Platonists and Stoics) to “discover” their own doctrines in the sacred Homeric texts.
For two seminal critiques of Olympian religion and mythology, see
XENOPHANES of Elea (Pre-Socratic philosopher; fl. 540-500 B.C.). Fragemets collected in
Kirk and Raven, The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with and Selection of Texts (1962)
Robinson, An Introduction to Early Greek Philosophy: The Chief Fragements and Ancient Testimony, with Connecting Commentary (1968). Texts in English
PLATO (428-348 B.C.), Republic, passim
Platonis Opera, ed. Burnet, 5 vols. (1900- 1907)
The Dialogues of Plato, tr. Jowett, 5 vols. (1892)
The most important ancient commentaries on Homer are:
PSEUDO-HERACLITUS (1st A.D.), Homeric Allegories
Quaestiones Homericae, ed. Oelmann (1910)
Allegories d’Homere, ed. and tr. Buffiere (1962)
NUMENIUS of Apamea (Neo-Pythagorean philosopher; late 2nd A.D.), Fragments, ed. and tr. Des Places (1973)
Numenius’ commentaries on Homer survive in the notices of
PORPHYRY (b. 233 A.D.), De antro nympharum, in Opuscula selecta, ed. Nauck (1886)
Ibid., tr. Taylor (1823)
Ibid., tr. in an appendix in Buffiere, Les mythes d’Homere et la pensee Grecque (1956)
For Stoic interpretations of the Olympian gods and Homeric theology, see
CICERO, MARCUS TULLIUS (106-43 B.C.), De natura deorum, ed. Rackham, LCL (1933)
CORNUTUS (1st A.D.), Theologiae graecae compendium, ed. Lang (1881)
For Neo-Platonic interpretations of the myths, see
MACROBIUS, Saturnalia and Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, op. cit.
For Neo-Platonic commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid, see
SERVIUS HONORATUS, MARCUS (4th A.D.), Commentarii in Virgilium, ed. Leon (1826)
Homeric commentary was also the stock-in-trade of the orators, of whom the following are of note:
MAXIMUS OF TYRE (Middle Platonist philosopher; 2nd A.D.), The Philosophical Orations, tr. Trapp (1997)
DIO CHRYSOSTOM (2nd A.D.), Discourses, tr. Cohoon, LCL, 5 vols. (1932)
See also the moral essays of CICERO, PLUTARCH, and SENECA, infra.
On ancient allegorical interpretations of the myths, see:
Buffiere, Les mythes d’Homere, op. cit.
Pepin, Mythe et Allegorie: Les origines grecques et les contestations judeo-chretiennes (1976)
Lamberton, Homer the Theologian (1986)
Allen, Mysteriously Meant: The Rediscovery of Pagan Symbolism and Allegorical Interpretation in the Renaissance (1970)
Seznec, The Survival of the Pagan Gods (1953)
Wind, Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance (1958)
Bush, Pagan Myth and Christian Tradition in English Poetry (1968)
Greek and Roman Religion
Once again, discussions of the nature of Greek religion, religious doctrines, and practices are scattered throughout the writings of the Greeks and Romans. The following extensive theological treatments are of note:
VARRO, MARCUS TERENTIUS (116-27 B.C.), Antiquitates Rerum Humanarum et Divinarum, fragments preserved in
ST. AUGUSTINE of Hippo (354-430 A.D.), Civitas Dei, VI, VII
The City of God, ed. McCracken et al., LCL, 7 vols. (1957-1972)
CICERO, De natura deorum, op. cit.
PLUTARCH (45-120 A.D.), Isis and Osiris, The E at Delphi, The Oracles at Delphi, and other essays, in Moralia, ed. Babbitt, LCL, 15 vols. (1936f.)
DIO CHRYSOSTOM, especially On Man’s First Conception of God (Discourse 12), op. cit.
PSEUDO-ARISTOTLE (2nd A.D.), De Mundo, ed. Forster (1914). Also in
The Works of Aristotle, ed. Ross, vol. III (1931)
SALLUSTIUS (Neo-Platonist philosopher; late 4th A.D.), On the Gods and the World, tr. in an appendix in Murray, Five Stages of Greek Religion (1912)
MACROBIUS, op. cit.
Of the following modern studies of Greek religion, Harrison, Cornford, Murray, and Guthrie are essential reading:
Rose, Religion in Greece and Rome (1946)
Hus, Greek and Roman Religion (1962)
Guthrie, The Greeks and their Gods (1949)
In the Beginning, op. cit.
Murray, Five Stages, op. cit.
Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903)
Themis (1912)
Cornford, From Religion to Philosophy: A Study in the Origins of Western Speculation (?)
Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational (1951)
The Orphic Cult
The oldest Orphic writings date to the early 6th century B.C., contemporary with the rise of the Pre-Socratics. Orphic influence is prominent in PYTHAGORAS (second half 6th B.C.), his contemporary PHERECYDES, and EMPEDOCLES (c. 490-430). (See Robinson, and Kirk and Raven, op. cit.) Some of the Odes of PINDAR show the afflatus of Orphism. For Orphic eschatology, see PLATO, passim, but especially the myths relating to the underworld. “reincarnation”, and transmigration of souls in the Phaedo, Phaedrus, Gorgias, and Republic (the “myth of Er”). See also, VIRGIL, Aeneid VI. For Orphic cosmogony, see HESIOD, Theogony, and APOLLONIUS RHODIUS, Argonautica (I).
The ancient Orphic texts are collected in
Kern, ed., Orphicorum Fragmenta (1922)
The Hymns of Orpheus, tr. Hogart (1993)
On the Orphic Movement, see especially
Guthrie, The Greeks and their Gods, op. cit.
Orpheus and Greek Religion (1952)
Wind, Pagan Mysteries in the Renaissance (1958)
The Mysteries
The locus classicus for the Eleusinian Mysteries is
PS.-HOMER, Hymn to Demeter, op. cit.
For the Dionysian, see
EURIPIDES, The Bacchae, op. cit.
PLUTARCH, Isis and Osiris, op. cit.
On the mysteries, see Frazer, Jung, Eliade, Campbell, Gaster, Weston, Robertson, Cumont, James, et. al., BIBLIOTHECA I, The Ancient Near East, supra.
Also:
Jung and Kerenyi, Essays on a Science of Mythology: The Myth of the Divine Child and the Mysteries of Eleusis (1949)
Mylonas, Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries (1961)
Late Antique Mystery Religion; Paganism and Christianity
See Frazer, Jung, etc., as above, and also:
Rahner, Greek Myths and Christian Mystery (1957)
Clemen, Der Einfluss der Mysterienreligionen auf das alteste Christentum (1913)
Simon, Hercule et le Christianisme (1955)
Dodds, Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety (1965)
Bultmann, Primitive Christianity in its Contemporary Setting (1972)
Wind, op. cit.
The Hermetic Tradition and Pagan Gnosticism
The CORPUS HERMETICUM is collected in
Hermes Tresmegiste, ed. Nock and tr. Festugiere, 4 vols. (1945-54)
Pagan Gnostic texts, including Hypostasis of the Archons, On the Origin of the World, Exegesis of the Soul, Asclepius, Zostrianos, The Thought of Norea, and Allogenes can be found in
The Nag Hammadi Library, tr. Robinson (1977)
Others, including “The Hymn of the Pearl”, and the Hermetic Poimandres, are translated in
Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity (1958)
Texts relating to Gnosticism as a Christian heresy will be listed in BIBLIOTHECA III.