Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)

The title page of Étienne Clavier's 1805 edition and French translation of the Bibliotheca

The Bibliotheca (Ancient Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη, Bibliothēkē, 'Library'), is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The work is commonly described as having been written by Apollodorus (or sometimes Pseudo-Apollodorus), a result of its false attribution to the 2nd-century BC scholar Apollodorus of Athens.

General overview

The Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus is a compressive collection of myths, genealogies and histories that presents a continuous history of Greek mythology from the Theogony to the death of Odysseus. The narratives are organized by genealogy, chronology and geography in summaries of myth. The myths are sourced from a wide number of sources like early epic, early Hellenistic poets, and mythographical summaries of tales. Homer and Hesiod are the most frequently named along with other poets. Oral tradition and the plays written by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides also factored into the compilation of myth in the Bibliotheca. The Bibliotheca was 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 the Bibliotheca. The text is largely intact except for the last section, ending in the middle of the narrative of Theseus. In the later scholarship it is used as a reference material.

List of myths

Source:

1. Theogony

• Ouranos, Ge, and the birth of the Titans.
• The revolt of the Titans and the rule of Cronos.
• The birth of Zeus and his war against Cronos and the Titans.
• Descendants of the Titans.
• Descendants of Pontos and Ge.
• Various children of Zeus and Hera; children of the Muses.
• The births of Hephaistos and Athene.
• Artemis and Apollo.
• The children of Poseidon; Demeter and Persephone.
• The revolt of the Giants.
• The revolt of Typhon.

2. The Deucalionids

• Prometheus and early man.
• Deucalion, Pyrrha, and the great flood.
• The immediate descendants of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
• Ceux and Alcyone; The Aloads; Endymion.
• Early Aetolian genealogies; Evenos and Marpessa.
• Oineus, Meleager, and the hunt for the Calydonian boar.
• The later history of Oineus, and the birth and exile of Tydeus.
• Athamas, Ino, and the origin of the golden fleece.
• Sisyphos, Salmoneus, and other sons of Aiolos.
• Pelias and Neleus.
• The earlier history of Bias and Melampous.
• Admetos and Alcestis.

3. Jason and the Argonauts

• Pelias orders Jason to fetch the golden fleece.
• Catalogue of the Argonauts.
• The women of Lemnos; in the land of the Doliones.
• The loss of Hylas and abandonment of Heracles.
• Polydeuces, and Amycos; Phineus and the Harpies; the Clashing Rocks.
• Jason, Medea, and the seizure of the fleece.
• The murder of Apsyrtos and journey to Circe.
• To the land of the Phaeacians.
• Anaphe; Talos in Crete.
• The return to Iolcos and murder of Pelias.
• The later history of Medea.

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

• The early descendants of Inachos.
• The wanderings of lo, and division of the Inachid line.
• Aigyptos, Danaus, and the Danaids.
• Proitos and Acrisios divide the Argolid.
• Bias, Melampus|Melampous, and the daughters of Proitos.
• Excursus: the story of Bellerophon.
• Danae and the birth of Perseus.
• Perseus fetches the Gorgon's head (Medusa)
• Perseus and Andromeda.
• The later history of Perseus.
• The immediate descendants of Perseus.
• The exile of Amphitryon.

5. Heracles, and the Heraclids

• Amphitryon in Thebes, and the war against the Teleboans.
• The birth and early life of Heracles
• Heracles and the Minyans; his first marriage, and madness.
• First labour: the Nemean lion.
• Second labour: the Lernaean hydra.
• Third labour: the Cerynitian hind.
• Fourth labour: the Erymanthian boar.
• Fifth labour: the cattle of Augeias.
• Sixth labour: the Stymphalian birds.
• Seventh labour: the Cretan bull.
• Eighth labour: the mares of Diomedes.
• Ninth labour: the belt of Hippolyte.
• Tenth labour: the cattle of Geryon.
• Eleventh labour: the apples of the Hesperides.
• Twelfth labour: the capture of Cerberos.
• The murder of Iphitos and Heracles' enslavement to Omphale.
• The first sack of Troy.
• Campaigns in the Peloponnese.
• Marriage to Deianeira; Heracles in northern Greece
• The sack of Oechalia; 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 the Minotaur
• Catreus 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 and Oedipus.

7. The Theban Wars

• Eteocles and the exile of Polyneices to Argos.
• Prelude in Argos: Amphiaraos and Eriphyle.
• The advance against Thebes and stationing of the champions.
• Excursus: the earlier history of Teiresias.
• The Theban victory and its aftermath.
• The Epigoni and the Second Theban War.
• The later history of Alcmaion.

8. Arcadian mythology (the Pelasgids)

• Lycaon and his sons.
• Callisto and the birth of Arcas; early Arcadian genealogies.
• Atalante.

9. Laconian and Trojan mythology (the Atlantids)

• The Pleiades.
• The birth and early exploits of Hermes.
• Early Lacedaimonian (Spartan) genealogies; the story of Asclepios.
• Tyndareus, Leda, and their children.
• Helen and her suitors.
• The fate of the Dioscuri.
• Early Trojan mythology.
• Priam, Hecuba, and their children.

10. The Asopids

• Aiacos in Aegina.
• The exile of Peleus and Telamon.
• Peleus in Phthia, Calydon, and Iolcos.
• The marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and early life of Achilles.

11. The Kings of Athens

• 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 of Theseus.
• The war with Minos and the origin of the tribute to the Minotaur.
• The labours of Theseus, and his arrival at Athens.

Epitome

• Theseus, Ariadne, and the killing of the Minotaur.
• Excursus: Daidalos and Icaros, and the death of Minos.
• Theseus and the Amazons; Phaedra and Hippolytos.
• Theseus and Peirithoos.

12. The Pelopids

• Tantalos.
• Pelops and Hippodameia.
• Atreus and Thyestes.
• Agamemnon and Menelaos.

13. The Trojan war

• The judgement of Paris and abduction of Helen.
• Agamemnon assembles the Greek army.
• The attack on Mysia; 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 of Achilles (a summary of the Iliad).
• Penthesileia the Amazon; Memnon and the death of Achilles; the suicide of Ajax.
• Philoctetes and the death of Paris; conditions for the fall of Troy.
• The wooden horse.
• The sack of Troy.

14. The returns

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

Authorship

A certain "Apollodorus" is indicated as author on some surviving manuscripts, this Apollodorus has been mistakenly identified with Apollodorus of Athens (born c. 180 BCE), a student of Aristarchus of Samothrace who also worked in Alexandria. It is known—from references in the minor scholia on Homer—that Apollodorus of Athens did leave a similar comprehensive repertory on mythology, in the form of a verse chronicle. 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. For chronological reasons, Apollodorus of Athens could not have written the book, the author of the Bibliotheca is at times referred to as the "Pseudo-Apollodorus", to distinguish him from Apollodorus of Athens. Modern works often simply call him "Apollodorus". The form of the text that has survived is generally placed in late 1st or second century BCE.

Manuscript tradition

The first mention of the work is by Photius, patriarch of Constantinople in 9th century CE, in his "account of books read". The last section of the Bibliotheca which 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 the Trojan War. Byzantine author John Tzetes, who lived in Constantinople in the twelfth century, often cited the Bibliotheca in his writings. It was almost lost in the 13th century, surviving in one now-incomplete manuscript, which was copied for Cardinal Bessarion in the 15th century. Any surviving manuscripts of the Bibliotheca are descended from a fourteenth century manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, in Paris.

Printed editions

The first printed edition of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus was published in Rome in 1555. Benedetto Egio (Benedictus Aegius) of Spoleto, was the first to divide the text in three books. Hieronymus Commelinus published an improved text at Heidelberg, 1559. The first text based on comparative manuscripts was that of Christian Gottlob Heyne, Göttingen, 1782–83. Subsequent editions Jurgen Muller (1841) and Richard Wagner (1894) collated earlier manuscripts. In 1921 Sir James George Frazer published an epitome of the book by conflating two manuscript summaries of the text, which included the lost section.

Scholarship

The Bibliotheca has been referenced in scholarship throughout history. As a mythographical work it has influenced scholarship on Greek mythology. An epigram recorded by the important intellectual Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople expressed its purpose:

It has the following not ungraceful epigram: 'Draw your knowledge of the past from me and read the ancient tales of learned lore. Look neither at the page of Homer, nor of elegy, nor tragic muse, nor epic strain. Seek not the vaunted verse of the cycle; 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 the Bibliotheca in the field. Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries BCE, the Bibliotheca was referred to in scholarship about Ancient Greece most often found in letters from scholars of the time. Much of the modern scholarship on the work has focused on the interpretation of its manuscripts by various translators and compilers of the Bibliotheca in later editions. 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 the Bibliotheca are also studied in the modern scholarship. The question of authorship is another area of study that has shaped the interpretation of the work throughout history.

See also

• Ancient Greece portal

References

Works cited

• Aldrich, Keith (1975), The Library of Greek Mythology, Lawrence, Kansas: Coronado Press, ISBN 0872910725
• Diller, Aubrey (1935), "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus", Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 66: 296–313, doi:10.2307/283301, JSTOR 283301
• Diller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 in Studies in Greek Manuscript Tradition, edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.
• Dowden, Ken. 1992. The Uses of Greek Mythology. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-06135-3. Internet Archive.
• Fletcher, K. F. B. 2008. "Systematic Genealogies in Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and the Exclusion of Rome from Greek Myth." Classical Antiquity 27:59–91. JSTOR 10.1525/ca.2008.27.1.59.
• Hard, Robin. 1997. Apollodorus: The Library of Greek Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-53632-0.
• Hard, Robin (2004), The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology" (7th ed.), London: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-18636-0
• Higbie, Carolyn. 2007. "Hellenistic Mythographers." Pp. 237–54 in The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology, edited by R. D. Woodard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Huys, Marc. 1997. "Euripides and the Tales from Euripides: Sources of Apollodoros' Bibliotheca?" Rheinisches Museum 140 308–27.
• Kenens, Ulrike. 2013. "Text and Transmission of Ps.-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca: Avenues for Future Research." Pp. 95–114 in Writing Myth: Mythography in the Ancient World, edited by S. M. Trzaskoma and R. S. Smith. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.
• Kenens, Ulrike. 2011. "The Sources of Ps.-Apollodorus' Library: A Case Study." Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica 97:129–46. JSTOR 23048902.
• Scully, Stephen. 2015. "Echoes of the Theogony in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods." In Hesiod's 'Theogony', From Near Eastern Creation Myths to 'Paradise Lost'. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Simpson, Michael, ed. (1976), Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The "Library" of Apollodorus, Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, ISBN 978-0-870-23206-0
• Smith, R. Scott; Trzaskoma, Stephen M., eds. (2007), Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing, ISBN 978-0-87220-820-9
• Trzaskoma, Stephen. 2013. "Citation, Organization and Authorial Presence in Ps.-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca." Pp. 75–94 in Writing Myth: Mythography in the Ancient World, edited by S. M. Trzaskoma and R. S. Smith. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.
• Trzaskoma, Stephen M. and R. Scott Smith. 2008. "Hellas in the Bibliotheke of Apollodorus." Philologus 152(1):90–6. Online version at De Gruyter.

External links

•  Greek Wikisource has original text related to this article: (Ψευδο-)Ἀπολλόδωρος
• Apollodorus The Library translated by J. G. Frazer
• Works by Apollodorus at Perseus Digital Library
• Mythographoi. Scriptores poetiace historiae graeci, Antonius Westermann (ed.), Brunsvigae sumptum fecit Georgius Westermann, 1843, pagg. 1-123.
• Apollodori Bibliotheca, Immanuel Bekker (ed.), Lipsiae sumptibus et typis B. G. Teubneri, 1854.
• Mythographi graeci, Richardus Wagner (ed.), vol. 1, Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1894: pp. 1-169 (the epitome in pp. 171-237).
• Apollodorus, The Library translated by J. G. Frazer
• Apollodorus the Mythographer
• Online text: Apollodorus The Library translated by J. G. Frazer (condensed text)
• Michels, Johanna Astrid (2022). Agenorid Myth in the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus: A Philological Commentary of Bibl. III.1-56 and a Study Into the Composition and Organization of the Handbook. De Gruyter. ISBN 9783110610529. Retrieved 2024-08-25.