greek mythology literature......

[sweetsouthern]

is there a list of greek mythology literature books somewhere?  im trying to plan for a co op class this fall and im trying to find 2 literature books to add to everything else I already have planned and im having a really hard time finding something that most of the kids haven't already read! lol!!  I was originally looking for a love story/tragedy type that's around 300-400 pages in original translation (or could be smaller and we could do 3). I would love any input! thanks so much!

[swimmermom3]

is there a list of greek mythology literature books somewhere?  im trying to plan for a co op class this fall and im trying to find 2 literature books to add to everything else I already have planned and im having a really hard time finding something that most of the kids haven't already read! lol!!  I was originally looking for a love story/tragedy type that's around 300-400 pages in original translation (or could be smaller and we could do 3). I would love any input! thanks so much!

 

I am not exactly sure what you mean. Do you want a book about Greek mythology or do you want an actual work? Have you looked at the list for the Teaching Company's Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature?  If you have covered The Iliad and the Odyssey, then you are predominantly left with plays. You could try Hesiod.

[sweetsouthern]

 

I was looking for an actual work. iliad and odyssey and both done as is metamorphosis, aenid, the orestria triliogy. most of the group has read the Trojan woman and electra (which were my picks lol!). so im trying to find something that will work.

So, sounds like you just want ancient Greco-Roman literature?  I don't know that I would classify works like the Aeneid, and Iliad and the Odyssey as Greek Myths, though the Greek/Roman Gods do show up and wreck havoc for the mortals.  If you want to read pure mythology,  Hesiod, as recommended above is the other major mostly mythological work, but that's just a small slice of their literature.  Personally, I have a hard time sitting down and reading the myths cover to cover, as they seem like just one divine rape after another. With that having been said, I might recommend:

 

Sophocles' Oedipus plays.  Teens especially get into the conflict between personal responsibility and role of the state in Antigone.

Ovid's Heroides might be fun to read after the Orestia, and the trojan war epics. 

 

 

I would also consider ancient non-fiction, which is often overlooked.   In ancient times, the letter was considered an important literary form. Seneca's letters about Stoicism are interesting, as are Pliny's letters about life in the Empire. The histories of Thucydides, Tacitus or Livy are each pretty long, but maybe some excerpts might be worth reading.

[Corraleno]

I highly recommend the Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. It includes selections from many different authors, and covers many of the less well-known stories (e.g. it includes readings from Apollodorus on the Titanomachy and Gigantomachy). It also includes Hesiod's complete Theogony and Works & Days; constellation myths from Eratosthenes; Homeric Hymns; 3 of Horace's Odes; selections from Ovid's Heroides; and excerpts from Lucian, Lucretius, Xenophanes, and many others.

[SilverMoon]

Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is scheduled in the Classical Mythology lectures, as well as parts and pieces of Apollodorus' library, some Homeric Hymns, and more. (My teen is not handy to ask what else.)

 

Three Theban Plays by Sophocles? Fagles' translation is over 400 pages.

 

We added Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis...lol.