Sources & reading | Greek Myths

Our three labels

History: what historians, archaeologists, museums and reference works say, based on evidence. Literature: what a named ancient or later text says, with its book and line numbers where it has them. Tradition: customs and beliefs recorded by a named source. Reading notes marked as our own comment are interpretation, not fact.

How we checked

Each labelled sentence on this site was checked against the text of the source it links to, by matching the exact wording in that source. Retellings are our own words; they follow the events in the named text and do not add new events. We read the ancient texts in public-domain English translations: Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns by H. G. Evelyn-White (1914), Apollodorus by J. G. Frazer (1921), Homer’s Odyssey by A. T. Murray and Ovid by Brookes More, on the Theoi Project, with the Perseus Digital Library as a cross-check. Quotations are short.

Primary texts (in translation, free online)

Museums, scholars and reference works

When sources disagree

Greek myths were told and retold for centuries, so the versions often differ. We name each source rather than picking one silently. Neither version is wrong: they are different tellings.

Prometheus: who sets him free, and where?

Literature Hesiod adds that Heracles later killed the eagle and set Prometheus free from his suffering. Hesiod, Theogony 507–616 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, 1914) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature In his version Zeus has Prometheus nailed to Mount Caucasus, and Hercules later sets him free. Apollodorus, Library 1.7.1 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

Pandora: jar or box?

Literature Pandora took the great lid off the jar, and the troubles inside scattered among people. Hesiod, Works and Days 42–105 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, 1914) · Theoi Project ↗

History The jar became a box in the 16th century, when the scholar Erasmus either mistranslated the Greek word or confused it with the box in the story of Cupid and Psyche. Britannica: Pandora ↗

Literature Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 retelling for children, A Wonder Book, tells it with ‘a great box’. Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys (1851; Walter Crane edition), Project Gutenberg ↗

History In a later story the jar held not troubles but blessings, which were lost when it was opened out of curiosity. Britannica: Pandora ↗

Persephone: a third of the year, or half?

Literature Because she has eaten it, she must spend a third part of each year below, and the rest with her mother. Homeric Hymn to Demeter 1–495 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, 1914) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Apollodorus says Pluto gave Persephone a single pomegranate seed to eat, and that Ascalaphus bore witness against her. She had to stay a third of every year with Pluto. Apollodorus, Library 1.5.1–1.5.3 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Ovid’s Jupiter divides the year equally: six months with her mother and six months with her husband. Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.341–571 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Before she goes, Hades secretly gives her a pomegranate seed to eat. Homeric Hymn to Demeter 1–495 (trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, 1914) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature In Ovid, she picks a pomegranate herself and eats seven of its seeds. Ascalaphus saw her and told. Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.341–571 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

Perseus: two sisters or three, and where the head went

Literature Guided by Hermes and Athena, Perseus finds the daughters of Phorcus, three sisters who share one eye and one tooth. He takes them, and gives them back only when the sisters show him the way to the nymphs. Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1–2.4.3 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature In Ovid, Perseus tells of only two sisters, who take turns with a single eye. He took it as one was handing it to the other. Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.604–803 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

History Britannica gives two versions of where Perseus got his equipment. In one, the Graiae (the sisters with one eye) give him the sandals, cap, sword and bag. In another, they only point him to the nymphs, who give him the bag, sandals and helmet, and Hermes gives him the sword. Britannica: Perseus ↗

Literature Back on Seriphus he turns Polydectes and his friends to stone with the Gorgon’s head, then gives the head to Athena, who puts it in the middle of her shield. Apollodorus, Library 2.4.1–2.4.3 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

History According to another account, Perseus buried the head in the marketplace of Argos instead of giving it to Athena. Britannica (Students): Medusa ↗

Medusa: monster or beauty?

History Homer spoke of a single Gorgon. Hesiod made them three sisters: Stheno, Euryale and Medusa. Britannica (Students): Medusa ↗

History In early Greek art the Gorgons were usually shown with wings, snakes for hair and grotesque round faces. Later, Medusa was sometimes shown as very beautiful. Britannica (Students): Medusa ↗

Literature Ovid says Medusa was once very beautiful, famous above all for her hair, and that Minerva changed her hair into snakes. Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.604–803 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

Theseus: fists or a sword, and how often the tribute was paid

Literature Apollodorus says Theseus found the Minotaur in the last part of the Labyrinth and killed it with his fists, then followed the thread back out. Apollodorus, Library, Epitome 1.7–1.11 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

History A black-figure amphora of about 540 BC in the British Museum shows Theseus plunging a sword into the Minotaur’s neck. British Museum: black-figured amphora with Theseus and the Minotaur, 1920,0315.2 ↗

History Britannica says Minos demanded seven Athenian young men and seven young women every ninth year, or, in another version, every year. Britannica: Minotaur ↗

Icarus: the warning

Literature Daedalus warns him to keep to the middle way: if he flies too low the water may hold him back, and if he flies too high the sun may scorch the wings. Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.183–235 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Apollodorus gives the warning differently: Daedalus told Icarus not to fly high, in case the glue melted in the sun, and not near the sea, in case the wings came apart in the damp. Apollodorus, Library, Epitome 1.12–1.15 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

Arachne: why was the goddess angry?

Literature Ovid says the goddess could not find a single flaw in Arachne’s work; even Envy could not fault it. Angry at her skill, the goddess rips the tapestry apart. Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.1–145 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

History Britannica says Ovid’s Metamorphoses is the chief source of Arachne’s story. It gives two reasons for the goddess’s anger: the perfection of Arachne’s work, or, in another reading, its subject. Britannica: Arachne ↗

Midas: the daughter and the ending

Literature Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1851 retelling, The Golden Touch, gives Midas a little daughter, ‘whom nobody but myself ever heard of’, and Hawthorne says he chose to call her Marygold. Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Wonder Book for Girls & Boys (1851; Walter Crane edition), Project Gutenberg ↗

History The endings differ: Britannica notes that in some accounts Midas did not survive his golden touch. Britannica (Scholars): Midas ↗

History Britannica says the first written reference to Midas’ golden touch is in Aristotle’s Politics, in the 4th century BCE, and that the stories were first developed in comic Athenian satyr plays. Britannica (Scholars): Midas ↗

The Cyclopes: smiths, shepherds or builders?

History Hesiod’s Cyclopes are quite different from Homer’s: three divine smiths, Brontes, Steropes and Arges, who forged weapons for the gods. Britannica: Cyclops ↗

History In Homer they are shepherds, and Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon, is the most famous of them. Britannica: Cyclops ↗

History A third tradition said Cyclopes built the huge stone walls of cities such as Tiryns and Mycenae. Britannica: Cyclops ↗

The wooden horse: whose idea, and how many inside?

Literature In the Odyssey, Odysseus asks the singer Demodocus to sing of the wooden horse, which Epeius built with Athena’s help and which Odysseus brought into the citadel of Troy, filled with men. Homer, Odyssey 8.482–520 (trans. A. T. Murray) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Apollodorus, who uses Odysseus’ Latin name, Ulysses, says Ulysses thought of the horse and suggested it to Epeus, an architect, who built it from timber cut on Mount Ida. Fifty of the best Greeks hid inside, he says, but the author of the poem called the Little Iliad says three thousand. Apollodorus, Library, Epitome 5.14–5.19 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

Orpheus: the condition, and the moment he turns

Literature Pluto lets him lead Eurydice up from the valleys of Avernus to the light, on one condition: if he turns his eyes to look at her, he will lose her. Ovid, Metamorphoses 10.1–85 (trans. Brookes More) · Theoi Project ↗

Literature Apollodorus sets a different condition: Orpheus must not turn round until he has reached his own house. Apollodorus, Library 1.3.2 (trans. J. G. Frazer, 1921) · Theoi Project ↗

History In Britannica’s summary, Orpheus turns back as he sees the Sun again, to share his delight with Eurydice. Britannica: Orpheus ↗

History Britannica’s article on Eurydice tells it slightly differently: Orpheus turns as he crosses the threshold, to make sure she is behind him, while she is still in the land of the dead. Britannica: Eurydice ↗

History The medieval English romance Sir Orfeo changed the story and gave it a happy ending. Britannica: Orpheus ↗

The Isle of Man and the three legs

History An archaeologist, R. J. A. Wilson, writes that the three-legged symbol (triskeles) is first found in Sicily in the 7th century BC, and was later given a Medusa head at its centre. R. J. A. Wilson, ‘On the Trail of the Triskeles’, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10.1 (2000), abstract ↗

History He suggests the Isle of Man adopted the triskeles in 1266, and explores a possible link with Sicily only tentatively. The Manx legs wear armour and spurs, not wings. R. J. A. Wilson, ‘On the Trail of the Triskeles’, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 10.1 (2000), abstract ↗

History Manx National Heritage says the Three Legs of Mann appear to have been adopted in the 13th century as the arms of the kings of Mann, and that it is not known for sure why. Manx National Heritage: Three Legs of Mann ↗

No source we checked says that the Three Legs of Mann came from the story of Perseus and Medusa, so we do not say so.

Pictures

All paintings, drawings, prints and object photographs are public domain or CC0 (including The Met’s Open Access images), via Wikimedia Commons. See picture credits. A painting shows how an artist imagined a story; it is not a portrait or a reconstruction.

Corrections

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