Classical Mythology

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

702 THE SURVIVAL OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY


the most famous example of such inspiration is Picasso's long series of works
involving the legend of the Minotaur, which he used (especially in the period
of the Spanish Civil War) to comment on the horror and violence of much of
modern life as he observed it (see the illustration on p. 560).
In recent decades, artists have interpreted the classical myths allegorically,
as we have seen with Noguchi's use of the myth of Orpheus. Many artists have
been influenced by psychological theories, especially those of Freud, and the se-
ries of works by Reuben Nakian on Leda and the Swan is an outstanding exam-
ple. Many artists have returned to literal representations of the myths, includ-
ing David Ligare, whose Landscape for Philemon and Baucis we reproduce as Color
Plate 21, and Milet Andrejevic, whose Apollo and Daphne is set in a city park. A
group of Italian neoclassicsts has revived the mythological tradition in Italy, of
whom Carlo Maria Mariani is the best known. All in all, it can be said that the
classical tradition in mythology will continue to inspire all who care for the cre-
ative use of the imagination.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Allen, Don Cameron. Mysteriously Meant. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,


  1. Deals with the rediscovery of pagan symbolism and the uses of allegory in the
    Renaissance.
    Bush, Douglas. Mythology and the Renaissance: Tradition in English Poetry. Minneapolis:
    University of Minnesota Press, 1932; New York: Norton, 1963. Includes a chrono-
    logical list of poems on mythological subjects.
    . Mythology and the Romantic Tradition in English Poetry. Cambridge: Harvard Uni-
    versity Press, 1937; New York: Norton, 1963.
    Carpenter, T. H. Art and Myth in Ancient Greece. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990.
    Condos, Theony. Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans; A Soucebook. Phanes, 1997. Includes
    the only surviving works on the constellation myths from antiquity: an epitome of
    The Constellations of Eratosthenes, never before translated into English, and the The
    Poetic Astronomy of Hyginus; also commentaries on each constellation myth.
    Cumont, Franz. Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism. New York: Dover, 1956 [1911].
    Reprint of English translation (London: Routledge, 1911) of Les religions orientales
    dans le paganisme romain (Paris, 1906). Chapter 7 is an good introduction to ancient
    astrology.
    Galinsky, Karl G. Ovid's Metamorphoses: An Introduction to the Basic Aspects. Berkeley:
    University of California Press, 1975.
    Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources. 2 vols. Balti-
    more: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. An excellent resource.
    Gilbert, Stuart. James Joyce's Ulysses. London: Faber & Faber, 1930.
    Gordon, R. K., trans. The Story of Troilus, as told by Benoît de Ste. Maure (Le Roman de
    Troie), Giovanni Boccacio (Il Filostrato), Geoffrey Chaucer (Troilus and Criseyde), and
    Robert Henryson (The Testament of Cresseid). Medieval Academy Reprints for Teach-
    ing 2. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1978.
    Hamburger, Kate. From Sophocles to Sartre: Figures from Greek Tragedy Classical and Mod-

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