Legend Builders of the WestClassical mythology came west from Greece, bearing the thoughts, feelings, and distilled experiences of ancient peoples that have, in turn, been formed by the skilled hands of artists into tangible creations of beauty and significance. Before there were records to preserve significant events, these stories were passed down in tales and songs. Adapted and embellished by successive generations, they were later written down and used to create art from many different materials in different mediums. Within these stories and the creations they inspired was an impulse either to recover the secrets of something that had been lost or to create something new from the old material. Young examines nine legends-Perseus and Andromeda; Demeter and Persephone; Pyramus and Thisbe; Pygmalion and Galatea; Daedalus and Icarus; Atlanta and Hippomenes; Philemon and Baucis; Echo and Narcissus; and Pomona and Vertumnus-explaining the legends themselves and tracing their dissemination through centuries and civilizations and across various art forms. In Young's view, classical mythology, through expressing humanity's enthusiasms, visions, and talents, might well be considered the “skilled midwife” of human civilization, proof of our constant effort to possess life symbolically and express it through arts. |
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ancient Andromeda Apollodorus Art of Love artist Atalanta Athena beauty Boccaccio Cambridge Cassoni century B.C. Ceres chapter Chaucer Christian Christine de Pisan classical mythology Daedalus Daedalus and Icarus Danaë Dante daughter death Demeter divine early Eleusis English Etruscan Euripides father flowers French Galatea girl goddess gods Gorgon Greek Hippomenes Homer Hyginus Ibid Icarus Italian Jupiter king kisses lady Latin legend literature London lovers maid marble medieval Medusa Minos moral mother myth note 24 nude nymph opera Ovid Ovid's story pagan painter painting Paris Pausanias Persephone Perseus Perseus and Andromeda Philemon and Baucis plate Pluto poem poet Pomona and Vertumnus portrayal portrayed Poussin Proserpine Pygmalion Pyramus and Thisbe Reinach Renaissance Rizzo Roman satire Schoeneus Schubring sculpture Shakespeare sixteenth century soul statue story of Daedalus story of Pyramus tapestry Teil thought tradition tragedy translation University Press vases Venus Vertumnus wings woman young Zeus