We are into our second week of the 'Medea' by Euripides reading. I'm finding it fascinating and hope you are all enjoying it too. After we finish Medea we will be taking a week-long break and then we will start 'The Library of Greek Mythology' by Apollodorus.

'The Library of Greek Mythology' (also known as 'The Bibliotheca') is a collection of well known Greek myths written down by Apollodorus around the first century BCE. Like with Homer, there is some debate as to whether Apollodorus was a single man or multiple authors. This is the main reason why you may see the book accredited to Pseudo-Apollodorus in some editions. Confusing I know, but that is one of the fun things about reading old texts: we don't know everything about them or their origins.

'The Library of Greek Mythology' covers a lot of the main mythology - from the creation of the world, the birth of the gods and the deeds of most of the big-name heroes of the ancient Greek world. If you are a fan of Heracles, this is the book for you. However, it is a short work so the tone is more of a summary of events than a detailed account.

Translation Guide:

I have to admit that when we picked this book I didn't realize that there were so few translations of it available. As of 2023 there are two main translations that are easy to come by. One of the is in the public domain, which means that there are some ways to get it for free or very cheaply but the quality may not be great. Here they are:

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• Oxford World Classics - Robin Hard, 2008 - Prose - physical and eBook format, comes with detailed context and genealogy guides. Reviews for this edition are very positive and the eBook is well formatted. This is the version I am going to use. The genealogy will come in handy for the other books we will be reading this year as well.
• Sir James George Frazer - older translation, this is available in many different editions, including several eBooks from different independent publishers - few of which have detailed reviews. Frazer's text seems to have been the English language translation most in use in the twentieth century. Unlike the Oxford/Hard version, I can't really speak to the formatting of the eBook versions of Frazer's translation. Unfortunately, this translation is not available on Project Gutenberg but it is available on Google Books and Amazon's Kindle Store for free or at very small cost.

Edit: As u/Publius_Romanus has pointed out there is a third translation available:

• Hackett Classics - R. Scott Smith, 2007 - Prose - comes in both physical and eBook format. The reviews for this edition are overwhelmingly positive. This edition also comes with a great introduction that helps explain the Greek mythos and put it into context.

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Reading Schedule:

Start Date - 20/05/23

Book One Discussion - 27/05/23

Book Two Discussion - 03/06/23

Book Three Discussion - 10/06/23

Update

Epitome - 09/09/23 (moved to after the Iliad)

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** For those of you interested in taking part in the Iliad read-along, please be aware that once we finish this book we will be starting the Iliad during the following week. There is no planned break between these books. **