Apollodorus’ The Library (4 vols.)

by Pseudo-Apollodorus

Publishers:

William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam’s Sons

, 1921

Overview

One of the greatest accomplishments in ancient Greek literature, The Library, provides a plain, thorough summary of Greek mythology and legends. The text draws from the most authoritative literary materials available to the author, and aside from a few minor corrections, the author refused to embellish upon his sources, leaving us with an accurate, concise picture of these Greek tales. Some of these works are found nowhere else, and scholars generally trust their accuracy because other stories were copied from texts that still survive today, including Oedipus Tyrannus by Sophocles, the Alcestis and Medea by Eurpides, the Odyssey, and the Argonautica. In the Loeb Classical Library version, James George Frazer included valuable notes citing the passages where other ancient writers have written about these same tales, and inserted his own insightful comparisons.

This collection contains the complete texts in their Loeb Classical Library editions. Each text is included in its original Greek, with an English translation for side-by-side comparison. Use Logos’ language tools to go deeper into the Greek with linked translations, definitions, and pronunciation tools. Use the dictionary lookup tool to examine difficult Greek and English words. Quick and easy access to maps and charts, as well as definitions and lexical information, allows you to understand these legendary stories like never before. If you own source texts that The Library draws from, you can read them side-by-side to make these ancient works even more accessible.

Key Features

• Easily accessible summaries of Greek myths and legends
• Comparisons to the original sources
• Loeb Classical Library editions

Praise for the Print Edition

. . . the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times.

—Aubrey Diller, professor emeritus of Greek, Indiana University

Product Details

• Title: Apollodorus’ The Library
• Author: Apollodorus
• Translator: James George Frazer
• Series: Loeb Classical Library
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
• Volumes: 4
• Pages: 949

About the Author

Pseudo-Apollodorus is the name commonly given to the supposed author of The Library. The text was originally attributed to Apollodorus of Athens, a Greek historian and grammarian, but scholars refuted his authorship based on references made by other writers of the time and the radically different style of his known works.

About the Translator

Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941) was a Scottish social anthropologist. He graduated with honors in classics from Trinity College, Cambridge, and was a classics fellow for the rest of his life. He was knighted in 1914. He published over 20 works that he wrote or translated, including The Golden Bough, Folk-lore in the Old Testament, and a translation of Pausianas’ Description of Greece.