HJ Rose's Handbook of Greek Mythology was first published in 1928, with its sixth edition appearing in 1958. The only accessible narrative account of Greek Mythology, it has long been a standard text for students. While the stories it contains can be traced back to the second millennium BC, they retain their vitality today, and the gods and heroes - Zeus and Athena, Heracles and Oedipus, Orpheus and Eurydice, remain familiar names. This new edition is a completely rewritten and revised version of Rose's original text. Adding a huge amount of new material, Robin Hard incorporates the results of the latest research into his authoritative accounts of all the gods and heroes.
Beginning from the emergence of the world from Chaos and Night, Hard describes the legends of the Children of Kronos, and the mythological beings that populated Greek consciousness - Harpies, Gorgons, Geryon and Echidna. From the war with the Titans, the narrative proceeds to the rule of the Olympian Gods, from their war with the Giants to their interventions in the legends of the heroes. The legends, activities and associations of each god and goddess are recounted in turn; younger gods and foreign deities are also covered. The challenge of recounting the history of the age of the heroes, from Heracles, Theseus, Cadmus and Oedipus to the Trojan War and its aftermath, in a coherent chronology, is met by basing the account on the systematizing work of Apollodorus in the second century AD. Special chapters are devoted to Jason and the Argonauts, the career of Heracles and the Trojan War. The complex and sometimes contradictory mass of legends functioned for the Greeks as the history of their origins, while for us the stories are full of local colour and archetypal meaning.
The narrative framework of the book remains that of Rose, with helpful signposting so that the book can be used as work of reference. Besides the narrative chapters, it includes full documentation of the ancient sources, maps, and genealogical tables. Illustrated throughout with numerous photographs and line drawings, it will be the definitive account of ancient Greek mythology for generations to come.