h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The authors of Greek/Roman mythology made a large impact on the stories and the history of the myths. They helped to spread the stories and without these authors we wouldn't know any of the stories and we wouldn't have the stories of great form and flow we have today.

The Greeks wrote most passionately about their beliefs and gods. The Romans were more cynical

The best known of the writers of mythology today is probably Homer, the blind poet who wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey, two of the oldest works that have survived.

Virgil is probably the best Roman writer of myth. He wrote the Aeneid, the story of Aeneas who (at least in legend) would found Rome as a way of bringing a great, glorious story to Rome. He is an interesting writer, though.

Ovid (also called Naso) was a great Roman author, who wrote accounts of an unequalled number of stories in an entertaining form during the time of Augustus. He wrote his poetry as a sort of entertainment, and, like Virgil, did not believe any of it.

Hesiod was thought to be a poor Greek farmer in the eighth or ninth century. He was the first to write about the origin of the world.

Apollodorus had nearly as much written about mythology as Ovid, but he isn't nearly as interesting to read as Ovid.

Pindar was a lyric poet who instead of writing about mythology, sort of referenced it in his work.

Aschylus, Sophocles and Euripides were tragic playwrights and poets from around the same period who wrote many plays about Mythology.

Herodotus, the famous historian and Plato, the philosopher sometimes wrote of mythology. Pausanias wrote a guide book to the known world, and said quite a bit about mythology.

I like Aeschylus very much, and also enjoy Sophocles. In translation, of course. And I have a copy of the Aeneid which I must get around to reading. I was in the chorus of 'Dido and Aeneas' last year and am intrigued to know more.

David