Art and Myth in Ancient Greece

By Thomas H. Carpenter

Book Overview

The ancient Greeks recorded their mythology on vase paintings, engraved gems, and bronze and stone sculptures, offering depictions that often predate any references to the myths in literature or recount alternative, unfamiliar versions of these tales. In some cases, visual art provides our only evidence of these myths, as there are no surviving accounts in ancient Greek literature of stories such as the Fall of Troy or Theseus and the Minotaur.

Art and Myth in Ancient Greece is a comprehensive survey of myth as it appears in Greek art. This classic volume has been updated with text and full-color images of more than three hundred scenes from Greek sculptures, vases, and gems. Aiding in the identification of mythological scenes and explaining chronological developments in style and subject matter, this book is an essential reference for anyone interested in the art, drama, poetry, or religion of ancient Greece.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0500204543
• ISBN13: 9780500204542
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

informative overview of ancient Greek art

This is great as a nice introductory survey of artwork, some myth, and some history of ancient Greece. Carpenter divides the book into chapters and sections according to important characters (heroes, Olympian gods) and events (Trojan War and its aftermath). In each, he provides a good overview, brings in historical and contextual information to provide narratives to the relevant artworks he provides at the end of the section (which is rather inconvenient to have to keep flipping the pages if you don't know what he's referring to). Themes, characterization, attributes, trajectories etc etc can all found in this book which is quite compact for the amount of information it provides.

Good basic introduction

A good undergraduate source of the visual images that are one survival form of the classical myths. Basic information about ancient art gives the reader just enough knowledge to understand technically why certain traits appear, such as the different "color" of males and females. Packed with pictures, it is an excellent source for both classical studies and art history at the undergraduate level.