CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY Essay

A DVA N C E P R A IS E

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“Gods, Heroes, and Monsters: A Sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern Myths successfully refl ects the current trend in Classical Studies toward viewing the ancient Mediterranean as an interconnected world, one in which people and texts circulated widely. By bringing such a rich variety of texts and mythological traditions together in translation, this collection will make it possible to off er the introductory student a rich and compli- cated view of the ways in which the diff erent cultures of the ancient Medi- terranean interacted and infl uenced each other over time.”

Carol Dougherty William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Classical Studies, Wellesley College

“López-Ruiz has created an outstanding resource for the study of Classical mythology in a wider historical and geographical framework. With authori- tative introductions placing each document in context, solid translations, and helpful annotations, this volume at last provides a convenient way to introduce students to the Mediterranean and Near Eastern antecedents of ancient Greek and Roman myths.”

Deborah Lyons Miami University (Ohio)

“In 1984, Walter Burkert argued that Greek myths ought to be viewed in a broad Near Eastern perspective. In this important new volume, Carolina López-Ruiz presents a unique compendium of Egyptian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Biblical, Greek, and Roman sources that enable us to study the connec- tions further. It includes many rarely or never before published texts in English enhanced by authoritative introductions and organized in novel ways that strike a good balance between student accessibility and high- level scholarship.”

Nanno Marinatos University of Illinois, Chicago

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“This is an outstanding collection of ancient mythological sources, which juxtaposes the well-known Greek and Roman stories with contemporary and earlier literary texts from the Eastern Mediterranean and the Ancient Near East. The Greek sources alone would justify using the book in a my- thology course; the quality and range of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hittite, Ugaritic, Phoenician, and Hebrew sources in it is without equal. This well-organized book will enable teachers to broaden their scope be- yond a narrow defi nition of the Classical, without giving up the use of expertly translated primary sources. It presents mythology as a dynamic, evolving, infi nitely varied fi eld where individual authors and age-old com- mon ‘knowledge’ interact across political, social, and linguistic barriers. The beautiful English translations show a rare combination of meticulous scholarship and literary sensitivity.”

Naama Zahavi-Ely College of William and Mary

“López-Ruiz’s sourcebook is a very fi ne and wonderfully ample collec- tion of mythological texts from the ancient Mediterranean area that will certainly facilitate the study and comparison of Greco-Roman and Near Eastern mythological themes and narratives. The timeline, introductions, notes, and bibliography are quite helpful and very well done.”

William Hansen Indian University, Bloomington

“Gods, Heroes, and Monsters empowers students by granting them direct ac- cess to ancient mythological literature. The accurate, modern translations are contextualized by scholarly introductions that feature the current state of research on the various texts. Each section includes Greek, Roman, Near Eastern, and Egyptian texts grouped according to carefully chosen themes. This book will be an essential resource for any instructor wishing to teach ancient mythology in a manner that emphasizes sources and docu- ments, yet remains accessible and enjoyable for undergraduates.”

Marie-Claire Beaulieu Tufts University

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GODS, HEROES, AND MONSTERS

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A S O U R C E B O O K o f

G R E E K ,

RO M A N , a n d

N E A R E A S T E R N

M Y T H S

i n Tr a n s l a t i o n

E d ited by C A RO L I NA L Ó P E Z - RU I Z

T h e O h i o S t a t e Un i v e r s it y

d d

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GODS, HEROES, AND MONSTERS

N E W Y O R K O X F O R D

O X F O R D U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S

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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lopez-Ruiz, Carolina. Gods, heroes, and monsters : a sourcebook of Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern myths in translation / edited by Carolina Lopez-Ruiz. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-979735-6 1. Mythology, Greek. 2. Mythology, Roman. 3. Mythology, Egyptian. 4. Mythology, Assyro-Babylonian. I. Title. BL312.L66 2014 201’.3–dc23 2013016588

Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Map Captions Inside Front Cover Map: The Near East and the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age Inside Back Cover Map: The Mediterranean in the Archaic Period, eighth–sixth centuries BCE

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To my ch i ldren, A lfonso and Sarahd d

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CO N T E N TS d List of Maps xiv

List of Figures xiv

Introduction xv

Acknowledgments xxi

Note on Text Arrangement, Transliterations, and Chronology xxiii

About the Editor xxv

Contributors xxvii

Timeline xxx

Maps xli

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PART ONE AND SO IT BEGAN: COSMOGONIES AND THEOGONIES 1

1.1. Babylonian Epic of Creation: Enuma Elish 6 1.2. Mesopotamia: Theogony of Dunnu 21 1.3. Egyptian Cosmogonies 22

1.3.a. The Memphite Theology: Ending of the Shabako Stone 23 1.3.b. “A Hymn to Life”: Coffi n Texts Spell 80 25 1.3.c. Excerpts from The Teachings for Merikare 28

1.4. God’s Creation, from the Book of Genesis 1 29 1.5. Hesiod’s Theogony 31 1.6. Orphic Cosmogony: The Derveni Papyrus 48 1.7. Phoenician Cosmogonies 50

1.7.a. Philon of Byblos: Excerpts from the Phoenician History 50 1.7.b. Phoenician Cosmogonies Mentioned by Damaskios 56

1.8. Cosmogony in Aristophanes’ Birds 56

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1.9. Short Cosmogony in Apollonios of Rhodes’ Argonautika 57 1.10. Creation Myth in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book 1 58 1.11. Two Short Cosmogonies, from Virgil’s Aeneid and Eclogues 61

1.11.a. A “Tyrian” Cosmogony, from Aeneid, Book 1 61 1.11.b. Cosmic Song of Silenus, from Eclogues 6 62

PART TWO MANKIND CREATED, MANKIND DESTROYED 63

2.1. Mesopotamian Flood Stories 68 2.1.a. Atrahasis 69 2.1.b. Flood Story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI 81

2.2. Egyptian Texts on the Creation and Destruction of Mankind 84 2.2.a. Excerpts from the Coffi n Texts 84 2.2.b. Excerpt from the Book of the Heavenly Cow 86

2.3. Adam and Eve, from Genesis 2–3 88 2.4. The Story of Noah, from Genesis 6–9 91 2.5. Hesiod’s Prometheus, Pandora, and Five Races of Mankind, from

Works and Days 94 2.6. Ovid’s Ages of Mankind and the Flood, from

Metamorphoses, Book 1 99 2.7. An Orphic Anthropogony 106

PART THREE EPIC STRUGGLES: GODS, HEROES, AND MONSTERS 109

3.1. The Epic of Gilgamesh (selections) 113 3.2. The Disputes between Horus and Seth (from the Pyramid Texts and

papyri) 129 3.3. Egypt: Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor 131 3.4. Hittite Myths 135

3.4.a. Anatolian (Hattic) Myth of Illuyanka 136 3.4.b. Hurro-Hittite Narrative Song: Kumarbi Cycle 139

3.5. Ugaritic Epic Poems 163 3.5.a. The Baal Cycle 164 3.5.b. The Aqhat Epic 178

3.6. Yahweh as a Storm God: Psalm 29 186

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3.7. David and Goliath: 1 Samuel 17 187 3.8. Homer’s Gods and Heroes 191

3.8.a. The Aristeia of Diomedes: Iliad, Book 5 192 3.8.b. Odysseus and the Cyclops: Odyssey, Book 9 220

3.9. Apollo’s Journey: The Homeric Hymn to Apollo 234 3.10. Dionysos in Disguise 247

3.10.a. The Opening of Euripides’ Bacchae 248 3.10.b. The Homeric Hymn to Dionysos 251

3.11. The Exploits of Perseus, Herakles, and Theseus, from Apollodorus’ Library 253

3.11.a. Perseus 254 3.11.b. Herakles 257 3.11.c. Theseus 275

PART FOUR OF CITIES AND PEOPLES 283

4.1. The Foundation of a Heliopolis Temple by Senusert I 288 4.2. The Hurro-Hittite Song of Release

(Destruction of the City of Ebla) 290 4.3. Cain and Abel: Genesis 4 299 4.4. The Tower of Babel: Genesis 11 300 4.5. Abraham’s Test, from Genesis 22 301 4.6. The Israelites’ Escape from Egypt, from the Book of Exodus 302 4.7. The Sargon Legend 307

4.7.a. The Sargon Legend (Sumerian Text) 308 4.7.b. Sargon Birth Legend (Neo-Assyrian Text) 310

4.8. Birth of Cyrus the Great, from Herodotos’ Histories 310 4.9. The Foundation of Cyrene 314

4.9.a. Herodotos on the Foundation of Cyrene 314 4.9.b. Cyrene in Pindar, Pythian Ode 5 317

4.10. The “Rape of Europa” and the Foundation of Thebes, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Books 2–3 321

4.11. Theseus’ Unifi cation of Attika, from Plutarch’s Life of Theseus 325 4.12. The Foundation of Carthage 327

4.12.a. Foundation Legend, from Justin, Epitome of Trogus 327 4.12.b. Aeneas’ Arrival at Carthage, from Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 1 330

4.13. The Foundation of Rome 335 4.13.a. Beginning of Livy’s History of Rome, Book 1 335 4.13.b. Romulus and Remus, from Plutarch’s Life of Romulus 341

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PART FIVE EROS AND THE LABORS OF LOVE 343

5.1. Ishtar and Gilgamesh: Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet VI 347 5.2. King Snefru and the Oarswomen 350 5.3. Egypt: Story of the Two Brothers 352 5.4. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife: Genesis 39 354 5.5. Aphrodite and Anchises: The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 355 5.6. Medea and Jason, from Euripides’ Medea 362 5.7. “Hymn to Venus,” from Lucretius’ De rerum natura 367 5.8. Aeneas and Dido, from Virgil’s Aeneid, Books 1 and 4 369 5.9. Pasiphae and the Cretan Bull 377

5.9.a. Minos, Pasiphae, and the Bull, from Apollodorus’ Library, Book 3 377

5.9.b. Pasiphae’s Passion, from Ovid, Ars Amatoria, Book 1 378 5.9.c. Minos and the Bull, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 8 380

5.10. Theseus and Ariadne 380 5.10.a. From Plutarch, Life of Theseus 380 5.10.b. Ovid, Heroides 10 382

5.11. Hippolytus and Phaedra: Ovid, Heroides 4 385 5.12. Penelope and Ulysses: Ovid, Heroides 1 389 5.13. Hermaphroditus, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 4 392 5.14. Cephalus and Procris, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 7 394 5.15. Hyacinth and Apollo, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 10 398 5.16. Pygmalion’s Statue, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 10 400 5.17. Myrrha and Cinyras, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 10 401 5.18. Caenis-Caeneus, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 12 405 5.19. Achilles at Skyros, from Statius, Achilleid, Books 1–2 406 5.20. Cupid and Psyche, from Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Books 4–6 414

PART SIX DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE JOURNEY 425

6.1. Gilgamesh and the Underworld: Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablets X–XI 431

6.2. Ishtar’s Descent to the Underworld 438 6.3. Great Hymn to Osiris 442 6.4. The Fight between Re and Apep, from the Book of the Dead 445 6.5. Isis and Osiris, from Plutarch’s De Iside et Osiride 447 6.6. Telipinu: An Anatolian Myth about a Departed God 451 6.7. Odysseus’ Nekyia in Homer, Odyssey, Book 11 458

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6.8. The Homeric Hymn to Demeter 478 6.9. Instructions for the Hereafter: An Orphic Gold Tablet 489

6.10. Cybele and Attis, from Arnobius, Adversus Nationes, Book 5 491 6.11. Adonis, from Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 10 494 6.12. Orpheus and Eurydice, from Virgil, Georgics, Book 4 496 6.13. Aeneas’ Katabasis, from Virgil, Aeneid, Book 6 498 6.14. The Dream of Scipio, from Cicero, De re publica, Book 6 523 6.15. Psyche’s Descent to the Underworld, from Apuleius,

The Golden Ass, Book 6 530

PART SEVEN PLATO’S MYTHS 535

7.1. The Demiurge, from the Timaeus 541 7.2. Anthropogony, from the Protagoras 543 7.3. The Atlantis Myth, from Timaeus and Kritias 546 7.4. Aristophanes’ Speech on Love, from the Symposium 559 7.5. The Myth of Er, from the Republic 562

d Glossary of Technical Terms 569

Bibliography 573

References 583

Credits 591

Index of Places 593

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L IS T O F M A P S d

Inside Front Cover : The Near East and the Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age Inside Back Cover : The Mediterranean in the Archaic Period, eighth–sixth centuries BCE Map 1: The Near East and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age Map 2: The Near East during the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, eighth–sixth centuries

BCE Map 3: Greeks and Phoenicians in the Mediterranean, eighth–sixth centuries BCE Map 4: Greece and the Aegean in Archaic-Classical Times Map 5: The Roman Empire at the Death of Augustus (14 CE) Map 6: Babylonian World Map Map 7: World Map According to Hecataeus of Miletos

L IS T O F F IGU R E S d

Figure 1: Osiris as king of the dead and fi rst mummy, painted in Egyptian tomb. Figure 2: A hare-looking cat or “solar cat,” painted in Egyptian tomb. Figure 3: Mesopotamian cylinder seal with bull-man fi ghting a lion and hero fi ghting a bull. Figure 4: Mesopotamian clay mask of Humbaba. Figure 5: North-West Semitic Storm God Baal in a stele from Ugarit. Figure 6: Neo-Hittite Storm God in a stele from Babylon. Figure 7: Assyrian statue of a hero taming a lion, probably Gilgamesh. Figure 8: Perseus slaying the Gorgon Medusa with the aid of Athena, from Selinous, Sicily. Figure 9: Yahweh and Asherah (?) in ostracon from Kuntillet Ajrud (Sinai). Figure 10: “Rape of Europa” in a coin from the Phoenician city of Sidon. Figure 11: Dionysos, Hades, and Persephone in a volute crater from Apulia. Figure 12: Orphic Gold Tablet from Petelia (Italy). Figure 13: Alexander the Great as Amon in a Tetradrachm. Figure 14: Herakles Melqart in a Carthaginian silver double shekel. Figure 15: Aeneas in a denarius of Julius Caesar. Figure 16: Interior of the temple of Venus and Roma in Rome. Figure 17: “Prometheus mosaic” from Edessa, Syria. Figure 18: Aphrodite and Cupid in a Byzantine mosaic from Madaba, Jordan. Figure 19: Achilles revealing himself as a man in a Late Roman silver plate. Figure 20: Adam and Eve banned from Eden in the Sistine Chapel, Rome. Figure 21: Theseus slaying the Minotaur in a Neoclassical sculpture, Paris. Figure 22: Contest between Athena and Poseidon in the Parthenon replica in Nashville,

Tennessee. Figure 23: Statue of Prometheus by Paul Manship (1934), New York. Figure 24: Detail of The Lightning’s Bride, by Elliot Hundley (2011).

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I N T RO D U C T I O N d

UNLIKE other introductions to classical mythology, this volume sets itself apart by systematically including, alongside more familiar Greek and Roman texts, comparable narratives from the ancient Near East, specifi cally from Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Hittite kingdom, Ugarit, Phoenicia, and from Israel. These sources amount to about one third of the volume you are holding. This more comprehensive approach requires some explanation, especially for readers who might intuitively associate the term “classical” or even “ancient” with the literatures of Greece and Rome.

The premise of this anthology refl ects our increased knowledge of the interconnected cultures of the ancient world and the growing realization that the mythological narratives of Greece and Rome evolved from and were in dialogue with their counterparts in the ancient Near East. Moreover, in the critical and most creative period, reaching from the mid-second to the late fi rst millennium BCE, Greece and Rome participated in a world whose center of gravity lay to their east, in the arc from the Nile to Mesopotamia. This volume, therefore, proposes a reconsideration of the “classical.” The Epic of Gilgamesh, from Mesopotamia, was, after all, a true “classic” in its time, required reading for all who claimed to be educated. It was translated into a host of languages and used in schools throughout the Near East and beyond, and it is now becoming clear that it also directly infl uenced Greek heroic motifs. Many mythological stories were shaped in response to each other, not only within the region where they originated but across languages and peoples and down through the centuries. Even with the dramatic changes that Christianity and Islam brought, so-called pagan myths and even religious practices adapted to the new religions and survived.

Why have the Near Eastern masterpieces, then, not been considered “classical”? The fates of these literatures were shaped by historical developments. First, the more ancient languages of the Near East had more time in which to change, to be overridden, and even lost, as happened to Sumerian and Akkadian, whereas more recent ones, such as Greek and Latin, were encoded as the offi cial languages of the two halves of the Roman Empire, and so their literatures survived. The Hebrew Bible obviously has its own remarkable history of transmission and preservation, but that also required a continuous investment of eff ort by later generations. Greek and

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Latin texts were copied and used for educational purposes in the Greek-speaking eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and in the medieval Latin West. It was this part of the world in which the modern nations of Europe developed, and it is from them that our traditions of scholarship derive, including our notion of the “classical.”

By contrast, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and other non–Greco-Roman texts were excluded from this canon, at least in their original languages. By the time of Thucydides and Herodotos, composers of the fi rst histories, some early civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as those of Ugarit and the Hittites, had long since disappeared, both destroyed in wars and unknown to Greeks of the “classical” period, though the legacies of these lost cultures partly survived in Anatolia and Syro-Palestine. Later Near Eastern cultures, such as neo-Assyrian, neo-Babylonian, Phoenician, and Egyptian, were eventually subsumed into the Hellenistic and Roman empires. Their texts, at least those that survived inscribed on papyri, stone monuments, or clay tablets, were buried and had to wait for millennia before they could be uncovered and deciphered. (Paradoxically, tablets from these lost cultures were often preserved by the very same fi res that destroyed them, since the fi res “cooked” the sun-dried clay.) Thus, as the great literary traditions of the Near East fell into oblivion, the Greek and Latin “classics” were codifi ed and partially preserved for posterity. Their uninterrupted transmission in manuscript form, thanks in large part to the eff orts of Arab scholars during the ninth and tenth centu- ries CE, ensured that they would be studied and commented upon. In the process, they exerted powerful infl uence on philosophy, literature, and the arts, inspiring such movements as the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Romanticism.

During this long period of time, stretching over a thousand years, little was known about ancient Near Eastern cultures. In the Western view of history, ideas about the ancient Near East were principally represented by whatever classical historians (mostly Herodotos) and the Hebrew Bible had to say about them. This changed dramatically with the beginning of archaeological exploration in the nineteenth century, enabled fi rst by Napoleon’s campaign in Ottoman Egypt (1798–1801) and the excavation of Mesopotamian sites in the nineteenth century by European diplomats and explorers, who thus became the fi rst archaeologists. The decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion in 1822 and of cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia in the 1850s opened up a whole new phase in our knowledge of these languages and cultures. Additional sites, cultures, and languages, including Hittite and Ugaritic, were discovered in the twentieth century. Tablets and even archives continue to appear today, enriching our corpus of Near Eastern literatures and fi lling in the blanks of the mosaic of ancient cultures, forcing us to reconsider their legacy and mutual interrelations.

But by the time this amazing process of discovery began to peak in the nineteenth century, the concept of Greco-Roman literature as “classical” was too entrenched to readily make room for the “oriental” newcomers. Ancient literature was perceived as a fundamentally “Western” inheritance. Preconceived dichotomies between East and West, rooted entirely in the political and religious developments of the Middle Ages (especially the confl ict with Islam) and the advent of “modernity” (especially the “Eastern Question” regarding the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire), greatly

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impacted the classifi cation of cultures and literatures. In recent decades, however, increasing collaboration and dialogue between the fi elds of Classics and Near Eastern studies is bringing us closer to a more accurate and comprehensive view of the ancient world and the diff erent ways in which its inhabitants, their literatures, and intellectual traditions interacted.

Independent developments within the fi eld of Classical Studies have encouraged such collaboration, though more always remains to be done. Specifi cally, for the past half-century classical Greece has gradually ceased to be regarded as a singular exemplar of virtuous qualities such as freedom, democracy, purity, and reason. Historical scholarship has broken down this notion, and at the same time it has removed some of the barriers that had been erected around classical culture to keep it free of contamination by the “Other,” such as the Semitic cultures of the Near East. One of these barriers was the theory that Greece should be classifi ed among the Indo-European cultures, together with Celtic, Nordic, and Aryan-Indian. While it is true that the Greek language is part of the Indo-European language family, a genetic model cannot be so easily transferred to its culture as a whole. The selection of texts in this volume is premised on scholarship that fi nds that Greek mythology developed within its contemporary Near Eastern context and borrowed extensively from it.

This immediately raises the problematic concept of “infl uence.” There are, of course, cases of direct infl uence or simple diff usion, but we are mostly dealing with texts that are far apart in time and space: narrative themes and elements would normally have passed through many stages of adaptation, usually oral, before they acquired their fi nal form (i.e., the written version that we have). And adaptation means that they would have been thoroughly formatted to fi t their new host culture and the narrative goals of each poet, bard, or writer. Sometimes the direction of transmission can be ascertained: for example, the Mesopotamian fl ood story was adopted in ancient Israel and Greece, the Greek myths were taken up and reworked by the Romans, and so on. Still, it is in the variations and adaptations themselves that we can appreciate the uniqueness of each act of reception. Every instance, every text, is a unique literary artifact, and many of them have generated whole disciplines of study. With their fascinating similarities and sharp contrasts, the texts gathered here represent some of the most famous stories that have fueled the imaginations of generations across the Mediterranean and the lands of the Fertile Crescent for millennia.

d THE stories we call “myths” were much more than entertaining tales. The Greek

word mythos, which was eventually attached to fi ctional or legendary stories, was in earlier times used for any speech, utterance, or narrative. For the ancients, what we call “myths” were stories about gods and heroes, stories valued and preserved as part of the tradition of particular communities, for whom these stories were inseparable from all central aspects of culture. Gods were real (worshipped, prayed to, feared) in a world organized to a great degree around religious festivals and daily rituals. Heroes, on the other hand, were central in ancient people’s perception of their

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remote past and their recent history as well (stories about city founders, lawgivers, beginnings of institutions, etc.). In Near Eastern cultures, with Mesopotamia as the greatest example, king lists, rituals, law codes, and historical events were written down at the same time as epic stories and cosmogonies. But in Greece before the eighth century BCE no written records preserved information (except for Linear B texts, which apparently were for purely administrative purposes). Hence “myths” alone carried the torch of community memory for centuries, preserving and reshaping genealogies and ideas of origins of whole cities and peoples (whether true or invented) and explaining the current religious order. Myths did more than reinforce abstract theological beliefs; they explained the role of festivals and ritual practices and provided narratives to which people pinned their beliefs in the afterlife. However, while myths were the prime carrier for narratives and beliefs about the gods, we should be cautious about reading them as ancient “doctrine”: these narratives were malleable, and there was no Scripture or offi cial Church. Not everyone even believed that Homer and Hesiod had accurately represented the gods (especially the philosophers, such as Xenophanes and Plato).

Even as mythical narrative gradually became distinct from other historical, scientifi c, philosophical discourse, myths still had a place in the new literary and intellectual modes, as shown by the self-conscious use of myths in Herodotos, as well as Livy’s histories and in Plato’s philosophical dialogues. Far from being discarded in the light of “reason,” narratives called myths could be used to express higher truths, and in turn myths have continued to be studied as containing “hidden” and deeper messages for centuries, whether through allegorical interpretations in antiquity and the Middle Ages or through psychoanalytical, anthropological, and structuralist approaches (among others) today. These multi-faceted and porous narratives were in continuous dialogue with the realities of people’s lives and beliefs: myths helped to create the mindscapes of ancient peoples, off ered some stability to the universe’s ungraspable nature, while, in turn, the changing world continuously reshaped the myths as needed. The subject of the use and meaning of myths is vast, and the reader will fi nd suggested readings in the Bibliography at the back of this volume.

How This Book Is Organized

SELECTIONS are always diffi cult to make, and choice requires exclusion. My guiding principle was to represent major themes and myths around which Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman texts coalesce. Another goal was to include at least some entire books or self-contained sections in them, tablets, or poems when possible, while avoiding the complete texts of accessible classical works that can easily be assigned separately to complement the present selection, such as the poems of Homer, the Greek tragedies, and Hellenistic and Roman epics. Hence, the Trojan War is represented here by one book of the Iliad only, and some important mythical clusters have been omitted, among them the Theban saga, including the Seven Against Thebes and the Oedipus story (best represented in the tragedies by Aeschylus and Sophocles). Likewise, the Argonauts’ myth (best treated in Apollonios Rhodios’ epic poem Argonautika) is here only briefl y quoted in Part One and alluded

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xixd I N T RO D U C T I O N

to by Jason and Medea in Euripides’ Medea (in Part Five). Within each thematic section or part, the texts are arranged by cultures (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, other Near Eastern texts, then Greek, then Roman) and in a roughly (not always strict) chronological order (archaic Greek before classical, and so on).

The introductions to each of the seven thematic sections and the headnotes that accompany each document are addressed to nonspecialists, especially undergraduate students and the general public. I avoid entering into detailed discussions and theoretical interpretations. The goal is to off er guidance for the major motifs and facilitate comprehension, contextualization, and cross-textual comparison. Rather more detail has been allowed for texts that are less well known outside specialized circles, such as the Ugaritic, Phoenician, Egyptian, and Hittite sources. Footnotes are also minimal and intended to clarify obscure references and occasionally provide background as well as cross-references to other sections in the book. Beyond that, each instructor can decide how much general historical, archaeological, and theoretical background to include in his or her lectures. The independent reader will fi nd an essential list of readings for all authors and texts in the Bibliography, which can serve as a point of departure for a more profound exploration. I have privileged monographs over articles or collections of essays when possible, and English and recent books where available. Other aids, such as maps (including two historical maps) and a timeline, will help the reader situate the texts in their historical context. Because the book covers a wide range of cultures, genealogical charts of the Greek gods are not included. Greek myths represent just one genealogical tradition, and so to represent all of the divine family trees included in this volume would have been extremely complicated and not especially helpful. Instead, I hope the reader will benefi t from a Glossary at the back of the volume that explains technical terms used in scholarship (terms are highlighted in bold the fi rst time they appear in the text) as well as an Index of Place Names and Characters.

The seven parts in the book are not mutually exclusive, as stories normally touch on many themes that resist strict classifi cation. The intention was to group together those stories that have a core theme in common, so as to facilitate and stimulate comparison across traditions. Plato’s myths, on the other hand, have been included in a separate section, even though each one corresponds to one of the thematic sections of the book. It seemed appropriate to group Plato’s stories together in this way so that they could be approached holistically, via a single introduction. In any event, the broad thematic organization of Gods, Heroes, and Monsters does not preclude reading the stories in a diff erent order or in combination with other texts not included here.

In principle, I have chosen texts that are literary elaborations of a myth, avoiding as much as possible ancient “encyclopedic entries” such as we fi nd in Apollodorus, which I have used very selectively. For instance, I have generally privileged Ovid’s poetic retelling of a Greek myth over Apollodorus’, and I have chosen Statius’ Achilleid over the summaries of the lost Epic Cycle poems. In other words, this anthology is conceived as a reader of ancient mythological literature and is not simply a myth sourcebook. It is for this reason that nonliterary inscriptions and other sources such as the bureaucratic Linear B tablets have been avoided. Egypt

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xx d I N T RO D U C T I O N

presents a special case in that, despite its vast corpus of texts written in a variety of ways (on papyri, walls of pyramids and other buildings, inside the panels of coffi ns, etc.), mythical narratives are usually not directly represented, especially in the earlier periods. To quote Ian Shaw (2004: 116), “Egyptian texts have a tendency to allude to various divine myths through references to rituals and the use of various epithets, but their literature is notoriously lacking in straightforward narrative-style myths. Reconstructing Egyptian mythology from ancient texts can be rather like piecing together the biblical account of the birth of Jesus from a series of Christmas cards and carols.”

Regarding the translations themselves, a substantial contribution of this volume is that it off ers new translations of important Egyptian, Hittite, and Ugaritic mythological texts that are generally not accessible to the public. Experts in these fi elds, such as Sam Meier (North-West Semitic) and Andrés de Diego (Egypt), have contributed new translations that refl ect the latest advances in their fi elds. In the case of the Hittite texts, Mary Bachvarova has even off ered a critical edition in which she produces new readings and proposes new reconstructions and arrangements of the fragments. For the translation of another fragmentary text, the Derveni Papyrus, two leading experts in that fi eld, Alberto Bernabé and Miguel Herrero, have also contributed the latest readings of the damaged text. Other Greek texts have also been translated afresh by myself (Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns being my area of expertise in archaic literature), while new rhythmic translations of one book of Homer’s Iliad and two of the Odyssey have been generously provided by Barry B. Powell, whose complete translations of the two works will appear soon with this press. Mark Anderson, a specialist in Greek philosophy, has translated Plato’s myths. The translations of Pindar and Lucretius are also fresh contributions by Hanne Eissenfeld, who is currently working on Pindar. As for the general introductions to the thematic sections, those of Parts One to Six have been written by myself, while the shorter (section) introductions have been provided by the individual translators (but I introduce the Homeric passages) and by myself (all other texts).

Some translations for other texts have been taken from the Oxford’s World Classics series, for instance, the Mesopotamian texts by Stephanie Dalley, Virgil’s Aeneid (set in rhythmic verse by Frederick Ahl), and Apuleius’ Golden Ass (by P. G. Walsh). I am also indebted to their notes, which I condensed and adapted. Minor editorial changes to these translations include regularization of the spelling and punctuation to conform to standard American practice. (See also the Note on Text Arrangement, Transliterations, and Chronology on page xxiii.)

Finally, in order to keep the cost of the anthology within limits, translations have been reused and adapted from the older volumes of the Loeb series and other out- of-copyright editions, usually for Latin texts, for instance, Ovid’s Metamorphoses by F. J. Miller and Apollodoros’ Library by J. Frazer, which are not inferior to more recent versions. In any event, the language has been updated to remove any archaisms. I also have annotated all of these texts, generally by using select notes from the existing edition, sometimes shortening them or adding my own clarifi cations.

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AC K N OW L E D GM E N TS

d

THIS VOLUME would not have been realized without the vision, guidance, and contagious enthusiasm of executive editor Charles Cavaliere. I also thank other staff of Oxford University Press for their hard work at diff erent stages of the edition and production, especially assistant editor Lauren Aylward, editorial assistant Karen Omer, production editor Shelby Peak, and photo researcher Francelle Carapetyan. In its early stages, this project greatly benefi tted from comments and suggestions provided by several readers. I thank:

Eve A. Browning (University of Minnesota, Duluth)

Cristina Calhoon (University of Oregon)

Kevin Crotty (Washington and Lee University)

Fritz Graf (The Ohio State University)

Deborah Lyons (Miami University, Ohio)

Robin Mitchell-Boyask (Temple University)

Carl Ruck (Boston University)

Jackie Murray (Skidmore College)

I also thank those readers who wished to remain anonymous. I cannot express enough gratitude to the wonderful and disciplined team of

translators who contributed to this volume: Mark Anderson, Mary Bachvarova, Alberto Bernabé, Andrés Diego Espinel, Hanne Eisenfeld, Miguel Herrero de Jáuregui, Sam Meier, and Barry Powell. Other colleagues have given me invaluable advice on various matters connected with their areas of expertise (the more or less virtuous use of which is, of course, my own responsibility). My sincere gratitude goes to Simeon Chavel, Richard Fletcher, William Hansen, Tom Hawkins, Bruce Heiden, Robert Ritner, Andrea Seri, and Christopher Woods. I also thank Hanne Eisenfeld for her help with some editing and Justin Hanson for his help with the index. Ben Acosta-Hughes, Chair of OSU’s Classics Department, has my deep gratitude for his support, especially during the last months of editing work, as do our assistants Erica Kallis and Wayne Lovely. Finally, as steady and patient as ever, Anthony Kaldellis has helped me make this project better in innumerable ways, especially with his careful reading of all my introductions. In case I forget to tell you every day, gracias.

I dedicate this volume to my children, Alfonso and Sarah, because stories, including these ones, entertained children for millennia and shaped the world they inherited, but also because in the last two years they had to share their mother’s attention with these ancient authors. Thank you.

CAROLINA LÓPEZ-RUIZ Columbus, Ohio

April 2013

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N OT E O N T E X T A R R A NGE M E N T, T R A NSL I T E R AT I O NS , A N D C H RO N O L O GY

d

CUNEIFORM texts were written on clay tablets and arranged by columns. In Mesopotamian literary texts, the lines of those columns usually corresponded with verses. These verses, as in all Semitic languages (e.g., Ugaritic and Hebrew), do not constitute metrical units (like Greek verses), in terms of either syllable count or length (short-long syllable-alternation), nor are they marked by rhyme patterns. Instead, poetic language is marked by alliteration, the repetition of words or variations on the same idea (parallelism), metaphors, comparisons, and wordplay. Groups of lines are often united by sense and stylistic features, forming stanzas, which editors represent in clusters of lines or paragraphs, if space permits. In our case, these line (verse) divisions in the tablets have been sacrifi ced in favor of a more economical, run-in format. Ugaritic texts are less consistent than Mesopotamian in their verse/line arrangements, and the editors have had to choose how to group the lines. The translations for Ugaritic are in continuous lines as well. But precisely because of its nonmetric nature, most of the poetic language of these texts can be appreciated regardless of the line divisions. Even in the case of Greek poetry, which is metrical, a continuous (prose-like) translation has been chosen for Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and sections of tragedies, for only a poetic translation in English would really refl ect the verse structure. Line divisions are, therefore, retained here only in those translations written in English verse (e.g., B. B. Powell’s Homeric passages and F. Ahl’s Aeneid’s passages). Verse numbers in translations are often approximate and do not necessarily coincide exactly with the Greek divisions, as translators might break the lines diff erently for the sake of syntactical clarity.

Square brackets [ . . . ] indicate lacunae (gaps) in the text, whether these are a damaged word or a number of missing words, regardless of the length of the gap. When more than one line is missing, it is indicated by the translator or the editor. Other clarifi cations about the text or summaries of omitted sections are

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xxiv d N O T E O N T E X T A R R A N G E M E N T

also inserted in parentheses and italics outside the translation. A parenthetical clarifi cation is occasionally inserted in the translation by the translator or myself, for example, “the god (Apollo) said . . . ” That means the clarifi cation is not in the text but supplied when the reference is not clear.

d For the sake of simplicity, Near Eastern names and untranslatable words have

been transliterated without using special diacritical signs, which are used by experts to represent particular characters and sounds with no equivalent in English. Since nonspecialists would not know what to make of these marks, I have decided to omit them.

Recent trends increasingly favor avoiding the Latinization of Greek names. I have rendered Greek names as close to their original forms as possible (Tartaros, Kottos, Boiotia, and not the Latinized Tartarus, Cottus, Boeotia), allowing for occasional exceptions in the case of very well-known Latinized names (Cyprus not Kypros, Achilles not Achilleus). I have standardized this spelling across all Greek translations, maintaining the Latin renderings of Greek names (Aeneas, Olympus) only when they appear in the works of Latin authors.

d Despite appearances, the chronology and even labeling of historical periods in

the ancient world is not a settled matter. There are often alternative chronologies, higher or lower, for diff erent periods and cultures. Israel’s Iron Age, Greece’s “Dark Ages” and archaic period, and Egyptian chronology are perhaps the most notable areas of debate. For the sake of simplicity, I have followed “standard” chronologies as represented in the main reference books, avoiding the extreme positions and the debates around them. Dates for Egypt, for instance, follow the chronology in Shaw (2000: 479–483), Mesopotamian dates usually conform to the Middle Chronology, and for the dating of the books of the Hebrew Bible I have followed the introductions by experts in the Oxford Annotated Bible (2007, 4th ed.). For Greek texts, such as those composed by Homer and Hesiod for which there is chronological controversy, I have followed fairly well-accepted positions and indicated the main issues under debate.

Finally, I use the chronological indicators BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era) instead of BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini). BCE/CE is more often adopted by Near Eastern scholarship and seemed appropriate in a volume that bridges the fi elds of Classical and Near Eastern studies. Recent surveys of Greek history have also adopted BCE/CE, such as The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece (ed. A. Shapiro, 2007) and Blackwell’s History of the Archaic Greek World: ca. 1200– 479 BCE ( J. M Hall, 2007).

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A B OU T T H E E D I TO R d

CAROLINA LÓPEZ-RUIZ is Associate Professor of Classics at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She studied at the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain (Classics), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Chicago (Ph.D. 2005, Committee on the Ancient Mediterranean World). López- Ruiz has published articles on Greek and Near Eastern literatures and mythology and the Phoenician presence in the Iberian Peninsula. She is the co-editor of Colonial Encounters in Ancient Iberia: Phoenician, Greek, and Indigenous Relations (University of Chicago Press, 2009, with M. Dietler) and the author of When the Gods Were Born: Greek Cosmogonies and the Near East (Harvard University Press, 2010). She is currently preparing a monograph on the pre-Roman culture of Tartessos in the Iberian Peninsula with co-author S. Celestino (Oxford University Press) and is working on a book project on cultural contact across the “orientalizing” Mediterranean during the eighth–seventh centuries BCE.

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CO N T R I B U TO R S d

MARK ANDERSON is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of Classics at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has published articles on Socrates, Plato, and Nietzsche and is author of the book Pure: Modernity, Philosophy, and the One (Sophia Perennis, 2009).

MARY R. BACHVAROVA is Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. She has published articles on Hittite and Greek literature (especially poetry) and linguistics and co-edited the volume Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and Their Neighbors (with eds. B. J. Collins and M. Woodbridge, Oxbow Press, 2008). Her monograph From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Greek Epic is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press.

ALBERTO BERNABÉ is Professor in the Department of Greek Philology and Indo-European Linguistics at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. He is an expert in Greek religion and mythology as well as Indo-European and Hittite linguistics, on all of which he has published extensively. Among his works are Hieros logos: poesía órfi ca sobre los dioses, el alma y el más allá (Akal, 2003) and the latest edition of the Orphic fragments, Poetae Epici Graeci Testimonia et Fragmenta Pars II: Fasc. 1. Orphicorum et Orphicis similium testimonia (Bibliotheca Teubneriana, 2004).

ANDRÉS DIEGO ESPINEL is a tenured researcher at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Madrid, Spain. His work focuses on Egyptian activities outside the Nile Valley during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, on which he has published articles and the books Etnicidad y territorio en el Egipto del Reino Antiguo (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2006) and Abriendo los caminos de Punt: Contactos entre Egipto y el ámbito afroárabe durante la Edad del Bronce (ca. 3000 a.C.-1065 a.C.) (Editorial Bellaterra, 2011). He works as epigraphist for the Spanish–Egyptian mission at Dra Abu el-Naga, Luxor.

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xxviii C O N T R I B U T O R Sd

HANNE EISENFELD is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Classics at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, with an interdisciplinary specialization in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean. In her dissertation, “Only Mostly Dead: Immortality and Related States in Pindar’s Victory Odes,” she seeks to contextualize Pindar’s mythological narratives within the Greek religious landscape.

MIGUEL HERRERO DE JÁUREGUI is Assistant Professor in the Department of Greek Philology and Indo-European Linguistics at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. He has written articles on Greek epic and religion and is the author of Orphism and Christianity in Late Antiquity (De Gruyter, 2010) as well as a co-editor of Tracing Orpheus: Studies of Orphic Fragments (De Gruyter, 2011).

SAM MEIER is a Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of articles on Ugaritic and Hebrew languages and literatures and broader Near Eastern topics as well as the monographs The Messenger in the Ancient Semitic World (Society of Biblical Literature, 1988), Speaking of Speaking: Marking Direct Discourse in Biblical Hebrew (Brill, 1992), and Themes and Transformations in Old Testament Prophecy (InterVarsity, 2009).

BARRY B. POWELL is the Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a specialist in Homer and in the history of writing, as well as Greek mythology and Egyptian language and culture. He has published a number of widely used textbooks and handbooks on Classical myth and Greek civilization and is the author of Homer and the Origin of the Greek Alphabet (Cambridge, 1991) and Writing: Theory and History of the Technolog y of Civilization (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). His annotated translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

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dxxx

Period Mesopotamia Egypt

Early Bronze Age

3300–2000

3300–3100 Earliest forms of writing develop Sumerian culture

Dynasty of Akkad conquers Sumerian states (Sargon of Akkad, r. 2334–2279)

2300–2000 (Neo)-Sumerian Third Dynasty of Ur

3300–3100 Earliest forms of writing develop

3000–2686 Early Dynastic Period: political unifi cation

2686–2181 Old Kingdom

2181–2055 First Intermediate Period

Middle Bronze Age

2000–1550

Amorite Kingdoms

1800 Rise of Assyrian Empire in northern Mesopotamia (19th–18th centuries)

Old Babylonian Empire, southern Mesopotamia (Hammurabi of Babylon, r. 1792–1750)

Babylon sacked by Hittites (uncertain date)

2055–1650 Middle Kingdom

1650–1550 Second Intermediate Period (Hyksos Period)

Late Bronze Age

1550–1200

1365–1076 Assyrian Empire

1595–1155 Kassite Period in Babylon

Early versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enuma Elish, and other Mesopotamian literature in circulation during the second millennium

1550–1069 New Kingdom

Amarna Period (Akhenaten, 1352–1336)

Clashes with Hittites (Battle of Kadesh, 1274; Ramses XII: r. 1279–1213)

T I M E L I N E d

All dates are BCE unless noted. Dates, especially in the second and early fi rst millennia BCE, are approximate. (Written sources and artistic developments are indicated in italics; r. before dates stands for “ruled.”)

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xxxid

Anatolia, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel

Greece Italy

Hattians and other (pre-Indo- European and Indo-European) cultures in Anatolia

Syria-Palestine under Egyptian sphere of infl uence; city-states fl ourish

3000–1900 Early Minoan (Protopalatial) Period in Crete and Early Cycladic in Cycladic islands

1750 Rise of Hittite Empire

18th-century Proto-Sinaitic script: a “proto-alphabetic” script used to write a Canaanite language

1900–1600 Middle Helladic Period in mainland; Middle Cycladic in Cycladic islands

1600? Eruption of volcano on Thera (Santorini)

1900–1700 First Palatial period of Minoan civilization in Crete

1700–1450 Second Palatial Period Linear A script

Hittite Empire and Egypt compete for control of the Levant Hittite texts

Luwian culture attested in cuneiform and Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions down to the Iron Age

14th–12th centuries Canaanite state of Ugarit fl ourishes Ugaritic texts

ca. 1200 Destruction of Hattusa, Ugarit, and other Near Eastern city states

Troy/Ilion destroyed (Homer’s Trojan War?)

Exodus narrative situated roughly at this time

Mycenaean Civilization (Late Helladic Period)

1450 Mycenaean destruction of Minoan palaces

Linear B used in Crete and Mainland Greece to write Greek

1200–1100 destruction and abandonment of Mycenaean centers

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dxxxii

Period Mesopotamia Egypt

Iron Age

1200 –

(Divided into various

historical periods)

Assyrian expansion begins (Tiglath-pileser I: r. 1114–1076)

10th–7th centuries Neo–Assyrian Empire

Standard versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Enuma Elish, and Atrahasis

745–722 Assyrian expansion in the Levant

Rise of Babylonia: captures of Assyrian capital Niniveh (612)

586–539 Neo-Babylonian Empire

Invasion by Sea Peoples (Ramses III: r. 1184–1153), including Philistines

Egypt is conquered by Assyrians (671)

664–332 Late Period

Saite Dynasty, 664–525

T I M E L I N E (cont.)

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Anatolia, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel

Greece Italy

11th–7th centuries “Neo– Hittite” states in southeast Anatolia and Syria

Israelites and Philistines settle in Canaan

United monarchy of Israel (Saul, David, Solomon: late 11th–10th centuries) David and Goliath episode set in this time

Part of the Hebrew Bible may date from around this time; Early Hebrew inscriptions attested

Phoenician, Aramean, Moabite and other states fl ourish in the region Phoenician, Luwian, Aramaic inscriptions

925 Shishak I invades Palestine

Phoenician colonial expansion in the West begins

814 Foundation of Carthage

Phrygian empire in central Anatolia (high point 8th century)

701 Assyrian capture of Judah

586 Babylonian capture of Jerusalem

1100–700 Geometric Period or “Dark Age”

No written documents; Geometric style in art

1100 traditional date for “Dorian invasion”

1050 Greeks settle in coast of Asia Minor

776 First Olympic Games

750 Emergence of the polis (city-state) throughout Greece

750 Adoption of the Phoenician alphabet

750–600 Flourishing of the arts, orientalizing phenomenon

750 – Greek colonization begins in Southern Italy and Sicily

750–700 works by Homer and Hesiod

700–479 Archaic Period

Early 6th-century Lyric poets Sappho, Alcaeus; beginnings of Presocratic philosophy/natural philosophy and science

594 Solon’s reforms in Athens

1100–700 Villanovan culture in central–northern Italy

7th century Expansion of Etruscan culture

700 Etruscan alphabet (predecessor of Latin alphabet) is adopted from the Greeks

753 Foundation of Rome (Romulus and Remus)

753–509 Roman monarchic Period

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dxxxiv

Period Mesopotamia Egypt

Persian Period

(539–333) in the

East

Archaic to

Classical Period in

Greece

Etruscan culture and

Roman Republic in

Italy

Persian Empire established by (Cyrus II “The Great”: ca. 559–530)

539 Cyrus captures Babylon

525–404 First Persian Period

403–344 Short phase of Egyptian rule

343–332 Second Persian Period

T I M E L I N E (cont.)

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Anatolia, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel

Greece Rome

Lydian empire (Croesus) falls to Cyrus in 545

538 Israelite exiles return from Babylon

520–515 Second temple built (“Second Temple Period” begins)

(Part of the Hebrew Bible may have been redacted around this time)

546–510 Peisistratid tyranny in Athens

508 Democratic reforms in Athens by Kleisthenes

499–494 Ionian revolt against Persians

490 First Persian invasion (Darius); battle of Marathon

480–79 Second Persian invasion (Xerxes): battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataia

479–323 Classical Period

Athenian tragedians active: Aeschylus (484 on), Sophocles (460s on), Euripides (455 on)

Herodotos’ Histories: Mid-5th century

Pindar’s Odes: Early 5th century

478 Rise of Athenian Empire

462 Perikles’ democratic reforms in Athens

448 Parthenon’s construction starts

431–404 Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta and their allies (Athens defeated)

Thucydides writes his History of the Peloponnesian Wars

420s to 380s Aristophanes’ comedies

399 Trial and execution of Socrates; 385 Plato starts teaching in Athens

359 Rise of Macedonian Empire (Phillip II): controls Greece by 338

Etruscans dominate central Italy (until sack of Veii by Rome in 396)

509 Roman Republic begins

509 First treaty between Rome and Carthage

496 Rome fi ghts against the Latin League, continues expansion throughout Italy during 5th–4th centuries

390 Sack of Rome by Celts

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dxxxvi

Period Mesopotamia Egypt

Hellenistic Period

331 Alexander the Great captures Babylon

323 Alexander dies in Babylon

Seleucid kingdom

Conquered by Alexander the Great (campaigns 336–323)

Ptolemaic kingdom

Alexandria becomes a center for the arts and literature; Library founded in the early 3rd century

Apollonios Rhodios, poet and librarian, writes the Argonautika

T I M E L I N E (cont.)

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Anatolia, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel

Greece Rome

Various Hellenistic kingdoms divide Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine (Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Pergamon, Pontus, etc.)

3rd century Gauls settle in Galatia, central Asia Minor

Revolt of the Maccabees in Israel (167–164)

Hashmonean rule of Judah (165–137)

150–146 Siege and Destruction of Carthage

Pompey conquers the Levant (66–62)

336: Phillip II assassinated, Alexander becomes king and starts conquest of Persian Empire

323 Alexander’s death

Hellenistic Period Greece divided between kingdoms, cities, and leagues (e.g., Macedonia, Athens, Sparta, Achean and Aetolian Leagues)

214–167 series of Macedonian Wars with Rome

146 “Achaean War” with Rome; sack of Corinth: Rome gains control over Greece

264–241 First Punic War

237 Rome annexes Sardinia and Corsica

218–201 Second Punic War; Hannibal invades southern Italy; defeated at Zama (201) by Scipio Africanus; Rome annexes Sicily, parts of Iberia

146 Rome gains control over Greece

150–146 Siege and destruction of Carthage (Scipio Aemilianus)

Civil Wars between Marius and Sulla (80s) and Caesar and Pompey (40s)

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dxxxviii

Period Mesopotamia Egypt

Roman Empire

Parthia gradually assumes control

31 BCE–311 CE Roman Period

31 Octavian (Augustus) conquers Egypt (defeats Marc Anthony and Cleopatra VII at Actium)

T I M E L I N E (cont.)

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xxxixd

Anatolia, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel

Greece Rome

Herod the Great (r. 37 BCE–4 CE), rebuilds “Second Temple”

29 Augustus (re)founds Carthage as a Roman colony

Year 1 CE Conventional date for the birth of Jesus

First Jewish Revolt against Rome in Judah (66–73 CE), Second Temple destroyed by Titus (70 CE)

1st–2nd centuries CE: Philon of Byblos’ Phoenician History; Flavius Josephus’ works on Jewish history

Greece is a Roman province

(Greek continues as the offi cial and spoken language in Greece and all eastern Roman provinces)

Plutarch of Chaeronea, 46 –126 CE

49 Julius Caesar named dictator; assassinated in 44

Roman Empire begins with Octavian (now called Augustus; r. 27 BCE–14 CE)

Livy 59 BCE–17 CE Virgil 70 BCE–19 CE Ovid 43 BCE– 17 CE

Apuleius from Madaura, 125 CE–, writes The Golden Ass

Hadrian, r. 117–138 CE builds temple of Venus in Rome

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xlid

M A P S

d

0 500 km

0 500 mi

MYCENAEAN MYCENAEAN GREECE GREECE

ArgosArgos MycenaeMycenae

SpartaSparta

ThebesThebes

AthensAthens

A e g e a nA e g e a n S e aS e a

CRETE CYPRUS

M EDIA

BABYLONIA UMER

MITANNI

A SSYRIA

HURRIANS

LIBYA

EGYPT

KU

GUTIUM

SKY THIA

HAT TI

MYCENAEAN GREECE

LUWIANS

(HIT TITES)

ELAM

PER SIA

Danube Nile

Halys

Lake Van

Tigris

Euphrates

L o w e r E g y p t

S i n a i

U p p e r E g y p t

M e s o p o t a m

i a

A r a b i a

C an

aa nTyre Damascus

Ecbatana

Babylon Susa

On (Heliopolis)

Thebes

Syene (Elephantine)

Jerusalem

Aleppo

Sidon Gebal

KitionPaphos

Nineveh

Ashur

Ur

Nippur Isin

Uruk

Sippar

Hattusa

Kanesh

Ugarit

Alalakh

Argos Mycenae

SpartaPylos

Thebes

Athens Miletos

Troy (Wilusa?)

Knossos

Qadesh Mari

Akhetaten (Tell el-Amarna)

Memphis

Samal

R ed Sea

P e r s i a n G u l f

B l a c k S e a

A e g e a n S e a

C a s p i a n S e a

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a

Mt. Saphon

Mt. Olympos

M A P 1 d The Near East and the Aegean in the Late Bronze Age

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dxlii

R ed Sea

Pe r s i a n G u l f

C a s p i a n S e a

M e d i t e r r a n e a n S e a

CYPRUS RHODES

N ile

Euphrates

Tigris

Jordan

B A B Y L O N I A

PERSIA

M E D

I A

Q E

D A

R

LYDIA

P H R Y G I A (MUSHKI)

KARIA

IO N

IA

E L A M

A S S Y

R I A

U R A R T U

EDOM

MOAB

AMMONJUDAH SAMARIA

CILICIA

E G Y P T

Ecbatana

Nineveh Harran

Ashur

Ur

Dilmun

Susa Babylon

Nippur Uruk

Elat

Kuntillet Ajrud Memphis

Thebes

Gaza

Jerusalem

Tyre

Joppa

Damascus

Byblos Arvad

Salamis KitionPaphos

Hamath

Mt. Kasios (Saphon)

Sidon

Carchemish Sam’al

Tarsos

Gordion

Sardis

Halikarnassos

Ashkelon Lachish

0 250 km

0 250 mi

Assyrian Empire

Babylonian Empire

M A P 2 d The Near East during the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, eighth–sixth centuries BCE

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xliiid

I T

A L

Y

E G

Y P

T

L I

B Y

A

G R

E E

C E

I B

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(P O

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U G

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C YP

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EP IRO

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IS

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I A

TA U

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C H

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(C R

IM E

A )

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PHOE NICIA

(D ni

ep er

)

D an

ub e

Ti gri

s

Pa du

s (P

o)

Lo ire

Rhône

ag us

T

Se ine

D ur

iu s (

Du er

o) Ib

er

(E bro

)

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sth en

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(D on

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of Bi

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K er

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or in

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0 50

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G re

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dxliv

0 100 km

0 100 mi

MESSENIAMESSENIA

I O N

I A

PydnaPydna

OlympiaOlympia AthensAthens

EretriaEretria

KnidosKnidos

Miletos Miletos

SmyrnaSmyrna

HalikarnassosHalikarnassos

MytileneMytilene

KyzikosKyzikos AigospotamoiAigospotamoi

Mt. HelikonMt. Helikon

TroizenTroizen

I L

L Y

R I

A

ACHAIAELIS

M A

C E

D O

N I A

ARC AD

IA

MESSENIA LAKONIA

E U B

O I

ABOIOTIA

ATTICA

T R

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D

A I O

L I A

C H A L

K I D I

K E

HELLE SPONT

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P H R Y G I A

M Y S I A

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I O N

I A K A R I A

L Y K I A

P I S I

D I A

P H

R Y

G I A

G R

E A

T E

R

E P I R O S

T H E S S A L Y

T H R A C E

P E R S I A N E M P I R E

Abdera

Delphi

Olympia

Sparta

Argos

Troizen

Sikyon Corinth Athens

Thebes

Thermopylae

Chalkis Eretria

Gortyn

Rhodes

Lindos

Knidos

Sardis

Miletos

Ephesos

Kolophon

Smyrna

Halikarnassos

Mytilene

Phokaia Kyme

Kyzikos

Byzantion

Aigospotamoi

A e g e a n S e a

B l a c k S e a

Cape Tainaron

Cape Maleia

I o n i a n S e a

Maeander

Hermus

Gr an

icu s

M t . A t h o s Mt. Olympos

Mt. Parnassos

Mt. Helikon

K ER K Y RA

LEUKAS

K EPH A LLENI A

Z A K Y NTHOS

DELOS PA ROS

NA XOSSIPHNOS

K Y THERA THERA

AEGINA

SK Y ROS

LEM NOS TENEDOS

LESBOS

CHIOS

SA MOS

TH ASOS

CR ETE

R HODES

KOS

M A P 4 d Greece and the Aegean in Archaic-Classical times

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xlvd

N or

th Se

a

Bl ac

k Se

a

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pi an

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A T

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M e

d i

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(l os

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is M

ag na

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ru sa

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0 30

0 km

0 30

0 m

i

Se na

to ri

al p

ro vi

nc es

Im pe

ri al

p ro

vi nc

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lie nt

k in

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dxlvi

20

14

21

11

25

12

19 18

24 1

2 3

4 23

5

16

6 79

8

10

13

17

15

REGION

GRE AT WALL

MOUNTAIN

CIT Y

UR ARTU BABYLON

A SSYRIA

DER

SWAMP

SUSA

REGION

HABBAN

R

CIT Y

BIT YAKIN

CHANNEL

CE AN

CHANNEL

22

1. -[ú] 2. uru 3. ú-ra-áš-tu[m] 4. kur ki 5. dér( )ki 6. x-ra-[... 7. ap-pa-r[u[ 8. [ ] [n]([ .[ ]k[i?]) 9. bit-qu 10. bi t-ia-ə-ki-nu 11. uru 12. ha-ab-ban

ki

14. idmar-ra-tum 15. [(id)mar-ra-tum] 16. [(id)m]ar-ra-tum 17. mar-r[a-tum]

Mountain city Urartu Assyria Der

swamp Susa channel Bit Yakin city Habban Babylon ocean [ocean] [o]cean oce[an]

[6] bēru ina bi-rit

d

la innammaru (nu.igi.lá) 19. na-gu*-ú* 6 bēru ina bi-rit 20. [na-gu]-ú [(...) 21. [na]-gu-ú [(...) 22. na-gu-ú [8] bēru ina bi-rit 23-25. No inscription *Signs visible on early photographs

Great Wall 6 leagues in between where the Sun is not seen

Region 6 leagues in between [Regio]n [(...) [Re]gion [(...) Region 8 leagues in between

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INDIA

AR ABIA

A S

I A

E U R

O P E

L I B Y A Nile

Tigris Euphrates

I ster ( D anube) T an

ais ( Don)

Oxus

Jaxartes

Syr Darya

IndusTA UR

US PARNASSUS CAUCASUS PAROPAM IS

U S

R ed Sea

P e r s i a n G u l f

B l a c k S e a

C a s p i a n

Aral

A T

L A

N T

I C

O

C

E A

N

O

C E

A

N

A N C I E N T M A P S

M A P 6 d The earliest surviving world maps are from Babylon. World maps, such as the famous example now in the British Museum, served as inspiration for

the Greek ones. This is a schematic rendering of the map. It represents the known

world from the perspective of Babylon, with labels written in Akkadian. As in

Hecateus’ map, the Ocean, in the shape of a cosmic river, surrounds the Earth,

with regions or islands falling outside the map perhaps representing mythological

regions (perhaps of the Netherworld?). This map was found in Sippar (southern

Iraq) and dates to the late fi fth century BCE.

M A P 7 d Map of the ancient world based on the one designed by Hecataeus of Miletos (Gr. Hekataios, b. 550 BCE). Hecataeus was among the fi rst geographers-

ethnographers, and his work Travels around the Earth was illustrated by cartography.

According to Herodotos of Halikarnassos, such a map was engraved in bronze

and carried off from Miletos to Sparta during the Ionian revolt against Persia.

The map shows the widespread belief that the world was surrounded by the River

Ocean (Okeanos). The idea of the world encircled by water shaped eschatological

narratives throughout antiquity.

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