Retelling Myths in Greek and Roman Art: Essay titles
These essay titles are deliberately broad, to allow you to focus in on discussion of particular
aspects which interest you. Remember also to check LIMC and online databases to
search for materials.
- How and why was the Gigantomachy represented in sacred art and architecture in
the sixth and fifth centuries BC?
The Siphnian treasury, Delphi:
Watrous, L. (1982) ‘The Sculptural Program of the Siphnian Treasury at Delphi’, American
Journal of Archaeology, 86.2: 159-72. https://doi.org/10.2307/504829
Neer, R. (2001) ‘Framing the Gift: the Politics of the Siphnian Treasry at Delphi’, Classical
Antiquity 20.2 (2001), 273-344. https://doi.org/10.1525/ca.2001.20.2.273.
Athens:
Castriota, D. (1992) Myth, Ethos and Actuality, ch. 4, esp 138-43.
Barringer, J. (2008) Art, Myth and Ritual in Classical Greece, ch 2. (online scan)
Moore, Mary B. (1979) ‘Lydos and the Gigantomachy.’ American Journal of Archaeology 83,
no. 1: 79–99. www.jstor.org/stable/504238. Accessed 8 Sept. 2021. (re a vase
dedicated on Athenaian acropolis)
Tamatopoulou, Zoe. 2012 ‘Weaving titans for Athena: Euripides and the panathenaic peplos (Hec.
466-74 and it 218-24)’ The Classical quarterly 62, no. 1 (2012): 72-80. Http://
www.jstor.org/stable/41819996. - Discuss the representation of scenes from the Trojan War on ancient pottery.
Carpenter, T. (1991) Art and Myth in Ancient Greece, ch 9.
Carpenter, T. (2015) ‘The Trojan War in Early Greek Art’ in M. Fantuzzi and C. Tsagelis eds., The
Greek Epic Cycle and its Ancient Reception. E-book.
Lowenstam, S. (2008) As witnessed by images, the Trojan war tradition in Greek and Etruscan Art. - Ch 1.
Morris, S. P. (2014) ‘Helen re-claimed, Troy re-visited: scenes of Troy in Archaic Greek Art’ in
Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative, and Function, eds., A.
Avramidou and D. Demetriou e-book.
Shapiro, H. A. (1994) Myth into Art, Ch 2. E-book
Snodgrass, A. (1988) Homer and the Artists.
Woodford, S. (1993) The Trojan War in ancient Art - Discuss the significance and representation of either Herakles or Theseus in Greek art
Barringer, J. (2008) Art, Myth and Ritual in Classical Greece, See index
Boardman, J. (2001/2007)The history of Greek Vases, ch. 6 (online on reading list)
Carpenter, T. (1991) Art and Myth in Ancient Greece, chs 6 and 7.
Hurwit, J. (1985) The Art and Culture of Early Greece, esp 311f. Scan requested for reading list.
Neer, R. (2004) ‘The Athenian Treasury at Delphi and the Material of Politics’, Classical
Antiquity, vol. 23, no. 1: 63–93, https://doi.org/10.1525/ca.2004.23.1.63.
Rawlings, L. and H. Bowden eds. (2005), Herakles and Hercules : exploring a Graeco-Roman
divinity. E-book.
Shapiro, H. A. (1991). ‘Theseus: Aspects of the Hero in Archaic Greece’. Studies in the History of
Art, 32, 122–139. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42620663
Stafford, E. (2012) Herakles. E-book.
von den Hoff, R. (2009) ‘Herakles ,Theseus and the Athenian Treasury at Delphi’, in P. Schultz
and R von den Hoff eds., Structure, image, ornament : architectural sculpture in the
Greek world e-book.
Von den Hoff, R. (2010). ‘MEDIA FOR THESEUS, OR: THE DIFFERENT IMAGES OF THE
ATHENIAN POLIS-HERO’, in L. Foxhall; H.-J. Gehrke and N. Luraghi eds., Intentional
History – Spinning Time in Ancient Greece, Stuttgart 2010: 161-188. Available online
at https://d-nb.info/1232662259/34
Walker, H. J. (1995) Theseus and Athens, e-book (on literary reps, but useful for background). - Why were mythological women so popular as a subject for Roman wall-paintings?
Bergmann, B. (1996) ‘The Pregnant Moment’ in N. Kampen ed., Sexuality in Ancient Art. Scan on
reading list.
Bergmann, B. (2017) ‘The Lineup: Passion, Transgression, and Mythical Women in Roman
Painting’, EuGeStA 7: 199-246. https://eugesta-revue.univ-lille.fr/pdf/2017/7.BergmannEugesta-7_2017.pdf
Elsner, J. (2007) ‘Viewing Ariadne: From Ekphrasis to Wall Painting in the Roman World,’
Classical Philology 102.1: 20–44.
Fredrick, D. (1995) ‘Beyond the Atrium to Ariadne: Erotic Painting and Visual Pleasure in the
Roman House’, Classical Antiquity 14.2. 266-288.
Hales, S. (2008) ‘Aphrodite and Dionysus: Greek Role Models for Roman Homes?,’ in S. Bell
and I. L. Hansen eds., Role models in the Roman World. 235–255.
Ling, R. (1991) Roman Painting, Cambridge. passim
Lorenz, K. (2008) Bilder machen Räume. English summary at 461-4.
Newby, Z. (2016) Greek Myths in Roman Art and Culture. Ch 4. E-book.
Platt, V. (2002) ‘Viewing, Desiring, Believing: Confronting the Divine in a Pompeian House,’
Art History 25: 87-112. - Why were myths chosen to decorated Roman sarcophagi in the second and third
centuries AD?
D’Ambra, E. (1988) ‘A Myth for a Smith: A Meleager Sarcophagus from a Tomb in
Ostia’, American Journal of Archaeology 92: 85-99
Elsner, J and Huskinson, J. eds, Life, Death and Representation: Some New Work on Roman
Sarcophagi, esp chapters by Lorenz and Newby.
Elsner, J and Hung, W. (2012) eds., RES 61/62 Special Edition on Sarcophagi. Esp papers by
Ewald, Zanker, Platt and Elsner.
Koorbojian, M. (1995) Myth, Meaning and Memory on Roman Sarcophagi . e-book.
Newby, Z. (2014) ‘Poems in Stone: Reading Mythological Sarcophagi through Statius’
Consolations’, in Art and Rhetoric in Roman Culture, ed. J. Elsner and M. Meyer
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 256-87
Newby, Z. (2016) Greek Myths in Roman Art and Culture, 2016. Ch 6. E-book.
Wood, S. (1978) ‘Alcestis on Roman Sarcophagi’, American Journal of Archaeology 82(4): 499-510
Zanker, P. and Ewald, B. (2012) Living with myths: The imagery of Roman sarcophagi (Oxford:
Oxford University Press)
