Developing an ontology for Greek mythology

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to illustrate the development of ontology for the heroes of the ancient Greek mythology and religion. At present, a number of ontologies exist in different domains. However, ontologies of epics and myths are comparatively very few. To be more specific, nobody has developed such ontology for Greek mythology. This paper describes the attempts at developing ontology for Greek mythology to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachThis paper follows a combination of different methodologies, which is assumed to be a more effective way of developing ontology for mythology. It has adopted motivating scenario concept from Gruninger and Fox, developing cycle from Methontology and the analytico–synthetic approach from yet another methodology for ontology, and hence, it is a combination of three existing approaches.FindingsA merged methodology has been adopted for this paper. The developed ontology was evaluated and made to meet with the information needs of its users. On the basis of the study, it was found that Greek mythology ontology could answer 62 per cent of the questions after first evaluation, i.e. 76 out of the 123 questions. The unanswered questions were analyzed in detail for further development of the ontology. The missing concepts were fed into the ontology; the ontology obtained after this stage was an exhaustive one.Practical implicationsThis ontology will grow with time and can be used in semantic applications or e-learning modules related to the domain of Greek mythology.Originality/valueThis work is the first attempt to build ontology for Greek mythology. The approach is unique in that it has attempted to trace out the individual characteristics as well as the relationship between the characters described in the work.