Myth and Society

Abstract

Abstract What is the relevance or importance of Greek mythology in the vast world of the Roman empire? Moderns are understandably drawn to the way Roman poets and artists make use of particular myths: the vogue (for example) for the myth of the Golden Age in Catullus, Vergil, and Horace; the political exploitation of the gigantomachy myth for the victories of the princeps; more generally, the use of myth as source of imagery and exemplarity; or myth as allegory (whether physical, spiritual, or moral) in the essayists and philosophers; the development of certain mythical figures through different ages and literatures (the Ulysses theme, the Heracles theme, and so on); the sometimes puzzling myths chosen to decorate Roman sarcophagi. I myself have long been fascinated by the extraordinary vogue for the childhood rather than manhood of Achilles in the literature and (above all) art of the empire. No less intriguing in a different way is the negative attraction the old myths held for early Christians, who insisted on taking them literally, so that they could attack pagans for having unworthy gods (adulterers, parricides, crybabies). Obviously this can be seen as a sort of perverse tribute to their continuing power.