List of characters in Greek mythology

The list of figures in Greek mythology contains all figures in Greek mythology known by name through literary or inscribed evidence . These include gods, demigods, hybrid beings or monsters, as well as human figures or animals that appear in myth. Nicknames, alternative names and group names are also included.

At first glance, this list is confusing and confusing, because the alphabetical order is incoherent in terms of content. But the list documents a huge world of thought and shows subtleties of mythology:

• the variety of Greek legends (examples: Zeus , Minotauros , Odysseus )
• the long periods with independent authors (examples: Homer , Pausanias )
• the parallel cultures, states and islands, which with local pride claim important gods and heroes for themselves (examples: Crete , Sparta , Troy )
• the works that are only visible today in fragments or quotations.

Due to the loss of books in late antiquity , this list naturally remains incomplete; the web link at the end provides an overview in CSV format.

The genealogies were linked again and again. This is one reason why the parents, wives and children of a figure are not always unique (example: Pelasgos ). A second lies in the competing myths, starting with countless giants and titans :

• several variants from contact with neighboring peoples of Greece (example: Scythians , Persians , Libyans )
• a tendency to outdo and exaggerate (example: 50 Danaids who had 50 cousins)
• invented family trees (examples: kings of Sicyon )
• Personification of objects and ensouling nature (example: river god )
• Synonyms , homonyms and mixtures (examples: Aiolos as ancestor or god of the wind , the Trojan Iphidamas is called in the war the same as a Greek).

Third, understanding is an intellectual process. This begins with the written original, it translates into the mother tongue and follows the mental and artistic representations. This development ends after discussions with a generally accepted interpretation with comparable figures. Some keywords explain contradicting texts:

• various dialects in the inscriptions, vases and coins found (example: Phäaken )
• Errors when copying by hand or recording the oral certificates (example: Perimede or Perimele with Δ or Λ )
• Nuances in repeated Translate (Example: The Metamorphoses of Ovid are written in Latin, some topics come from non-Greek families)
• ongoing change of language, then as now (examples: the German of the 19th century is written by the Führer , we prefer the leader , then the phonetic change between e, a and o ).

The list will contain over 10,000 characters, which is a very large number even for interested readers. In the article Deukalion is a sketch for a possible family tree. The ancient Greek spelling is right behind the German transliteration, because it is the name of the figure. The ancient Greeks, meaning the Έλληνες , spoke and wrote ancient Greek.

proof

The main source of the myth and a reference to a relevant reference work are sufficient as evidence, if available. The following is particularly useful for this:

• Link to the articles of Paulys Realencyclopadie der Classischen Antiquity (RE) available in Wikisource .
• Link to the digitized version of the detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology (Roscher with volume, column and part of the article).
• When using non-digitized RE articles or other reference works such as the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), the volume, page and column numbers must also be given.

The list of abbreviations of ancient authors and work titles is a tool for resolving abbreviations in scientific texts. It follows the guideline for “ citing ancient and medieval authors and works ”. The New Pauly (DNP) list of abbreviations has established itself as the standard in German-speaking countries .

Often in the works sv . This Latin abbreviation is explained in the article sv with sub voce , in German: "under this (key) word". It has been in use since the 16th century and refers to alphabetically arranged reference works. Further abbreviations can be found in the portal: Abbreviations / Common Abbreviations .

literature

• Extensive lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Teubner, Leipzig 1886–1937
• Paulys Realencyclopedia of Classical Antiquity . Metzler, Stuttgart 1893–1980
• Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae . Artemis-Verlag, Zurich, Munich 1981–1999

Web link

The list of around 6600 characters can be used directly via this web link (1200 kB, as of August 18, 2019, CSV format utf-8).