Myths and Tragedies in their Ancient Greek Contexts - Hardcover

The book is a worthwhile addition to the mythological collection of a university library ... For the graduate student or the uninitiated scholar, this should be required reading, as a paradeigma for the development of scholarly insight over a long period of time. To use an oft-quoted phrase of Buxton's, this book is 'good to think with'. (Christina A. Salowey, Classical Association Online)

This work brings together eleven of Richard Buxton's studies of Greek mythology and Greek tragedy, focusing especially on the interrelationship between the two, and their importance to the Greeks themselves.

Situating and contextualising topics and themes, such as mountains, (were)wolves, mythological names, movement/stillness, blindness, and feminization, within the world of ancient Greece - its landscapes, social and moral priorities, and mental structures - he traces the intricate variations and retellings which they underwent in Greek antiquity. Although each chapter has appeared in print in some form before, each has been thoroughly revised for the present book, taking into account recent research. The introduction sets out the principles and objectives which underlie Buxton's approach to Greek myths, and how he sees his own method in relation to those of his predecessors and contemporaries.