Editing Bibliotheca (Apollodorus)

{{Short description|Compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Bibliotheke des Apollodor.JPG|thumb|The title page of [[Étienne Clavier]]'s 1805 edition and French translation of the ''Bibliotheca'']]
The '''''Bibliotheca''''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: {{langx|grc|Βιβλιοθήκη|lit=Library|translit=Bibliothēkē|label=none}}), is a [[compendium]] of [[Greek mythology|Greek myths]] and heroic legends, genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The work is commonly described as having been written by '''Apollodorus''' (or sometimes '''Pseudo-Apollodorus'''), a result of its false attribution to the 2nd-century BC scholar [[Apollodorus of Athens]].

== Overview ==
The ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus is a comprehensive collection of myths, genealogies and histories that presents a continuous history of [[Greek mythology]] from the earliest gods and the origin of the world to the death of [[Odysseus]].<ref name=":06">{{harvtxt|Aldrich|1975|pp=1–4}}.</ref> The narratives are organized by genealogy, chronology and geography in summaries of myth.<ref name=":06"/><ref>Fletcher, K. F. B. 2008. "Systematic Genealogies in Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and the Exclusion of Rome from Greek Myth." ''Classical Antiquity'' 27:59–91. {{JSTOR|10.1525/ca.2008.27.1.59}}.</ref> The myths are sourced from a wide number of sources like early epic, early Hellenistic poets, and mythographical summaries of tales.<ref name=":06"/> [[Homer]] and [[Hesiod]] are the most frequently named along with other poets.<ref name=":22">Kenens, Ulrike. 2011. "The Sources of Ps.-Apollodorus' Library: A Case Study." ''Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica'' 97:129–46. {{JSTOR|23048902}}.</ref> Oral tradition and the plays written by [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]] and [[Euripides]] also factored into the compilation of myth in the ''Bibliotheca''.<ref name=":06"/><ref>Huys, Marc. 1997. "Euripides and the Tales from Euripides: Sources of Apollodoros' Bibliotheca?" ''Rheinisches Museum'' 140 308–27.</ref> The ''Bibliotheca'' was written in the first or second century CE by an author who is referred to as Pseudo-Apollodorus to differentiate from Apollodorus of Athens, who did not write the ''Bibliotheca''.<ref name=":15">Diller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp. 199–216 in ''Studies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,'' edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert.</ref> Most extant manuscripts of the text end during the narration of [[Theseus]]'s exploits, with there surviving only two codices, discovered in the 19th century, which transmit the remainder of the work.<ref name=":06"/> In the later scholarship it is used as a reference material.<ref name=":06"/>

== Authorship ==
A certain "Apollodorus" is indicated as author on some surviving manuscripts,<ref name=":15"/> this Apollodorus has been mistakenly identified with [[Apollodorus of Athens]] (born {{circa|180 BC}}E), a student of [[Aristarchus of Samothrace]] who also worked in Alexandria. It is known—from references in the minor [[scholia]] on Homer—that Apollodorus of Athens did leave a similar comprehensive repertory on mythology, in the form of a verse chronicle.<ref name=":15"/> The mistaken attribution was made by scholars following mention of the name by [[Photius I of Constantinople]], though Photius did not name him as the Athenian and the name was in common use at the time.<ref name=":06"/> For chronological reasons, Apollodorus of Athens could not have written the book, the author of the ''Bibliotheca'' is at times referred to as the "Pseudo-Apollodorus", to distinguish him from Apollodorus of Athens.<ref name=":15"/> Modern works often simply call him "Apollodorus".<ref name=":06"/> The work is generally dated to the first or second centuries AD.<ref>{{harvtxt|Hard|2004|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA3 p. 3]}}; ''Perseus Encyclopedia'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D13%3Aentry%3Dapollodorus "Apollodorus (4)"]; {{harvtxt|Simpson|1976|loc=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater p. 1]}}.</ref>

== Manuscript tradition ==
The first mention of the work is by Photius, patriarch of [[Constantinople]] in 9th century CE, in his "account of books read".<ref name=":06"/> The last section of the ''Bibliotheca'' which breaks off during the section on Theseus is missing in surviving manuscripts, Photius had the full work and mentions that the lost section had myths about the heroes of the [[Trojan War]].<ref name=":06"/> Byzantine author [[John Tzetzes|John Tzetes]], who lived in Constantinople in the twelfth century, often cited the ''Bibliotheca'' in his writings.<ref name=":15"/> It was almost [[Lost literary work|lost]] in the 13th century, surviving in one now-incomplete manuscript,<ref>[[Bibliothèque nationale]], Paris.</ref> which was copied for [[Cardinal Bessarion]] in the 15th century.<ref group="lower-roman">Bessarion's copy, deposited in the [[Biblioteca Marciana]], Venice, found its way into the Greek manuscripts of [[William Laud|Archbishop Laud]] and came with them to the [[Bodleian Library]] in 1636. (Diller 1935:308, 310).</ref> Any surviving manuscripts of the ''Bibliotheca'' are descended from a fourteenth century manuscript in the [[Bibliothèque nationale de France]], in Paris.<ref name=":06"/>

== Printed editions ==
The first printed edition of the ''Bibliotheca'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus was published in [[Rome]] in 1555.<ref name=":15"/> [[Benedetto Egio]] (Benedictus Aegius) of [[Spoleto]], was the first to divide the text in three books.<ref group="lower-roman">He based his division on attributions in the [[Homeric scholarship|''scholia minora'' on Homer]] to Apollodorus, in three books. ({{harvtxt|Diller|1935|loc=pp. 298, 308&ndash;9}}).</ref> {{ill|Hieronymus Commelinus|fr}} published an improved text at [[Heidelberg]], 1559. The first text based on comparative manuscripts was that of [[Christian Gottlob Heyne]], [[Göttingen]], 1782–83. Subsequent editions Jurgen Muller (1841) and Richard Wagner (1894) collated earlier manuscripts.<ref name=":15"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Richard |title=Mythographi Graeci: Apollodorus .Bibliotheca; Pediasimi Libellus De Duodecim Herculis Labores |publisher=Nabu Press |year=1894 |isbn=978-1142820275 |publication-date=2010 |language=Ancient Greek, German |trans-title=Greek mythology: Bibliotheca of Apollodorus, a small book of the twelve labors of Hercules}}</ref><ref name=":06"/> In 1921 [[James George Frazer|Sir James George Frazer]] published an epitome of the book by conflating two manuscript summaries of the text,<ref>[[James George Frazer|Frazer, James G.]] 1913. ''Apollodorus.'' [[Loeb Classical Library]].</ref> which included the lost section.

== Scholarship ==
The ''Bibliotheca'' has been referenced in scholarship throughout history. As a mythographical work it has influenced scholarship on Greek mythology.<ref>{{harvtxt|Diller|1935|loc=pp. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/283301?seq=1 296], [https://www.jstor.org/stable/283301?seq=5 300]}}.</ref> An [[epigram]] recorded by the important intellectual Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople expressed its purpose:<ref group="lower-roman">Victim of its own suggestions, the [[Epigraph (literature)|epigraph]], ironically, does not survive in the manuscripts. For the classic examples of [[epitome]]s and [[encyclopedia]]s substituting in Christian hands for the literature of [[Classical Antiquity]] itself, see [[Isidore of Seville]]'s ''[[Etymologiae]]'' and [[Martianus Capella]].</ref><blockquote>It has the following not ungraceful epigram: 'Draw your knowledge of the past from me and read the ancient tales of learned [[Folklore|lore]]. Look neither at the page of [[Homer]], nor of [[Elegiacs|elegy]], nor [[Greek tragedy|tragic muse]], nor [[Epic poetry|epic strain]]. Seek not the vaunted verse of the [[Epic Cycle|cycle]]; but look in me and you will find in me all that the world contains'.</blockquote>Photius is one of the first surviving reviews of the use of the ''Bibliotheca'' in the field.<ref name=":15"/> Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries CE, the ''Bibliotheca'' was referred to in scholarship about Ancient Greece most often found in letters from scholars of the time.<ref name=":15" /> Much of the modern scholarship on the work has focused on the interpretation of its manuscripts by various translators and compilers of the ''Bibliotheca'' in later editions.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":22"/> A critical view of past interpretations, compilations, and organization has also been a source of contention. The sources of information that may have informed the creation of the ''Bibliotheca'' are also studied in the modern scholarship.<ref name=":22" /> The question of authorship is another area of study that has shaped the interpretation of the work throughout history.<ref name=":06"/>

== See also ==
* {{portal-inline|Ancient Greece}}

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}

=== Citations ===
{{reflist|35em}}

=== Works cited ===
* {{citation|last=Aldrich|first=Keith|title=The Library of Greek Mythology|year=1975|publisher=Coronado Press|location=Lawrence, Kansas|isbn=0872910725}}
* {{citation|last=Diller|first=Aubrey|title=The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus|year=1935|journal=[[Transactions of the American Philological Association|Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association]]|volume=66|pages=296–313|doi=10.2307/283301 |jstor=283301}}
* Diller, Aubrey. 1983. "The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus." Pp.&nbsp;199–216 in ''Studies in Greek Manuscript Tradition,'' edited by A. Diller. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert. {{ISBN|902560837X}}.
* Dowden, Ken. 1992. ''The Uses of Greek Mythology.'' London: [[Routledge]]. {{ISBN|978-0-415-06135-3}}. [https://archive.org/details/TheUsesOfGreekMythology/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* Fletcher, K. F. B. 2008. "Systematic Genealogies in Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca and the Exclusion of Rome from Greek Myth." ''[[Classical Antiquity (journal)|Classical Antiquity]]'' 27:59–91. {{JSTOR|10.1525/ca.2008.27.1.59}}.
* Hard, Robin. 1997. ''Apollodorus: The Library of Greek Mythology''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. {{ISBN|978-0-199-53632-0}}.
* {{citation|last=Hard|first=Robin|title=The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"|year=2004|edition=7th|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-18636-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC}}
* Higbie, Carolyn. 2007. "Hellenistic Mythographers." Pp.&nbsp;237–54 in ''The Cambridge Companion to Greek Mythology'', edited by R. D. Woodard. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|9780521845205}}.
* Huys, Marc. 1997. "Euripides and the Tales from Euripides: Sources of Apollodoros' Bibliotheca?" ''Rheinisches Museum'' 140 308–27. {{JSTOR|41234289}}.
* Kenens, Ulrike. 2013. "Text and Transmission of Ps.-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca: Avenues for Future Research." Pp. 95–114 in ''Writing Myth: Mythography in the Ancient World'', edited by S. M. Trzaskoma and R. S. Smith. Leuven, Belgium: [[Peeters (publishing company)|Peeters]]. {{ISBN|9789042929111}}.
* Kenens, Ulrike. 2011. "The Sources of Ps.-Apollodorus' Library: A Case Study." ''Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica'' 97:129–46. {{JSTOR|23048902}}.
* Scully, Stephen. 2015. "Echoes of the Theogony in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods." In ''Hesiod's 'Theogony', From Near Eastern Creation Myths to 'Paradise Lost'.'' New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780190253967}}.
* {{citation|editor-last=Simpson|editor-first=Michael|title=Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The "Library" of Apollodorus|year=1976|publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]]|location=Amherst|isbn=978-0-870-23206-0|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069/page/n3/mode/2up?view=theater}}
* {{citation|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=R. Scott|editor2-last=Trzaskoma|editor2-first=Stephen M.|year=2007|title=Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology|location=Indianapolis, Indiana|publisher=Hackett Publishing|isbn=978-0-87220-820-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s8pgDwAAQBAJ}}
* Trzaskoma, Stephen. 2013. "Citation, Organization and Authorial Presence in Ps.-Apollodorus’ Bibliotheca." Pp. 75–94 in ''Writing Myth: Mythography in the Ancient World'', edited by S. M. Trzaskoma and R. S. Smith. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters. {{ISBN|9789042929111}}.
* Trzaskoma, Stephen M. and R. Scott Smith. 2008. "Hellas in the Bibliotheke of Apollodorus." ''Philologus'' 152(1):90–6. {{DOI|10.1524/phil.2008.0016}}.

== External links ==
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Bibliotheca |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|el|Ψευδο-Απολλόδωρος|(Ψευδο-)Ἀπολλόδωρος}}
* [https://archive.org/details/apollodoruslibra01apol/page/n5 ''Apollodorus The Library translated by J. G. Frazer'']
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/searchresults?q=apollodorus&redirect=true Works by Apollodorus at Perseus Digital Library]
* ''Mythographoi. Scriptores poetiace historiae graeci'', Antonius Westermann (ed.), Brunsvigae sumptum fecit Georgius Westermann, 1843, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2UFCAQAAMAAJ pagg. 1-123].
* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ig9qwI7Uy80C Apollodori Bibliotheca]'', [[Immanuel Bekker]] (ed.), Lipsiae sumptibus et typis B. G. Teubneri, 1854.
* ''Mythographi graeci'', Richardus Wagner (ed.), vol. 1, Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1894: [https://archive.org/stream/mythographigrae02libegoog#page/n81/mode/2up pp. 1-169] (the epitome in [https://archive.org/stream/mythographigrae02libegoog#page/n251/mode/2up pp. 171-237]).
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.1.1 Apollodorus, The Library translated by J. G. Frazer]
* [https://perswww.kuleuven.be/~u0013314/apollodorus/index.htm Apollodorus the Mythographer]
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html Online text: Apollodorus The Library translated by J. G. Frazer] (condensed text)
*{{cite book  | last =Michels  | first =Johanna Astrid  | title =Agenorid Myth in the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus: A Philological Commentary of Bibl. III.1-56 and a Study Into the Composition and Organization of the Handbook  | publisher =De Gruyter  | date =2022 | language =English | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=rbWbEAAAQBAJ | isbn = 9783110610529 | accessdate=2024-08-25}}

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[[Category:Ancient Greek pseudepigrapha]]
[[Category:1st-century books]]
[[Category:2nd-century books]]
[[Category:References on Greek mythology]]