The Oxford Handbook of Monsters in Classical Myth

Abstract

This volume presents forty chapters about the unique and terrifying creatures from myths of the long-ago Near East and Mediterranean world, featuring authoritative contributions by many of the top international experts on ancient monsters and the monstrous. An introduction by the editor provides an overview of monster theory as applied throughout the book. The four parts of the Handbook bring together original studies of individual monsters, tales of monstrous peoples and animals from folklore and ethnography, interpretations of classical monsters from multiple perspectives, and the reception of these monsters across time and space. Aside from informing us about how ancient peoples perceived their environment and interacted with it, the monsters of classical myth constantly provide us with examples for new approaches to ancient material. Readers will find famously familiar monsters not only in their original contexts of two and three thousand years ago, but also in relation to their relevance for the modern world. This Handbook is the first large-scale, inclusive guide to monsters in antiquity, their places in literature and art across the millennia, and their influence on later literature and thought.