There is no single source for mythology. An answer must be verifiable in one of the following dictionaries [see below] or in an original source. Questions based on a particular author's variant version of a myth will be so stated: e.g., "according to Ovid" or "in Euripides."Therefore, if you have not yet read The Iliad, The Aeneid, and The Odyssey, I recommend doing so sometime between 0.5 and 2 in the progression. Fortunately, the recommended sources below are generally sufficient for novice and intermediate level teams. Advanced level teams differ in how they negotiate the uncertainty of which original sources to study (in fact, some teams don't study any original sources!).
All of the mythology sources below that are in print are available as paperbacks. For your convenience I've linked each of the titles to a comparison shopper, Bestwebbuys.com. You may also be interested in trying some of the study questions that have been written for some of the sources.
| Ordo | Title | Author or Editor | Certamen | Academic Contest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classical Mythology, 6th edition | Mark Morford and Robert Lenardon | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology formerly Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology | Edward Tripp | Yes | Yes |
| 3 | Dictionary of Classical Mythology | Pierre Grimal | Yes | No |
| 4 | Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology | Michael Grant and John Hazel | Yes | No |
Nota bene for certamen: The Oxford Classical Dictionary 2nd edition remains the summa auctoritas for certamen, though some entries may be taken from the new entries of the 3rd edition. Most OCD references on the Certamen Questions Database are to the 3rd edition, the only one to which I have ready access. Hopefully there aren't too many discepancies between the editions.
Nota bene for academic contests: According to the NJCL information packet, these are "suggested sources and are not to be considered definitive ones."
Please remember that question sources vary from state to state. The following texts are or have been used as sources at some regional and state competitions. The position relative to the progression above is also noted.
| Ordo | Title | Author | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | The Age of Fable (or Stories of Gods and Heroes) | Thomas Bulfinch | click title for the full online text |
| 0.5 | Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes | Edith Hamilton | widely regarded as the first text in the progression |
| 5 | The Greek Myths | Robert Graves | an exhaustive reference |
© Bradford Duncan 2000-2002