Dick Caldwell's Greek Myths
| There is no true, or correct, version of Greek myth (although the Greek Ministry of Culture evidently thought so when they accused Disney Animation of creating a false version of the ancient myth in the movie Hercules). During antiquity the myths were constantly changing; in the field of drama alone, the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides all wrote versions of famous myths (Oedipus or Orestes, for example) which differed not only from the other dramatists but also from the earlier stories found in epic poetry. So I make no claim that my version is the only true or correct one. My only claim is that I have considered all the available variants, and chosen those which seemed to me most enduring and coherent. In other words, if someone asked me to tell them a Greek myth, the versions here are what I would say. -Dick Caldwell | ||
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The late and legendary Dick Caldwell was Professor Emeritus of Classics, USC and held other positions at the Universities of Minnesota, Texas, and Colorado. He was consultant to Disney's "Hercules," author of Hesiod's Theogony, The Origin of the Gods, Vergil's Aeneid, and wrote dozens of articles on subjects ancient and modern. Along with books and articles about antiquity (and other subjects) and he took people on unconventional tours to the eastern Mediterranean for 25 consecutive years. He was (for what it's worth) the world's leading authority on the psychoanalytic study of antiquity and the secret meaning behind all the Greek myths. He was responsible for leading the most Dionysian, educational, enlightening tours of Greece and Turkey and he died in a hail of bullets, or a lightning strike from Zeus himself. Perhaps the Gods were jealous. As I wrote in 2009: "The Dick Caldwell legend has as much to do with his ability to drink some of the best minds under the table in the course of leading them through all night discussions as it has to do with anything he has written. We are too late for Socrates but we still have Dick. People who go on his tours come back changed." Rest in Peace Dick Caldwell. Or better still I hope wherever you are you are still shaking things up.-Matt Barrett Unfortunately Dick passed away before we could finish this so if you feel qualified and have myths to add please e-mail me. I am sure Dick would not mind. |
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