The Source for All Your Greek Mythology Facts: Theoi.com
Greek mythology facts might sound like an oxymoron (does something have to have happened to be a fact?), but there are stories and events that occured in the surviving ancient sources, and other perspectives on gods and goddesses that don’t fit as well. To me, that’s close enough to facts.
And Theoi.com is the place to go to for accurate sources.
I loved this site when I was a professor. It was an amazing resource for me and my students to find different artistic and literary primary sources and discuss the core events of the gods, goddesses, and heroes of Greek mythology, as compared with the presentation by human artists to use the myth for a certain artistic purpose.
Who it's For:
Everyone! The primary sources might be too dense or too graphic for younger scholars, but anyone old enough and mature enough to encounter real myth can benefit from this site.
Cost:
Free!
In Detail:
Greek Mythology Facts and Sources Laid Out By Category
Greek gods, Olympian gods, titans & titanesses, nymphs & satyrs, mythic bestiary, giants & giant-kin, heroes & villains, star myths, encyclopedia, cult of the gods, legendary creatures, legendary tribes, family trees, galleries and texts — it’s all laid out on the home page by category for people to browse through.
But more likely, you’re going to go down the rabbit hole.
Search for the one hero you wanted information on (say, Athena), and then follow the hyperlinks down and down until you’re trying to p out how you started reading Homer’s Iliad. (But why wouldn’t you be?)
But even so, the categories are a useful way to differentiate the different races in mythology and make different connections.
Extensive Primary Literary Sources for Greek Mythology Facts
If you’ve studied Greek mythology before, you know there’s some inconsistency in the reports. Whether it’s a seemingly little detail, like the name of a mountain, or perhaps a larger story involving a major Olympian god like Apollo or Demeter, it’s important to keep track of which source said what.
Enter Theoi’s extensive collection of primary sources.
Delve deep into the records of the Twelve Olympians and other minor gods and heroes. With the close look at the original sources, you’ll begin to understand the changes authors made to put their own spin on a myth, while at the same time staying within the spirit of the canon.
Gallery of Greek and Roman Art to Support Literature
Visual representation of Greek myths can tell us a lot about perspectives and technology.
What are signs of a monster? Wings?
How should we interpret snake bodies?
How widely available were vases?
What visual cues were important for civic culture in an era when not everyone was literate or attending plays?
What features change or remain consistent over the ages?
Theoi.com: The Website for Useful Resources to get Trivia, Quotes, Facts, Genealogies, and More for Greek Mythology
If you want to give yourself a masterclass in Greek mythology facts, look no further than Theoi.com.
Homeschoolers will need their own resources to review and practice with the material, but it’s the perfect site for raw data about Greek mythology.
And you may end up spending a LOT of time here…
Ad scientiam, Magistra