About Greek and Roman Stories
The ancient Greeks and Romans loved to tell stories. Their myths and legends were the stories of gods and heroes. When they wrote about their more recent history, they also did so in the form of story. They saw the past in moral terms, as lessons of how people should behave today. They did not explain the world socially, economically or politically, but in terms of the choices made by human beings.
These stories were recorded by Greek and Roman writers. The Greeks first began to write their legends around 700 BC, with the epics of Homer. When the Romans were converted to Christianity after AD 300, writing about the pagan past declined. There can often be several versions of a story. Ancient writers knew this and often had to choose one version over another, or try to create their own synthesis of a story. Because they were concerned with the moral themes of their stories, they did not reject them simply because there might be conflicting versions.
The stories of the Greeks and Romans also survive for us in their art, in sculpture, mosaic and painted pottery. Their writings survived the demise of the ancient world and were preserved by Christian monks, as well as having an influence in the Islamic world. With the Renaissance revival of interest in the ancient past after 1400, Greek and Roman stories formed the basis of literature and art, down to the twentieth century.
The stories of the Greeks and Romans take three main forms:
Greek myths: The ancient Greeks told many stories about their gods. Some of these myths are stories of creation and the world of titans, gods and monsters. Others are about the great age of heroes, when gods still moved among men. The Greeks distinguished these mythical ages from their own—a dark age of chaos separated them from this heroic age.
Roman legends: Roman religion was one of farmers and nature spirits. They had no great mythology or heroic age, so they borrowed Greek myth as their own mythical past. The Romans did, however, tell stories about their very earliest history, when they were ruled by kings, and how they were descended from Trojan heroes. These oldest stories about Rome are more legendary than historical.
Greek and Roman history: The Greeks pioneered the writing of history, focusing on events after their dark age. However, this is not “history” as we know it, analytical and concerned for factual accuracy. Greek writers would often record contrasting versions of the same story, leaving readers to make up their own minds, and they were more biographical. The Romans continued this tradition: stories about Rome after 390 BC slowly become less legendary and more historically reliable. However, even when writing about more recent events, Greek and Roman writers concentrated on moral lessons and personal acts. While the gods were no longer characters in such stories, their influence and moral order were still present.
As I retell these stories, I do not indicate if a story is “historical” or “legendary”, because that distinction meant less to the Greeks and Romans than to us. Some are obviously mythical but a quick internet search will resolve such questions for you. Enjoy these stories as classic tales from another world.