Greek and Roman Folklore: A Handbook

by Graham Anderson

The Greek and Roman world is often noted for the rationalism of a few outstanding thinkers. This book is about the traditional superstitions, beliefs, taboos, folk-remedies, ghost stories, and folk tales that haunted the rest. Along the way it considers such questions as, Do modern approaches help or hinder our attempts to see ancient superstition from the inside? Can we break down the barriers between folk tales and myths? Did it really matter whether a healing herb was picked by moonlight or not? Was there a Cinderella tale in the ancient world? The volume begins by asking how we can attempt to define folklore in the first place, and how we can make sense of the vast amount of materials available. It examines the prejudices of writers who report folkloric information and explores the cultural contexts that shaped their materials. It includes numerous examples and texts, such as tales, legends, proverbs, jokes, riddles, and traditional customs. The volume overviews critical approaches to the study of ancient folklore, and it surveys the presence of Greek and Roman folklore in classical culture. Because of the tremendous interest in the ancient world, this volume will meet the needs of high school students and general readers.

Genres: Folklore, Mythology, Nonfiction

248 pages, Hardcover

First published August 30, 2006

Reviews

[Drianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat-successful overview attempting to bridge the divide between Classicists and folklorists. Mainly, it's too superficial; after a few chapters attempting to bring Classicists up-to-speed on theory and definitions used by those who study folklore (including, of course, what folklore is) and a summary for folklorists of where (some) folklore may be found in ancient sources, there is a survey of some examples of various types of folklore attested from Greco-Roman antiquity (folktales: myths, fairy tales, legends, fables, anecdotes; folkloric creatures (such as nymphs); folk customs and rituals; folkloric beliefs about the natural world; magic/medicine). The book is less than 200 pages, and obviously one can't include much at all in such a short space, but I kept wondering what the criteria for inclusion in the last six chapters were. I was also disappointed that there was no engagement with some of the genres of folktale as the Greeks or Romans themselves constituted them (for example, the Milesian tale is never referred to at all).

But I suppose it was worth reading for the takeaway that Anderson would like all Classicists to stop teaching Vladimir Propp's system and only use Aarne-Thompson(-Uther). Well. I'll take that under advisement.

[Ryan Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We often don't think of folklore in the ancient world and, as Anderson and others have pointed out, that's partially because of the estrangement of classicists and folklorists. However, that is slowly beginning to beginning to change with books like this serving as a useful introduction for anyone else who might be interested in pursuing folklore in the ancient world. The first three chapters provide an overview of the methodology and transmission of folklore in the ancient world as well as some of the key sources like Pliny's Natural History that are rich in folkloric elements. The rest of the book takes on a thematic look at the type of folklore we see in antiquity. This includes a wide range of materials from fables and folk wisdom to animal lore to magic. For anyone interested in classics or folklore, this book will be an enjoyable read with many interesting facts and stories. The only minor shortcomings, in my opinion, were not including more of what little scholarship exists in classical folklore (like that detailed in Mayor's bibliography below). The book is primarily descriptive, which serves well for an introductory text, but I just wish there was more of a connect to scholarship after the first three chapters. I also wish there was more inclusion of material from Late Antiquity. This probably due to my own bias of favoring this period in particular, but there is certainly much opportunity to glean folklore from hagiography, Patristics sources, and other writers of the late antique world (especially ones like Procopius of Caesaeria). Late Antiquity, though seems to be understudied within classical folklore itself so it is understandable why Anderson didn't include much aside from the Greek Magical Papyri from this later period.

I've become fascinated by this field of classical folklore and I intend to pursue it further in my studies. For anyone else intrigued by it and wanting to read this book I'd also like to point to a couple of other useful resources to read for an intro to this field. Adrienne Mayor's bibliography of classical folklore (https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/May...) is immensely useful and highlights the wide variety of topics in this field. It is worth just browsing this list and you will almost certainly find something intriguing every time you look at it. William Hansen's paper "Mythology and Folktale Typology: Chronicle of a Failed Scholarly Revolution" is also a must read for an insight on why classicists and folklorists have traditionally been set so far apart. Lastly, Hansen's book Ariadne's Thread (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...) is a tremendous example of the kind of scholarship that can be produced by applying a folkloric perspective to the ancient world. It traces over a hundred motifs from antiquity onward and it is utterly fascinating to see the resilience and longevity of some of the story elements in antiquity.

To sum up, if you're looking at this review, you're probably interested in classical folklore too, and so you should read Anderson's book and look into the above sources. This is an amazing field that will hopefully grow more in the years to come.