Institute of Contemporary History

The core of the two-volume monograph Greek Myths in the Literary and Artistic Tradition is a Czech translation of two Latin medieval handbooks, called the First and Second Vatican Mythograph, which present their own renditions of Greek mythology in five hundred and fifty chapters, depending mainly on late antique literary sources. Two copies of the Second Vatican Mythographer have recently been identified by the author in manuscripts of Czech origin from the 14th and 15th centuries (deposited in the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague), and in 2017 she published their Latin version in print. The first Czech translations of both works are included in this two-volume monograph, along with detailed commentaries and supplementary chapters on literary, cultural and art historical contexts and themes drawn from the long tradition of the ancient legacy. The main aim is to show the Czech reader that mythology was present literally at every turn in the life of ancient society. The topics are selectively reminiscent of both the classical pillars of the ancient heritage and completely new findings from recent years, and the book demonstrates that the study of ancient antiquity is not a static and unchanging scientific field, but a living, constantly evolving world full of new discoveries that are sometimes almost breathtaking in their significance. The text is accompanied by rich pictorial material.

HADRAVOVÁ, Alena. Řecké mýty v literární a výtvarné tradici. Praha: Academia 2024. 1050 stran. ISBN 978-80-200-3447-2