Bibliotheca
An alternative title for the mythological handbook attributed to Apollodorus, cataloguing the full scope of Greek myth
The Meaning of Bibliotheca
The Bibliotheca, also known as the Library, is a systematic compendium of Greek mythology attributed to Apollodorus of Athens, though modern scholarship dates the text to the first or second century CE. The work survives in three books plus an epitome that summarises lost portions. Book One covers the divine genealogies from the primordial deities through the Titans to the Olympians, including the Titanomachy and the establishment of Zeus's rule. Book Two follows the descendants of the great heroic families, with particular attention to the labours of Heracles. Book Three traces the Theban and Attic cycles. The Epitome covers the Trojan War and the returns of the Greek heroes. The Bibliotheca's dry cataloguing style belies its extraordinary value: it preserves genealogical connections, narrative variants, and minor myths that survive in no other source. It served as the primary mythological reference for Byzantine scholars and remains indispensable to modern study of Greek religion and literature.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Bibliotheca's original text was partially lost and only rediscovered in fragments, with the Epitome surviving through a single medieval manuscript
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Library of Apollodorus
💭 conceptLiterature
A comprehensive ancient handbook cataloguing Greek myths, genealogies, and heroic narratives
Apollodorus
💭 conceptMythography, compilation
Author of the Bibliotheca, the most comprehensive surviving handbook of Greek mythology
Hyginus
💭 conceptMythography, fables
Roman-era mythographer whose Fabulae preserves hundreds of concise Greek myth summaries
Theogony
💭 conceptLiterature
Hesiod's epic poem describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods
Homeric Hymns
💭 conceptLiterature
A collection of thirty-three ancient Greek hymns celebrating individual Olympian and chthonic deities
Herodotus
💭 conceptHistory, ethnography, Persia
Father of History whose Histories records mythological traditions alongside the Persian Wars narrative
Diodorus Siculus
💭 conceptHistory, universal chronicle
Sicilian historian who compiled a universal history preserving many otherwise lost mythological traditions
Hesiod
💭 conceptDidactic poetry, cosmogony
Boeotian poet who composed the Theogony and Works and Days in the archaic period
Dionysiaca
💭 conceptLiterature
Nonnus's sprawling epic poem narrating the life and conquests of the god Dionysus in forty-eight books
Fasti
💭 conceptLiterature
Ovid's poetic calendar explaining the religious festivals and mythological origins of the Roman year
Ptolemy Hephaestion
💭 conceptParadoxography, obscure myth
Alexandrian writer whose New History preserved bizarre and otherwise unknown mythological variants
Strabo
💭 conceptGeography, ethnography
Greek geographer whose seventeen-book Geography records mythological traditions alongside physical descriptions