Diodorus Siculus
Sicilian historian who compiled a universal history preserving many otherwise lost mythological traditions
The Meaning of Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus — Diodorus of Sicily — was a Greek historian of the first century BCE who composed the Bibliotheca Historica, an ambitious universal history in forty books spanning from mythical times to his own era. Of these, books one through five and eleven through twenty survive intact. The early books are invaluable for mythology: Diodorus preserves rationalised versions of myths, attempting to extract historical kernels from legendary narratives, and records traditions about Dionysus, Heracles, the Argonauts, and the Amazons drawn from sources now lost. His method of euhemerism — treating gods as deified mortals — influenced later mythographical interpretation. Despite criticism of his literary style, Diodorus remains essential for traditions not found elsewhere.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Diodorus spent thirty years compiling his universal history, travelling widely to gather source material
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
Apollodorus
💭 conceptMythography, compilation
Author of the Bibliotheca, the most comprehensive surviving handbook of Greek mythology
Library of Apollodorus
💭 conceptLiterature
A comprehensive ancient handbook cataloguing Greek myths, genealogies, and heroic narratives
Herodotus
💭 conceptHistory, ethnography, Persia
Father of History whose Histories records mythological traditions alongside the Persian Wars narrative
Bibliotheca
💭 conceptLiterature
An alternative title for the mythological handbook attributed to Apollodorus, cataloguing the full scope of Greek myth
Hyginus
💭 conceptMythography, fables
Roman-era mythographer whose Fabulae preserves hundreds of concise Greek myth summaries
Dionysiaca
💭 conceptLiterature
Nonnus's sprawling epic poem narrating the life and conquests of the god Dionysus in forty-eight books
Ptolemy Hephaestion
💭 conceptParadoxography, obscure myth
Alexandrian writer whose New History preserved bizarre and otherwise unknown mythological variants
Thucydides
💭 conceptHistory, politics, war
Athenian historian who stripped myth from history in his account of the Peloponnesian War
Strabo
💭 conceptGeography, ethnography
Greek geographer whose seventeen-book Geography records mythological traditions alongside physical descriptions
Theogony
💭 conceptLiterature
Hesiod's epic poem describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods
Nonnus
💭 conceptEpic poetry, Dionysus
Late antique poet who composed the Dionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from Greco-Roman antiquity
Pausanias
💭 conceptTravel writing, topography
Second-century traveller whose Description of Greece preserves invaluable accounts of myths, monuments, and rituals