The Library - Definition and Overview

The Bibliotheke was renowned as the chief work of Apollodorus of Athens, a 2nd-century B.C. Greek historian and scholar. The title means Library and is the single most valuable source on Greek mythology. However, the text itself dates back to the century between 100 and 200 A.D., which means that although Apollodorus is cited, the text must have been composed by someone else.

The Bibliotheke was the 9th century work of Byzantine author Patriarch Photios, composed of 279 notes on books which he had read. It was not meant to be used as a reference work, but was widely used as such in the 9th century, and is generally seen as the first Byzantine work that could be called an Encyclopedia. The works he notes are mainly Christian and pagan authors from the 5th century BC to his own time in the 9th century AD. Almost half the books mentioned no longer survive.

External links

• Library and Epitome (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Aabo%3Atlg%2C0548%2C001&query=1%3A1%3A1)
• About Apollodorus (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0004&layout=&loc=apollodorus)