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| Aeschylus, Greek tragedian | Aeschylus (c. 524-456) was a famous playwright and a contemporary of Sophocles and Euripides. Some consider him to be the creator of dramatic tragedy. His most famous plays are The Oresteia and Prometheus Bound. | ||||
| Aesop | Aesop (c. 6th century BC) was probably not an actual person, but, if he was, lived as a Greek slave and then freedman. If he did exist, it is not known whether he actually wrote or merely compiled his famous fables. | ||||
| Anderson, Sherwood | Sherwood Anderson (1876-1914) is best known for his collection of short stories, Winesburg, Ohio, which is based on his home state. He wrote many other stories as well. | ||||
| Angelou, Maya | Angelou (b. 1928) is famous for her four-volume biography and many poems and short stories. Her biography dealt with poverty, abuse, and discrimination against black and women, yet her message was one of perseverance. | ||||
| Appolonius, Greek epic poet | The royal librarian of Alexandria, Apollonius wrote a famous epic about Jason, Medea, and the Argonauts. His poetic style was known for its sketches and episodic character. | ||||
| Aristophones | A comedic and political playwright, Aristophanes was best-known for Lysistrata, a play in which the women of Greece go on a sexual boycott to try to end a war. | ||||
| Aristotle, Greek philosopher | Aristotle (384-322), a protege of Plato and his most famous student, became a famous writer, rhetorician, and philosopher. His works analyze, among other things, the processes of logic and the keys to effective discourse. | ||||
| >Atwood, Margaret | Atwood (b. 1939), a noted Canadian author and feminist, has produced many novels, short stories, and snappy quotes. The Handmaid's Tale (1986) is recognized by many as a feminist classic. | ||||
| Bambara, Toni Cade | Bambara (1939-1995) Bambara wrote extensively and authoritatively on the experiences of blacks and women in the United States, and always made her point through her realistic portrayal of characters rather than through proselytizing. | ||||
| Bell, Marvin | Bell's (b. 1937) poetry is known for its high literary quality and fresh language. He writes and teaches around the world. | ||||
| Blake, William | An intensely spiritual man, William Blake (1757-1827) focused on the world's sinfulness and on spiritual loss and rebirth. He printed many of his own works, and was also an artist. | ||||
| Boccacchio, medieval author | Boccacchio was the medieval author of the Decameron, a collection of stories that drew heavily from Greek mythology. | ||||
| Burns, Robert | Robert Burns (1756-1796) wrote his poetry in a heavy Scottish dialect, revealing deep emotion through deceptively simple lyrics. | ||||
| Byron, George Gordon, Lord | George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824) was the most dashing of the romantic poets, and his personal life was rife with scandal. His greatest poems, such as the romantic epic Don Juan, often take place in exotic foreign landscapes. | ||||
| Carl Jung, psychiatrist | Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist whose studies specialized in the unconscious (in particular the collective unconscious said to exist in races and cultures) and mythology. | ||||
| Carroll, Lewis Todd | Carroll (1832-1898) is best-known as the author of the childrens' novels Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. | ||||
| Carver, Raymond | Raymond Carver (1938-1988) wrote about ordinary-seeming people whose frustrations and weaknesses drive them to bizarre behavior. His short stories, therefore, show the dark side of everyday life. | ||||
| Cather, Willa | Willa Cather's (1873-1947) portrayal of pioneer and settler life in the nineteenth-century American midwest is invaluable for its realism and detail. She received the Pulitzer Prize in 1923. | ||||
| Catullus, Roman love poet | Gaius Valerius Catullus (c. 84-54) was a Roman love poet who influenced later poets for centuries. He was best known for poems he wrote to his lover Lesbia. | ||||
| Chekhov, Anton | A Russian playwright, Chekhov (1860-1904) was best-known for his plays showing the fall of the aristocracy in imperial Russia. The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard show splendidly the fears and failures of Russia's sheltered nobility. | ||||
| Chopin, Kate | Though Chopin (1851-1904) was a native of St. Louis, she moved to Louisiana and made her adopted home, and its rich cultural landscape, the setting for her fictional works. Her novel The Awakening (1899), once considered scandalous, is now a classic. | ||||
| Claude Levi-Strauss, myth expert | Levi-Strauss (b. 1908) was a French philosopher who specialized in myths and customs. He believed that the human use of communication helps people reach their goals for a structured existence. | ||||
| Coleridge, Samuel Taylor | Best known for his fragmentary fantasy poem Kubla Khan, Coleridge (1772-1834), together with William Wordsworth, helped establish romantic poetry. | ||||
| Crane, Stephen | Crane (1871-1900) was famous for his novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895), which realistically portrayed the horror and shock of war. He also wrote many short stories before his early death. | ||||
| cummings, e. e. | e. e. cummings (1894-1962) used unique imagery and dramatic line breaks in his poetry, which remains extremely popular today. He wrote over 1000 poems during his lifetime. | ||||
| Dante, medieval author | Dante (1265-1321) was arguably the greatest Italian poet of all time. He wrote The Divine Comedy, which consists of three sections (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso) and shows the afterlife through the eyes of a pilgrim. | ||||
| de Maupassant, Guy | Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) was above all a realist, and his stories are crisp and full of irony. He portrays average people, their flaws, and their disappointments with humor and verve. | ||||
| Dickinson, Emily | A rebellious student and a lifelong homebody, Dickinson (1830-1896) showed her poetry to few during her lifetime. After her death, however, trunks filled with her unique, passionate verse were discovered, and today she is one of America's greatest poets. | ||||
| Donne, John | Although Donne (1572-1631) published nothing during his lifetime, posthumous publications brought him fame. He often wrote about the clash between the body and the spirit. | ||||
| Eliot, T. S. | T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) rebelled against his midwestern upbringing, moving to London and writing deeply symbolic and allusive poetry such as The Waste Land. | ||||
| Euripides, Greek playwright | A Greek playwright, best known for his tragedy Medea, Euripides was the contemporary of the also-famous Sophocles (author of Antigone) and Aeschylus. | ||||
| Faulkner, William | A native of Mississippi, Faulkner (1897-1962) set all of his works in the Deep South. His most famous characters were the notorious Snopes; however, all his works show striking characterization and narrative. | ||||
| Frost, Robert | Though dogged by poverty during his early career, Frost (1874-1963) went on to become the United States' unofficial Poet Laureate near the end of his lifetime. His "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a staple of American verse. | ||||
| Gilman, Charlotte Perkins | Charlotte Perkins Gilman's (1860-1938) famous nervous breakdown led to "The Yellow Wallpaper," but she wrote many other short stories as well. An early feminist, she also wrote many essays on morals and social reform. | ||||
| Ginsberg, Allen | One of the leading Beat poets of the 1950s and 1960s, Ginsberg's (1926-1997) Howl was admired for its modern, dramatic tone and its innovative use of free verse. | ||||
| Glaspell, Susan | Susan Glaspell (1882-1948) straddled her career between fiction and drama, winning the Pulitzer Prize for one of her plays, Alison's House. Her writing is known for its realistic use of language and tone. | ||||
| Graham, Jorie | Jorie Graham (b. 1951) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996. She brings to poetry a disarming use of imagery, which may at first confuse the reader but eventually brings a deeper understanding of her message. | ||||
| Graves, Robert | The author of the historical novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God, and of various texts on mythology, Robert Graves (1895-1985) successfully brought ancient civilization and its beliefs to modern audiences. | ||||
| Hardy, Thomas | A novelist as well as a poet, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) espoused naturalism in all his works. His tragic Tess of the D'Urbervilles illustrates the way in which his characters struggled fruitlessly against hatred and conflicting passions. | ||||
| Hass, Robert | Robert Hass (b. 1941) was the United States' poet laureate from 1995 to 1997. In his work, he focuses heavily on sound, on idioms that have powerful and personal resonance, and on using poetry as a joyful escape. | ||||
| Hawthorne, Nathaniel | Master of the short story, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was also known for the novel The Scarlet Letter, an unblinking criticism of the Puritan settlers from which Hawthorne himself descended. His works often deal with hypocrisy and a loss of faith. | ||||
| Heaney, Seamus | Seamus Heaney (b. 1939), although he has spent his life in war-wracked Northern Ireland, writes with calm compassion. He received the Nobel Prize in 1995. | ||||
| Herodotus, Greek historian | Called "The Father of History," Herodotus (485-430) wrote the first history of Western civilization. He traveled widely and incorporated geography and culture into his work. | ||||
| Herrick, Robert | Robert Herrick (1591-1664) was a priest who, paradoxically, was criticized for the raciness of his poetry. During England's interregnum and the rule of Oliver Cromwell, he fell out of favor for having supported the late Charles I. | ||||
| Hesiod, Greek poet | A poet that was Homer's approximate contemporary (c. late eighth century BC), Hesiod's major known words were Theogony and Works and Days. | ||||
| Homer, Greek epic poet | Homer, who lived around the ninth century BC, was the author of the Odyssey and Iliad, two famous epics dealing with the Trojan War and those that participated in it. | ||||
| Hopkins, Gerard Manley | A Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) withheld most of his poems from publication during his lifetime, and the poems that are in your textbook did not appear until the early 1900s. His most famous poetry is on nature. | ||||
| Hughes, Langston | A leader of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, Langston Hughes (1902-1967) wrote about the dreams and dignity of American blacks. His style, as shown in "Paper for English B," combines humor with frustration, and takes a frank look at race relations. | ||||
| Ibsen, Henrik | Known for his daring topics, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) questioned social norms and created rebellious characters, such as Nora in A Dollhouse, that aroused sympathy and provoked intolerance toward staid social norms. | ||||
| Jackson, Shirley | Shirley Jackson's (1919-1965) most famous short story, "The Lottery," was so convincing when first published that many readers mistook it for a true story. "The Lottery" dominates Jackson's reputation; however, she wrote many other novels and poems. | ||||
| Joyce, James | Ireland's greatest prose writer, James Joyce (1882-1941) used language with a freedom almost never seen in prose, creating surrealistic epics like Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake, the latter of which took 17 years to write. | ||||
| Keats, John | John Keats (1795-1821) made an enormous imprint on romantic poetry before his death at the young age of 26. His odes to Psyche, a nightingale, and a Grecian urn show the romantic conflict between passion and mortality. | ||||
| Kincaid, Jamaica | Born and raised in the West Indies, Jamaica Kincaid (b. 1949) often drew from her native home in her stories, most notably "Girl." She has written several short stories and four novels. | ||||
| Lawrence, D. H. | D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) is famous for his frank and sensuous portrayal of human passion, in particular sexuality. Though novels such as Lady Chatterley's Lover were considered pornographic during his time, today they are seen as daring and realistic. | ||||
| Livy, Roman historian | Titus Livius (c. 64-17) was a renowned Roman historian that wrote over 140 books, of which only 35 survive. He was a close friend of the great orator Cicero. | ||||
| Miller, Arthur | Playwright known for his blunt, sometimes cruel realism, Arthur Miller (b. 1915) tackled the unhappiness of modern life. Plays such as Death of a Salesman and the screenplay The Misfits show characters battling helplessly against despair. | ||||
| Moliere | A witty and biting satirist, the playwright Moliere (Jean Baptiste Poquelin; 1622-1673) wrote about subjects that still seem modern today. Works such as Tartuffe extensively make fun of social pretenses, as does L'Amour Medecin. | ||||
| Moore, Marianne | The whimsical and imaginative Marianne Moore (1887-1972) won a Pulitzer Prize for her Collected Poems. She used humor and language freely and without pretense, making her extremely popular among American poets. | ||||
| Munro, Alice | The Canadian author Alice Munro (b. 1931) is greatly honored in her native land, which she uses as the setting for her short stories. She has published eight volumes of stories. | ||||
| O'Connor, Flannery | Mary Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964), during her brief lifetime, combined spirituality and violence to shock readers, and her characters, into moments of clarity. Her most extreme characters serve as warnings against spiritual emptiness and hypocrisy. | ||||
| Ovid, Roman poet | A prolific Roman poet, Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC-17 AD) wrote on a wide variety of subjects. Although he was exiled from Rome for angering Augustus, he continued to write until the end of his life. | ||||
| Parker, Dorothy | The acidic wit of Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) alienated some but amused everyone else. A poet, reviewer, and satirist, she also wrote short stories and served as a war correspondent. | ||||
| Pindar, Greek poet | Pindar (c. 518-438) was a poet known for his odes. Though he wrote many types of odes, only his epinicia (odes in honor of winners at athletic events) survive. | ||||
| Plath, Sylvia | Before her suicide, Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) plumbed the depths of depression and despair. Her groundbreaking poetry collection Ariel is an unflinching look at her anger at family, relationships, and the roles expected of women. | ||||
| Plato, Greek philosopher | One of the most influential and innovative philosophers of all time, Plato (c. 428-347) was a protege of Socrates and wrote extensively about Socrates' words and deeds. He founded the Academy and taught, among others, Aristotle. | ||||
| Plutarch, Roman philsopher | A philosopher and biographer, best known for his Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Plutarch (c. 46-123) was also renowned for his moral essays. | ||||
| Poe, Edgar Allan | Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) wrote short stories and poems prolifically. They were noted for their gloomy imagery, their surrealism, and their use of violence, gore, and the supernatural. | ||||
| Rich, Adrienne | Adrienne Rich (b. 1929) proclaims her shortcomings--as a woman, a minority, a lesbian, and a disabled person--as her advantages, and her poems reflect her strong feminism. | ||||
| Seneca, Roman orator | Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-65 AD) was a Roman philosopher, orator, and statesman. He was a member of the Roman Senate, and was famous for his speaking abilities; however, his political career under the emperor Nero was often precarious. | ||||
| Shakespeare, William | To some people the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare (1564-1616) handled comedy, tragedy, and history with incredible skill and depth. His most notable works are Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Julius Caesar. | ||||
| Shelley, Percy Bysshe | Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), rebellious against norms regarding marriage and religion, contributed greatly to the romance movement with poems such as Ozymandias, which focuses on the impermanence of all human efforts. | ||||
| Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis | Freud (1856-1939) was the founder of psychoanalysis, whose most famous work was The Interpretation of Dreams (1900). He also did pioneering work in theories on behavioral disorders. | ||||
| Socrates, Greek philosopher | The father of Western philosophy, Socrates (c. 470-399 BC) wrote nothing himself, but was immortalized by the writings of Plato. These writings show Socrates' unrelenting examination of truth, and his study of creating methods for logical discourse. | ||||
| Sophocles, Greek tragedian | Sophocles (496-406 BC) was a Greek tragedian, best known for the plays Antigone, Oedipus Rex, and Electra. | ||||
| Soto, Gary | Though predominantly a poet, Gary Soto (b. 1952) has also written prose, including young adult works. His work focuses on change and loss in lives and communities, particularly in the lives of Hispanic Americans. | ||||
| Steinbeck, John | John Steinbeck (1902-1962) used his native central California as the setting for his works, most notably The Grapes of Wrath. Steinbeck won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize in 1962. Other novels include Of Mice and Men and Tortilla Flat. | ||||
| Tan, Amy | Author of the best-selling The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (b. 1952) is famous for chronicling the lives of Chinese Americans, especially women, and the ways in which different generations of immigrant families deal with life in the United States. | ||||
| Tennyson, Alfred, Lord | Alfred,Lord Tennyson, was extremely popular during and since the Victorian age. Many of his works, such as "The Lotos Eaters" and "The Passing of Arthur," deal with famous mythological subjects. | ||||
| Thucydides, Greek historian | The first historian to write about solely contemporary events, Thucydides (455-400 BC) was best known for his History of the Peloponnesian War. | ||||
| Twain, Mark | Samuel Langhorn Clemens (a.k.a. Mark Twain; 1835-1910) pioneered the effective use of dialect and regional characters in American fiction, and was the United States' first truly renowned author. He is best known for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn | ||||
| Updike, John | John Updike's (b. 1932) works show, in careful detail, the inner life of the average American. His four Rabbit novels are his most famous, but he has also written much more. | ||||
| Vergil, Roman epic poet | Publius Vergilius Maro (70-19 BC) was a poet who wrote the Eclogues and Georgics, but he was best known for the Aeneid, an epic poem discussing the life of Aeneas after the fall of Troy. | ||||
| Walker, Alice | Alice Walker (b. 1944) is one of America's greatest living authors. She won the Pulitzer Prize for The Color Purple, and has written numerous other stories, novels, and essays. The essays were compiled in the book In Search of Our Mother's Gardens. | ||||
| Whitman, Walt | Walt Whitman (1819-1892) revolutionized poetry with his candid free verse opus, Leaves of Grass. His ability to completely ignore the many taboos of Victorian morality led to writing that constantly challenged the reader's mind. | ||||
| Williams, Tennessee | Playwright Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) captured faded and decadent Southern gentility with compassion and brilliant characterization. Plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof epitomize his mastery of characterization. | ||||
| Wordsworth, William | Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850) brought the serenity and eternity of nature into his work, implying a typically romantic rejection of human society. This is best exemplified by Ode: Intimations on Immortality. | ||||
| Wyatt, Sir Thomas | Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542), contemporary of Henry VIII and friend of the doomed Anne Boleyn, spent much time in the royal court. Because of this, many of his poems (such as "Mine Own John Poins") shows his conflicts with the petty demands of the world. | ||||
| Xenophanes, Greek satirist | Xenophanes (c. 590-480 BC) wrote satires and eulogies, mocked conservative religion, and was, unlike other Greeks, monotheistic. He was, according to different accounts, the founder or forerunner of the Eleatic school of philosophy. | ||||
| Yeats, William Butler | Irish poet William Butler Yeats (1865-1939) wrote extensively of the beauty and injustice in his native Ireland, which until the 1920s existed under British rule. His poetry earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. |
Also see the Mythological Figures Database
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