Lots of 19th century novels make frequent references to Greek mythology. Did the authors do this to show that they were well educated, or were almost all 19th century readers well versed in mythology?

by mime454

I've been listening to a few 19th century classics lately. I've noticed they mention a lot of aspects of Greek (or maybe Roman) mythology that would be considered pretty esoteric today. I don't have the physical books with me, so I can't quote any specific examples, but it happens quite frequently.

Did the authors do this to show off how formally educated they were, or did the average 19th century reader just have a more expansive of mythology than we do now?

antiquarian_bookworm

Yes to both.

College and university education of the early and mid 19th century normally included Greek and Roman history. And this applied to women in higher education to. This is why you see so much reference to Greek and Roman history, philosophy, and mythology in "Victorian romance" books of the time.

Also, taking Latin and/or Greek and reading the classics in the original tongue was a common fare for higher education.

This tradition died out in the late 19th century. Not totally dead, but not standard fare anymore. Then you see a burst of books that are in English, on the same classics, and the Latin and Greek versions become rare.

And dropping Latin and Greek phrases was a way to show "higher breeding".

jellyberg

A rather specific point, but one that may prove interesting or enlightening to some.

I happened to study The Picture of Dorian Gray by Irish author Oscar Wilde (1890), and the usage of references to Greek mythology is quite interesting.

Wilde is now well known as a homosexual. He was in fact sent to prison for having a sexual relationship with another man a few decades after the book's publication, with quotes from the book used against him in court.

In the novel, Greek imagery and references are used as a sort of code, with the subtext being that characters (particularly a certain one, Basil Hallward) have homoerotic feelings towards a certain other character. It seems that it was an attempt to offer a one narrative for gay readers who were unable to reveal their sexuality, and another more orthodox narrative for the bourgeois moralist Victorian critic.