Fiction set in ancient Greece

There is a body of ancient and modern fiction set in ancient Greece and ancient Greek culture, including Magna Graecia and Hellenistic kingdoms. Titles include:

Books[]

Bronze Age and mythistoricals[]

Atlantis[]

• The Dancer from Atlantis, by Poul Anderson (1971)

Crete[]

Daedalus[]

• Michael Ayrton
  • The Testament of Daedalus (1962)
  • The Maze Maker (1967)
• Winged Girl of Knossos by Erick Berry (1933)
• Pasiphae by (2000)
• Story for Icarus by Ernst Schnabel (1958)

Theseus, Ariadne, Circe, Phaedra[]

• • Ariadne (1980)
  • (1985)
• by (1948)
• by Eleanor Farjeon (1945)
• Theseus by André Gide (1946)
• by Roger Lancelyn Green (1957)
• by (1924)
• Circe by Madeline Miller (2018)
• Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield (2002)
• Mary Renault, "Thesead"
  • The King Must Die (1958)
  • The Bull from the Sea (1962)
• by Tony Robinson & Richard Curtis (1988)
• by Fred Saberhagen (2000)
• by Ian Serraillier (1962)
• by Althea Urn (1959)

Miscellaneous Minoan[]

• Moyra Caldecott, (1979)
• Paul Capon, (1961)
• David Cheney, (1930)
• , (1939)
• , (1996)
• Kristmann Gudmundsson, (1940)
• , (1929)
• Nikos Kazantzakis, (1981)
• Dmitri Merezhkovsky, (1924)
• , (1961)
• ( & ), The Moon Maiden (2003)
• Richard Purtill
  • (1979)
  • (1980)
• Thomas Burnett Swann
  • (1971)
  • (1977)
  • (1966)
• James Watson, (1970)
• , Knossos (2014)

Hercules, Jason et al.[]

• by (1922)
• The Amazons by (1948)
• A Man Was Going Down the Road by Otar Chiladze (1973)
• John Gregory Betancourt
  • (2001)
  • (1997)
  • (1997)
• by Ken Catran (2000)
• Keith R.A. DeCandido
  • (1999)
  • (2000)
• Corydon and the Island of Monsters by Tobias Druitt (2005)
• (U.K.) aka Hercules, My Shipmate (USA) by Robert Graves (1945)
• Medea by Kerry Greenwood (1997)
• by Edison Marshall (1960)
• Fred Saberhagen
  • (2001)
  • (2000)
  • (1999)
• by Ian Serraillier (1963)
• Medea by Miranda Seymour (1972)
• Jason by Henry Treece (1961)
• by (2005)
• by Christa Wolf (1998)
• by Jane Yolen & Robert J. Harris (2004)

Trojan War[]

• , (1944)
• Pat Barker, The Silence of the Girls (2018)
• The Firebrand, by Marion Zimmer Bradley (1987)
• Nancy Bogen, (1980)
• , (2002)
• Lindsay Clarke, (2004)
• Achilles, by (2003)
• Caroline B. Cooney, Goddess of Yesterday (2002) (aka On the Seas to Troy, UK, 2004)
• Donald Cotton, The Myth Makers, a Doctor Who serial (1965)
• , (1928)
• , (1986)
• , (1924)
• Bernard Evslin, The Trojan War (1971)
• (Dave Duncan), (1998)
• David Gemmell
  • Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow (2005)
  • Troy: Shield of Thunder (2006)
• Adèle Geras, Troy (2000)
• Noel B. Gerson, (1962)
• Roger Lancelyn Green, The Luck of Troy (1961)
• Judith Hand, (2004)
• Terence Hawkins, The Rage of Achilles (2009)
• Natalie Haynes, A Thousand Ships (2019)
• Tom Holland, (2006)
• Jack Lindsay, (1931)
• Valerio Massimo Manfredi, (2004)
• , Troy (1989)
• Colleen McCullough, (1998)
• Maude Meagher, (1933)
• Mark Merlis, An Arrow's Flight (1998)
• Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles (2011)
• Christopher Morley, The Trojan Horse (1937)
• Phillip Parotti
  • (1986)
  • (1988)
• Richard Powell, Whom the Gods Would Destroy (1970)
• Laura Riding, (1937)
• , (e-book, 2004)
• , (1928)
• S.P. Somtow, (1986)
• S. M. Stirling
  • Against the Tide of Years (1999)
  • On the Oceans of Eternity (2000)
• Rex Stout, (1916)
• Henry Treece, (1967)
• Barry Unsworth, The Songs of the Kings (2002)
• , (1935)
• Tyrone Walls, (2002)
• Gordon Doherty, (2021)
• Gordon Doherty, (2021)

Helen[]

• , (1991)
• , (1998)
• John Erskine, The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1925)
• Margaret George, Helen of Troy (2006)
• H. Rider Haggard & Andrew Lang, The World's Desire (1890)
• , (1956)
• Kevin Mathews, Helen of Troy (1965)
• Richard Purtill, (1983)
• Miranda Seymour, Goddess (1979)
• , (1997)
• Edward Lucas White, Helen (1925)
• , (2011)

Cassandra[]

• Hilary Bailey, (1993)
• Marion Zimmer Bradley, The Firebrand (1987)
• Kerry Greenwood, Cassandra (1995)
• Ursule Molinaro, (1979)
• Georgia Sallaska, (1970)
• Christa Wolf, Cassandra (1983)

Odysseus[]

• , (1941)
• John Arden, (1991)
• Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad (2005)
• Lindsay Clarke, (2005)
• , (1929)
• John Erskine, (1928)
• François Fénelon, The Adventures of Telemachus (1699)
• , (1962)
• , (1995)
• Adèle Geras, (2000)
• Robert Graves, Homer's Daughter (1955)
• , Return to Ithaca (1952)
• , (2002)
• Eden Phillpotts, (1926)
• Tony Robinson & Richard Curtis
  • (1986)
  • (1987)
• Paul Shipton, The Pig Scrolls (2004)
• Ernst Schnabel, The Voyage Home (1958)
• Jane Yolen & Robert J. Harris, (2001)

Miscellaneous Mycenaean[]

• • (1945)
  • (1950)
  • (1952)
  • (1953)
• , (1949)
• John Barth, Chimera (1972)
• Roberto Calasso, (1993)
• Paul Capon
  • (1960)
  • (1962)
• Maurice Druon, (1964)
• John Erskine, (1949)
• Jackie French, Oracle (2010)
• , (1995)
• , (1965)
• • (1972)
  • (1973)
• Roger Lancelyn Green, (1958)
• Kerry Greenwood, (1996)
• Victoria Grossack & , Iokaste )2004)
• Pierre Louys, (1928)
• Ursule Molinaro, (1995)
• , (1938)
• , (1962)
• Phillip Parotti, (1990)
• John Cowper Powys, (1954)
• Steven Pressfield, Last of the Amazons (2002)
• Mary Ray
  • (1968)
  • (1970)
  • (1978)
  • (1984)
• Georgia Sallaska
  • (1969)
  • (1974)
• (), (1938)
• Gladys Schmitt, Electra (1966)
• Ian Serraillier, (1961)
• George Shipway
  • (1977)
  • (1979)
• Henry Treece
  • The Golden One (1961)
  • Electra (1963)
  • Oedipus (1964)

Based on a Television Program[]

• • (1996)
  • (1996)
  • (1997)
• • (1997)
  • (1997)
  • (1999)
  • (2000)
  • (2000)
• , (2000)
• , (1997)
• , (1999)
• Mel Odom, Young Hercules (1999)
• , (1997)

Archaic Greece[]

Sappho[]

• , Erinna (1937)
• (Alexander Trocchi), Sappho of Lesbos (1960)
• , (1989)
• Peter Green, (1965)
• Erica Jong, (2003)
• , (1956)
• , (e-book, 2001)
• Martha Rofheart, (1974)
• Thomas Burnett Swann, (1972)

Aesop[]

• John Vornholt, The Fabulist (1993)
• , Aesop (1943)

Miscellaneous Archaic[]

• , (1930)
• , (2005)
• Georg Ebers, (1864)
• Ernst Eckstein, Aphrodite (1886)
• , (2001)
• , Olympiad (1988)
• , (1967)
• Tom Holt, Olympiad (2000)
• David Pownall, (1993)
• Mary Ray, (1964)
• Mary Renault, The Praise Singer (1979)
• , (2001)
• George R. Stewart, Years of the City (1955)
• Ivan Yefremov, The Land of Foam (1958)

5th century BCE[]

Persian Wars[]

• John Buchan, The Moon Endureth (short story "The Lemnian") (1912)
• John Burke, (1961)
• The Long War, by Christian Cameron
  • Killer of Men (2010)
  • Marathon (2011)
  • Poseidon's Spear (2012)
  • The Great King (2014)
  • Salamis (2015)
  • The Rage of Ares (2016)
• A.J. Church, (1889)
• : A Tale of the Days of Xerxes, Leonidas, and Themistocles, by William Stearns Davis (1907)
• Clare Winger Harris, (1923)
• Kenneth Lillington, (1979)
• Edward Bulwer Lytton, (1873)
• Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Spartan (2002)
• , by Jon Edward Martin (2003)
• Roderick Milton, (1962)
• Margarett Mirley
  • (2004)
  • (2004)
  • Trysts (2004)
• Stephanie Plowman, (1965)
• Stephen Pressfield, Gates of Fire (1998)
• Mary Renault, (1964)
• Caroline Dale Snedeker
  • (1923)
  • The Spartan (1911)
• The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate by L. Sprague de Camp (1961)
• Gore Vidal, Creation (1982)
• Jill Paton Walsh, (1972)
• Gene Wolfe
  • Soldier of the Mist (1986)
  • Soldier of Arete (1989)
  • Soldier of Sidon (2006)

Pericles and/or Aspasia[]

• Gertrude Atherton, (1927)
• Taylor Caldwell, (1974)
• Madelon Dimont, (1972)
• Robert Hamerling, Aspasia (1875)
• W. Savage Landor, (1836)
• Margery Lawrence, (1960)
• Rex Warner, (1963)

Alcibiades[]

• Gertrude Atherton, (1928)
• , Alkibiades (1905)
• ,
  • (1935)
  • (1936)
• Daniel Chavarría, (2002)
• Anna Bowman Dodd, (1908)
• Peter Green, (1955)
• Gertrude R. Levy, (1954)
• M. Pardoe, (1959)
• Steven Pressfield, Tides of War (2000)
• , (1925)
• Rosemary Sutcliff, (1969)

Socrates[]

• O.F. Grazebrook, (1927)
• Paul Levinson, The Plot to Save Socrates (2006)
• A.C. Malcom, (1947)
• Cora Mason, Socrates (1953)
• Fritz Mauthner, (1926)
• Robert Pick, (1954)
• Mary Renault, The Last of the Wine (1956)
• Geoffrey Trease, The Crown of Violet aka Web of Traitors (USA) (1952)

Miscellaneous 5th century[]

• Helena Carus, (1935)
• A.J. Church, (1892)
• I.O. Evans, (1955)
• Charles Kelsey Gaines, (1903)
• Richard Garfinkle, Celestial Matters (1996)
• Geraldine M. Gay, (1906)
• Owen F. Grazebrook, (1946)
• Tom Holt, Walled Orchard series
  • Goatsong: A Novel of Ancient Athens (1989)
  • The Walled Orchard (1991)
• Alexander N. Hood, (1906)
• Jacynth Hope-Simpson, (1969)
• John Galen Howard, Pheidias (1929)
• William P. Kelly, (1911)
• Noel Langley, (1948)
• Isabelle Lawrence, Niko (1956)
• Edward A. Leatham, (1859)
• Kenneth Lillington, (1960)
• Jon Edward Martin, (2004)
• A. Mayer, Olympiad (1962)
• Iona McGregor, (1974)
• Naomi Mitchison, Cloud Cuckoo Land (1925)
• George Moore, (1931)
• Nicholas Nicastro, (2005)
• Jan Parandowski, (1939)
• Wilder Penfield, The Torch (1960)
• Lucy F. Perkins, (1936)
• , (2008)
• Mary Renault
  • The Mask of Apollo (1966)
  • The Praise Singer (1978)
• Caroline Dale Snedeker, (1925)
• José Carlos Somoza, The Athenian Murders (2002)
• Henry de Vere Stacpoole, (1912)
• Lin Sten, tetralogy
  • (vol. 1) (2015)
  • (vol. 2) (2018)
  • (vol. 3) (2017)
  • (vol. 4) (2017)
• Donald Suddaby, (1961)
• Geoffrey Trease, Web of Traitors, American title The Crown of Violet (1952)
• Arthur S. Way, (1929)
• C.M. Wieland,
  • (1766-7)
  • (1774)
• Frank Yerby, Goat Song (1967)

4th century BCE[]

Xenophon[]

• J. Barbary, (1963)
• Michael Curtis Ford, The Ten Thousand (2001)
• Stephen Marlowe, The Shining (1963)
• Xenophon of Ephesus, Ephesian Tale of Anthia and Habrocomes (2nd century)

Alexander the Great[]

• Anna Apostolou
  • A Murder in Macedon (1997)
  • (1998)
• Konrad Bercovici, Alexander (1928)
• Ben Bova, (1994)
• Mary Butts, (1933)
• Christian Cameron, God of War (2012)
• , (1890)
• Paul Doherty
  • (2001)
  • (2002)
  • The Gates of Hell (2003)
• , (1993)
• Maurice Druon (Maurice Kessel), (1960)
• , (1957)
• Judith French, The Conqueror (2003)
• , (1905)
• David Gemmell
  • Lion of Macedon (1990)
  • Dark Prince (1993)
• , (2003)
• Tom Holt, (1999)
• Nikos Kazantzakis, Alexander the Great (1941)
• Harold Lamb, Alexander of Macedon (1946)
• , (1996)
• Valerio Massimo Manfredi
  • (2001)
  • (2001)
  • (2001)
• Klaus Mann, (1929)
• Edison Marshall, The Conqueror (1962)
• Aubrey Menen, (1965)
• Naomi Mitchison, (1960)
• • (1965)
  • (1971)
  • (1971)
• Marshall Monroe Kirkman
  • Iskander (1903)
  • (1909)
  • (1909)
• Nicholas Nicastro, (2004)
• Scott Oden, Memnon (2006)
• Robert Payne, (1954)
• , (1959)
• Steven Pressfield, The Virtues of War (2005)
• , (1989)
• ,
  • (2019) — Alexander's time with Aristotle
  • (2019) — Alexander early career under his father, Philip
• Mary Renault, Alexander trilogy
  • Fire from Heaven (1969) — the early life of Alexander the Great
  • The Persian Boy (1972) — Alexander the Great after his conquest of Persia
  • Funeral Games (1981) — the successors of Alexander
• Katherine Roberts, The Mausoleum Murder (2003)
• Melissa Scott, (1986)
• , (1984)
• , (2001)
• Judith Tarr
  • (1993)
  • Queen of the Amazons (2004)
• Jakob Wasserman, (1949)
• Ivan Yefremov, Thais of Athens (1972)

Miscellaneous 4th century[]

• Florence B. Anderson, (1927)
• W.A. Becker, Charicles (1845)
• The Sand-Reckoner, by Gillian Bradshaw (2000) about Archimedes
• Margaret Doody, Aristotle and Stephanos series
  • (1978)
  • (1980)
  • (2000)
  • (2002)
  • ("Ring of Bronze") (2003)
  • (2004)
  • (2005)
• John Gardner, (1970)
• Bryher, (1958)
• Noel B. Gerson, (1963)
• Don Harrison,
  • The Spartan (1982)
  • (1986)
• Basil Kazandzis (Kazantzes), (1969)
• William Kotzwinkle, (1974)
• Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Tyrant (2005)
• Ursule Molinaro, (1990)
• Mary Ray, (1975)
• Mary Renault, The Mask of Apollo (1966)
• Katherine Roberts, The Olympic Conspiracy (2004)
• Barnaby Ross, (1962)
• José Carlos Somoza, The Athenian Murders (2002)
• L. Sprague de Camp
  • The Arrows of Hercules (1965)
  • An Elephant for Aristotle (1958)
• F. Van Wyck Mason, Lysander (1957)
• Peter Vansittart, (1992)

Hellenistic[]

• Gillian Bradshaw, The Sand-Reckoner (2000)
• Chaereas and Callirhoe, by Chariton of Aphrodisias (1st century)
• Tyrant, by Christian Cameron
  • Tyrant (2008)
  • Storm of Arrows (2009)
  • Funeral Games (2010)
  • King of the Bosporus (2011)
  • Destroyer of Cities (2013)
  • Force of Kings (2014)
• A. Dickeson, (1903)
• Alfred Duggan, (1963)
• Georg Ebers
  • The Sisters (1880)
  • Arachne (1898)
• I.O. Evans, (1950)
• Vardis Fisher, (1952)
• A.H. Gilkes, Four Sons (1906)
• William Golding, The Double Tongue (1995)
• Joan Grant, (1947)
• Timoleon, by (2015)
• H.D., Hedylus (1928)
• Jack Lindsay, (1934)
• Marjorie Livingston, (1948)
• Naomi Mitchison, (1930)
• Ernest Moss, (1979)
• Eden Phillpotts, (1924)
• Mary Ray, (1982)
• Carolyn Dale Snedeker, (1933)
• L. Sprague de Camp
  • The Bronze God of Rhodes (1960)
  • The Golden Wind (1969)
• Duncan Sprott
  • (2004)
  • (2006)
• H.N. Turteltaub, "Hellenic Traders" series, set some time after the death of Alexander
  • Over the Wine Dark Sea (2001)
  • The Gryphon's Skull (2002)
  • The Sacred Land (2003)
  • Owls to Athens (2004)
• Agnes Vaughan, (1940)
• Thornton Wilder, The Woman of Andros (1930)

1st century BCE[]

• The Double Tongue, by William Golding (1995)

2nd century CE[]

• The Adventures of Leucippe and Clitophon, by Achilles Tatius (2nd century)
• Daphnis and Chloe, by Longus (2nd century)
• Aethiopica or Theagenes and Chariclea, by Heliodorus of Emesa (2nd century)
• True History, by Lucian (2nd century AD), not necessarily set anywhere near Greece

Short stories[]

• "Helike", by (The Quarry Journal, 2012)
• "", by (The Quarry Journal, 2014)
• "", by (The Quarry Journal, 2015)

Films[]

• 300 (2007)
• 300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
• 300 Spartans, The (1962)
• Alexander (2004)
• Alexander the Great (1956)
• Antigone (1961)
• Clash of the Titans (1981)
• Clash of the Titans (2010)
• Colossus of Rhodes, The (1961)
• Helen of Troy (1956)
• Helen of Troy (2003)
• Hercules (1983)
• Hercules (1997), A Disney film.
• Immortals (2011 film)
• Jason and the Argonauts (1963/2000)
• Minotaur (2006)
• Socrates (1971)
• Ulysses (1955)
• Troy (2004)
• Wrath of the Titans (2012)

Plays[]

• Adventure Story, by Terence Rattigan
• A Midsummer Night's Dream, by William Shakespeare
• Socrates on Trial by Andrew David Irvine
• Timon of Athens, by William Shakespeare
• Troilus and Cressida, by William Shakespeare
• The Two Noble Kinsmen, by William Shakespeare and John Fletcher

Radio[]

• Acropolis Now by Lynne Truss

Comics[]

• 300 by Frank Miller
• Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower
• by Marvel Illustrated
• by Marvel Illustrated
• by Marvel Illustrated

Video games[]

• Age of Empires
• Age of Mythology
• Ancient Wars: Sparta
• Apotheon
• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Battle of Olympus
• God of War
• Fate of Hellas
• Phelios
• Rampage Through Time
• Rise of the Argonauts
• Rygar: The Legendary Adventure
• Spartan: Total Warrior
• Titan Quest
• Warriors: Legends of Troy
• Zeus: Master of Olympus

Television[]

• Atlantis
• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
• The Odyssey (TV miniseries)
• Xena: Warrior Princess

See also[]

• Fiction set in Ancient Rome
• List of historical fiction by time period

External links[]

• Ancient Greece in fiction

This literature-related list is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021)

This list related to film, television, or video is incomplete; you can help by . (October 2021)