ABSTRACT
While the genre of mythography, which can be defined as a compilation and analysis of ancient myth, was initiated by Hesiod, the first mythography to attempt a systematic retelling of the myths and an exploration of their physical and moral meanings was the Mythologiae of Fabius Planciades Fulgentius. Since no copy of the curriculum or list of textbooks used at Stratford grammar school has survived, both are inferred from what was taught or assigned in other English grammar schools of the period. Joseph A. Porter's study of the myth of Mercury and Mercutio focuses on Mercury as an occult god of boundaries, and views Mercutio as the character who sets up those boundaries. Like Hercules, Orlando also faces a choice between the voluptas of the evil life, and the rocky road of virtue, when he must decide whether to save his evil brother Oliver from the lioness.
