ABSTRACT
Fantastic stories, myths and legends became so embedded in Greek culture and collective consciousness that even within the domains of scientific research and logical enquiry, the Greek mythical parallel world never disappeared. During the archaic age, poets and storytellers could communicate with the gods and were inspired by them. Later, when the poets were questioned and called liars, many of these stories, myths and legends remained part and parcel of Greek literary tradition. The Greek parallel mythical world was also transmitted to the Romans and their writers, though frequently in a somewhat altered form.
