Pierre Grimal (1912–1996) was born in Paris and was a professor at the Faculté des lettres at the Sorbonne until 1982. Grimal was the author of many works that studied ancient Greece and Rome, including The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology, which Library Journal called "invaluable and sorely needed."

Steve Kershaw, editor of The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology, has been interested in the world of the ancient Romans and Greeks since primary school. He earned his PhD at Bristol University under the supervision of Professor Richard Buxton, one of the world's leading scholars on Greek mythology. Professor Kershaw currently teaches at the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education.

A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop is a translator known for the translation of Pierre Grimal’s The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology. The Times Literary Supplement called the book "a work at once authoritative and complete with an impressive standard of accuracy."