A good place to start out to obtain background knowledge on any topic is with reference materials. These include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. Here are examples of reference materials for Classical Studies that are contained within the Queen College Libraries Collections
Handbook for Classical Research by 
Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature by 
The Facts on File Companion to Classical Drama by 
The Oxford Classical Dictionary by 
The Classical Tradition by 
Ancient Greece and Rome by 
The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity by 
Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum by
Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum (ThesCRA) is a major multi-volume reference on all known aspects of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman cults and rituals. Providing both a sweeping overview and in-depth investigation, ThesCRA covers the period from Homeric times (1000 B.C.) to late Roman times
(A.D. 400).
added 3/7/16
Dragons, Serpents, and Slayers in the Classical and Early Christian Worlds by 
Oxford Latin Desk Dictionary by 
The Oxford Handbook of Roman Law and Society by
...surveys the landscape of contemporary research and charts principal directions of future inquiry. More than a history of doctrine or an account of jurisprudence, the Handbook brings to bear upon Roman legal study the full range of intellectual resources of contemporary legal history, from comparison to popular constitutionalism, from international private law to law and society, thereby setting itself apart from other volumes as a unique contribution to scholarship on its subject.
added 1/23/17
The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology by 
Brill's Companion to Hesiod by 
Homer in Print by 