Reviews

A Gift from Zeus by Jeanne Steig

nancyotoole's review

2.0

Jeanne Steig's A Gift from Zeus, gathers sixteen classic Greek myths and attempts to retell them for children. The result is a somewhat uneven collection. Steig does a great job of simplifying complicated stories for children while leaving them mostly intact, but the language is somewhat inconstant. At times, it feels very modern, conversational and satisfyingly funny, but other times it feels rather formal. There is also some confusion as to what audience this book is intended for. On one hand, the language, length, and use of a children's illustrator would suggest this book was intended for chidren, but the subject matter seems more consistent with material available to adolescents. The author has made sure not to censor the myths, leaving in all of the rape, incest, and bestiality that can be found in the original tales. Another inconsistency is the author's frequent switch back and forth from the Greek to Roman names for the Gods (one example, Zeus is mostly referred to by his Greek name, but there are a few cases where he is called Jupiter). The author has included a list in the back that explains the identity of all of the Gods listed in the stories, but to a casual reader with no knowledge on Greek myths, they might not think to make the connection that the Venus referred to in the previous tale is the same as the Aphrodite in the next. It is also somewhat confusing why a collection of sixteen favorite myths does not include a retelling of “The Twelve Labors of Hercules.” If the author had chosen to include an introduction or conclusion for this collection, it would have given them them a chance to explain these choices in more detail, but they have not. The book is also illustrated by William Steig, who artwork provides the occasional visual element to the tale. The illustrations are similarly uncensored, often including exaggerated breasts and violence. Although the illustrations can often be amusing, they have a messy sketchy quality that may be interpreted as sloppy by some readers. It's great that William and Jeanne Steig have chosen to make a collection of tales for children, although their execution of this choice is somewhat uneven.
Recommended Grade Level- Middle School
(note- this review was written for a class)