peteradamson's review
4.0
Worth it to me historically—as a way to put all that antiquity straight that you sort of learned sporadically in school. The Audible narrator really got into it! Girl PREACH! lol. Also, the disdain she and Hamilton have for Ovid was funny.
cinhein's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide, Slavery, Rape, Death, and Cannibalism
inquiry_from_an_anti_library's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
3.0
Overview:
These myths were meant to explain reality, a primordial science. Stories that were meant to provide a lesson on how to behave. To provide warnings against making some choices. The later authors of these myths did not think much of the priests to the gods temples. For it was the poet who had a connection with the gods. With the rise of rationality and reason, the gods were made in the image of the people rather than beings with no resemblance of reality. There were monsters which took on no real shape, as these monsters were meant to provide the challenge for the heroes to overcome.
Although the gods were radiant and immortal, they were not omnipotent. Their behavior was not righteous. Their behavior was unscrupulous. A lack of understanding between right and wrong. They were fickle with their favor, and used their power arbitrarily. Few were generally friends of human kind, for they were generally harmful or undependable. Better for humans to make do without them. Heroes themselves were generally the offspring of the gods, who had more power than normal humans, but also their own more powerful flaws.
The stories are usually told about the interactions between the heroes and the gods. But it was not the gods that created the universe. The first parents were heaven and earth. Their children were the Titans. The gods were the children of the Titans.
The myths provided are shortened versions of the long stories provided. The author put in a lot of effort going through various ancient sources, to construct a more consistent version of the stories.
Caveats?
The myths are primarily Greek. As the author notes, the Roman’s lacked their own, and were influenced by Greek culture. Romans took on the Greek gods into their own pantheon, and changed their names to Roman equivalents. Romans did add some myths, and also favored different gods than the Greeks.
There is also very little on Norse mythology, which stands in contrast to the Greek mythology. As the author claims, not much has survived of the Norse texts.
vivivi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
4.5
This was a fantastic read! It's especially fun to listen to. The narrator, Suzanne Toren, does an amazing job in bringing the stories to life.
The stories themselves were laid out in a way that was easy to understand, though I think I could hear the parts that were quotes directly from the original translations. It sounded different, but the delivery of the story made it easy on the ears. Kind of like how watching a Shakespeare play helps you understand the content more than just reading the script from a book.
Unfortunately, I zoned out of the last bit about the Norse mythology. I wasn't much interested in them after all the excitement of the Greek myths that took up 90% of the book.
The stories themselves were laid out in a way that was easy to understand, though I think I could hear the parts that were quotes directly from the original translations. It sounded different, but the delivery of the story made it easy on the ears. Kind of like how watching a Shakespeare play helps you understand the content more than just reading the script from a book.
Unfortunately, I zoned out of the last bit about the Norse mythology. I wasn't much interested in them after all the excitement of the Greek myths that took up 90% of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Child death, Violence, Gore, Death of parent, Abandonment, Rape, War, Murder, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Trafficking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/injury detail
Moderate: Slavery, Incest, and Suicide
Greek myths are dark, and some of the stories are a little horrifying, but the stories aren't long.mandijooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
5.0
cheribbit's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
A somewhat dated but still enjoyable and easily digestible overview of Greek & Roman mythology (plus a small portion dedicated to Norse mythology).
I did not enjoy Aeneas' story as it basically read like Roman propaganda. Repeatedly saying Roman was this race destined to rule the world was just weird.
The author writing "By race we are connected with the Norse" at the end also made me pause. Sorry for reading this book as a non-white person but it is not applicable to me lol
I'm interested in reading Pandora's Jar after reading this book as it largely only focused on the male figures.
I did not enjoy Aeneas' story as it basically read like Roman propaganda. Repeatedly saying Roman was this race destined to rule the world was just weird.
The author writing "By race we are connected with the Norse" at the end also made me pause. Sorry for reading this book as a non-white person but it is not applicable to me lol
I'm interested in reading Pandora's Jar after reading this book as it largely only focused on the male figures.
mokey81's review
4.0
I really enjoyed revisiting this mythology. And I feel like it prepared me for reading the Iliad and the Odyssey. My only criticism was the brief, slapped together touch on Norse mythology. She should have just published a separate work or not even touched on Norse mythology at all.
Great resource for Greek mythology.
Great resource for Greek mythology.
vaishsviews's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
This is one of the books I received for my birthday and one I’ve been looking forward to read for some time. I allocated it as my non fiction pick of the month and I was not disappointed.
I really enjoyed the focus on Greek mythology, especially because I wasn’t a Percy Jackson kid but I’ve wanted to get into Greek retellings that are currently being published. This seemed like the perfect place to start because it focused on all the stories of Greek Gods and Heroes. I really enjoyed the different stories and how they span so many years. I appreciate the section on Norse mythology but it didn’t interest me greatly and I was constantly thinking of the Marvel films with Thor and Odin and Ragnarok.
I found it incredibly easy to read because it felt like reading a short collection of stories about various Gods and the Trojan War and the Great Families of Mythology. Initially, I struggled to remember who was who and the family trees, but I found that with every story that I read, I could recall the important figures and plot of the stories. I was reading this to learn more about the Greeks but I found that, for the most part, it didn’t feel like learning. I also love that the book was dispersed with illustrations, especially to celebrate the 75th anniversary of this book.
I would definitely recommend to those who are intimidated by Greek (and Norse) mythology because it’s such an easy and informative read. I feel more confident going forward and feel like I won’t struggle for the most part.