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astrangewind's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
slow-paced
1.5
An alternate, and more accurate, title for this book would be "Heroes of Ancient Greece," or "Mostly the Trojan War with Some Other Stuff." (Seriously, it's like 250 pages of the Trojan War. Go read the Iliad or something.)
If you really like the Trojan War, then read the Iliad. If you care about Odysseus, read the Odyssey. If you want a book that has really gorgeous art, accessible language, and actual interesting stories about the Greek gods, then get literally any other book. If you want a book that kind of has a nice cover, then get this one, I guess.
I firmly believe that translators have a choice to make language more accessible. You don't need confusing words or sentence structures to convey the meaning of the original. In fact, sometimes that even abstracts it. And given that this book is not only an English translation, but an English translation from a German translation of the original Greek, I can't help but wonder what might be missing from these stories. For example, in the section about Odysseus, the original Greek is very clear that Circe coerced Odysseus into sex, but this translation claims that she asked him to "make friends." Very bizarre thing to leave out.
Some things, while not being necessarily inaccurate (although, what is accuracy when it comes to ancient myths?), are confusing in their ordering.In the story of Tantalus, Tantalus feeds the Olympians his son, Pelops. The book correctly states that distraught Demeter is the only one who partakes, but fails to mention why - she is mourning the loss of Persephone to Pluto. It just seems odd and out of place for something that would be so easy to include. Following that story is the story of Pelops. The book makes clear that Pelops is alive and well following Tantalus cutting him up and cooking him into a stew, but fails to mention how he is alive and well. (The gods put him back together, save for a portion of his shoulder, which Demeter had eaten.) I believe that's the worst logical inconsistency in this book, but I just feel like I'm not getting the whole story.
The most interesting cause of the Trojan War - the whole thing with Eris and the apple - is totally glossed over. Maybe I just care too much about the gods and not enough about the heroes, but is it really so silly to believe a book titled "Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece" would talk about the gods at all?
The art is also pretty dull. If you want good art, you should pick up Liv Albert's "Greek Mythology," which has some awesome art and more interesting information, making it a much better coffee table book than this one.
Really, genuinely, just go get a different book. Something more readable, with better art, a modern retelling, even an original translation of an epic poem. This book is just not interesting or accessible enough to justify reading it.
I'm giving it 1.5 stars because I thought the organization was good, the chapters were short, and I enjoyed putting checkmarks next to the sections I finished in the table of contents. I did learn a lot reading this book, but I could have had a better time reading a different book.
If you really like the Trojan War, then read the Iliad. If you care about Odysseus, read the Odyssey. If you want a book that has really gorgeous art, accessible language, and actual interesting stories about the Greek gods, then get literally any other book. If you want a book that kind of has a nice cover, then get this one, I guess.
I firmly believe that translators have a choice to make language more accessible. You don't need confusing words or sentence structures to convey the meaning of the original. In fact, sometimes that even abstracts it. And given that this book is not only an English translation, but an English translation from a German translation of the original Greek, I can't help but wonder what might be missing from these stories. For example, in the section about Odysseus, the original Greek is very clear that Circe coerced Odysseus into sex, but this translation claims that she asked him to "make friends." Very bizarre thing to leave out.
Some things, while not being necessarily inaccurate (although, what is accuracy when it comes to ancient myths?), are confusing in their ordering.
The most interesting cause of the Trojan War - the whole thing with Eris and the apple - is totally glossed over. Maybe I just care too much about the gods and not enough about the heroes, but is it really so silly to believe a book titled "Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece" would talk about the gods at all?
The art is also pretty dull. If you want good art, you should pick up Liv Albert's "Greek Mythology," which has some awesome art and more interesting information, making it a much better coffee table book than this one.
Really, genuinely, just go get a different book. Something more readable, with better art, a modern retelling, even an original translation of an epic poem. This book is just not interesting or accessible enough to justify reading it.
I'm giving it 1.5 stars because I thought the organization was good, the chapters were short, and I enjoyed putting checkmarks next to the sections I finished in the table of contents. I did learn a lot reading this book, but I could have had a better time reading a different book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, and Death of parent