Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili

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And of course we follow on how eventually Zeus and his brothers and sisters usurped Cronus and then the Greek gods/goddesses as we know them just run amok.

I’ve never read a compendium of Greek mythology quite like this; written variously from the POV’s female characters such as Penelope and Helen — they narrate their own myths as well as those of ancient gods and goddesses (and famous heroes, too! Inside the palace, Clytemnestra led her husband through to the bath, and, with smooth assurance, helped him strip off his clothes. I sort of wish I’d come across this when I was younger — this is a great ‘introduction’ to Greek myth without having to scour and pull together lots of disparate sources. Theirs' are the hands which are responsible for piecing together the elaborate and imaginative tapestry that exists to make sense of the world.A young woman and her sister, Procne who long to be birds to explore the world around them, but Procne's husband has other terrible ideas about Philomela. This technique is powerfully employed by Charlotte Higgins to play on the intertexuaoity of these stories, on the notion of women weaving their own stories and as a brilliant way of introducing the ways in which these women reflect on the stories they themselves would have known. A the death of their king and his daughter the Corinthians started rioting; they were a mob, terrifying in their cries for vengeance.

This New Noise, a book based on her nine-part series of reports on the BBC, was published by Guardian-Faber in 2015. If you want a feminist (revisionist) retelling where the main female protagonist is actually interesting and/ or gets a redemption arc, THIS IS REALLY NOT THAT BOOK. Its thoughtful introduction, ample notes pointing to the ancient sources, bibliography of accessible further reading, maps, genealogies and glossary make it a useful resource for far more advanced adult readers.The book would make a perfect introduction to the entrancing world of Greek myth for any secondary school student. This book claims to be female centered, however, the female characters are no more central than any other retelling. Now my big shot out is to Penelope, construction wise her chapter doesn't do anything as interesting, but I love her!

A great storyteller’ Madeline Miller, author of Circe Here are the myths of Heracles and Theseus, the Trojan war, Thebes and Argos and Athens.Clair (and if you don’t like smex try Alexandra Braken or if you’re literally a child try Mary Pope Osborn). Charlotte Higgins reinterprets some of the most enduring stories of all time in this beautifully produced, spellbinding new collection, featuring original artworks by Chris Ofili. Within each weaving/chapter, the stories are many of those familiar to us already, the Trojan War/ Odyssey, Persephone, Arachne and Athena (that one was particularly well written), and some are far more obscure (the rise of Dionysus and his many many side adventures). In other occasions, while explaining one myth, the author will suddenly jump to another, give it one paragraph, and the go back to the first one in the same sentence, making it quite difficult to full concentrate on what’s going on. And if you want the individual voices of the women in Greek myths to linger in your soul for every single day until you die, read Nina MacLaughlin or Nakita Gill.

If you want a rundown of the general Greek myths without a lot of commentary, LAWD ALMIGHTY THIS IS NOT THE BOOK. Athena, Alcithoë, Philomela, Arachne, and the Homeric weavers Andromache, Helen, Circe and Penelope function as Higgins’ quasi-narrators, except that the stories they tell are depicted on their looms’ warp and weft and described by the ninth Muse in this collection, Higgins herself. I don’t know where this book is supposed to fit in amongst all these other great authors turning out amazing interesting hilarious novels and books. uk will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide updates and marketing. Here are myths of the creation, of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus, the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths, tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens.A god can spy on a woman as much as he likes, it seems, though a man may no, even by mistake, glimpse a naked goddess. We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. Enjoyed how the author captured Penelope not as “the loyal one” (her epithet) but as someone who was simmering in anger, rage and grief hearing of Odysseus’ affairs, as well as her uncertainty and distrust of him when he comes home- I also immensely loved Penelope’s lamentation of the goddess Athena. So, I think it is pretty well established around here that I am a sucker for a good Greek myth retelling and even a new interpretation of the Greek myths so is it really a surprise that I’ve gone ahead and read this one as well?