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The Greek Myths
Griechische Mythologie: Quellen und Deutung II
The Chapters are: VOLUME I: BEGINNINGS: The Pelasgian Creation Myth; The Homeric and Orphic Creation Myths; The Olympian Creation Myth; Two Philosophical Creation Myths; The Five Ages of Man; The Castration of Uranus; The Dethronement of Cronus; The Birth of Athene; Zeus and Metis; The Fates; The Birth of Aphrodite; Hera and Her Children; Zeus and Hera; Births of Hermes, Apollo, Artemis and Dionysus; The Birth of Eros. STORIES OF THE GODS: Poseidon's Nature and Deeds; Hermes's Nature and Deeds; Aphtodite's Nature and Deeds; Ares's Nature and Deeds; Hestia's Nature and Deeds; Apollo's Nature and Deeds; Artemis's Nature and Deeds; Hephaestus's Nature and Deeds; Demeter's Nature and Deeds; Athene's Nature and Deeds; Pan's Nature and Deeds; Dionysus's Nature and Deeds. SKY SEA AND UNDERWORLD: Orpheus; Ganymedes; Zagreus; The Gods of the Underworld; Tyche and Nemesis; The Children of the Sea; The Children of Echidne. REVOLTS AGAINST THE GODS: The Giants' Revolt; Typhon; The Aloeids; Deucalion's Flood; Atlas and Prometheus. HEROES GODS AND MORTALS: Eos; Orion; Helius; The Sons of Hellen; Ion; Alcyone and Ceryx; Tereus; Erechtheus and Eumolpus; Boreas; Alope; Asclepius; The Oracles; The Alphabet; The Dactyls; The Telchines; The Empusae; Io; Phoroneus; Europe and Cadmus; Cadmus and Harmonia; Belus and the Danaids; Lamia; Leda; Ixion; Endymion; Pygmalion and Galatea; Aeacus; Sisyphus; Salmoneus and Tyro; Alcestis; Athamas; The Mares of Glaucus; Melampus; Perseus; The Rival Twins; Bellerophon; Antiope; Niobe; Caenis and Caeneus; Erigone; The Calydonian Boar; Telamon and Peleus; Aristaeus; Midas; Cleobis and Biton; Narcissus; Phyllis and Carya; Arion. CRETE AND THESEUS: Minos and his Brothers; The Loves of Minos; The Children of Pasiphae; Scylla and Nisus; Daedalus and Talos; Catreus and Althaemenes; The Sons of Pandion; The Birth of Theseus; The Labours of Theseus; Theseus and Medea; Theseur in Crete; The Federalisation of Attica; Theseus and the Amazons; Phaedra and Hippolytus; Lapiths and Centaurs; Theseus in Tartarus; and The Death of Theseus. VOLUME II: THEBES: Oedipus; The Seven against Thebes; The Epigoni. ARGOS: Tantalus; Pelops and Oenomaus; The Children of Pelops; Atreus and Thyestes; Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra; The Vengeance of Orestes; The Trial of Orestes; The Pacification of the Erinnyes; Iphigeneia among the Taurians; The Reign of Orestes. HERACLES: The Birth of Heracles; The Youth of Heracles; The Daughters of Thespius; Eginus; The Madness of Heracles; The First Labour: The Nemean Lion; The Second Labour: The Lernaean Hydra; The Third Labour: The Ceryneian Hind; The Fourth Labour: The Erymanthian Boar; The Fifth Labour: The Stables of Augeias; The Sixth Labour: The Stymphalian Birds; The Seventh Labour: The Cretan Bull; The Eighth Labour: The Mares of Diomedes; The Ninth Labour: Hippolyte's Girdle; The Tenth Labour: The Cattle of Geryon; The Eleventh Labour: The Apples of the Hesperides; The Twelfth Labour: The Capture of Cerberus; The Murder of Iphitus; Omphale; Hesione; The Conquest of Elis; The Capture of Pylus; The Sons of Hippocoon; Auge; Deianeira; Heracles in Trachis; Iole; The Apotheosis of Heracles; The Children of Heracles; Linus. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS: The Arognauts Assemble; The Lemnian Women and King Cyzicus; Hylas, Amycus and Phineus; From the Symplegades to Colchis; The Seizure of the Fleece; The Murder of Apsyrtus; The Argo Returns to Greece; The Death of Pelias; Medea at Ephyra; Medea in Exile. THE TROJAN WAR: The Foundation of Troy; Paris and Helen; The First Gathering at Aulis; The Second Gathering at Aulis; Nine Years of War; The Wrath of Achilles; The Death of Achilles; The Ma.
396 pages, Perfect Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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March 24, 2018
In the early days of Goodreads, I initially chose a user name for myself that was long-lived, historical, distinctive, and not often chosen by others. I chose the name Clytemnestra. I didn’t really know anything about her; I vaguely remembered there was some violence attached to her name. When a couple of people mentioned that user name when they contacted me, I thought, you know, that I should really find out more about Clytemnestra before I couple her name with my own.
Years later, I have this lovely, dense paperback written by Robert Graves, poet, historian, novelist, memoirist. In it, Graves explains that the story of Clytemnestra—her death at least—is not fixed exactly, and is still disputed. Suffice it to say that she was killed, somehow, by her son Orestes, some say for good reason. However, I am more inclined than ever to couple her name with mine and may again one day, after learning what I have about her life in this book.
Unless I am missing something, it appears Clytemnestra was married to Tantalus, King of Pisa, when Agamemnon killed him in battle and forcibly married Clytemnestra as war spoils. Clytemnestra was Helen of Troy’s sister, and therefore, we deduce, not as lovely as the famed Helen but perhaps not so far behind in terms of beauty and skill. Clytemnestra’s brothers, The Dioscuri, came to rescue her from Agamemnon in Mycenae, but Clytemnestra’s father Tyndareus forgave Agamemnon and allowed him to keep Clytemnestra.
Clytemnestra bore Agamemnon one son, Orestes, and three daughters: Electra, Iphigeneia, and Chrysothemis. Iphigeneia may have been Clytemnestra’s niece, daughter of Helen and Theseus, whom she adopted. When Agamemnon set sail with Menelaus for Troy to bring Helen back after she left with Paris, winds whipped up by Artemis prevented them from getting to Troy, and so Agamemnon decided unilaterally to sacrifice—as in kill—Iphigeneia to appease Artemis.
Clytemnestra, who already hated Agamemnon for killing her first husband and forcing her into marriage against her will, was beside herself for Agamemnon’s killing an innocent teen she looked upon as her daughter. In the ten years Agamemnon was away, Clytemnestra had a sexual relationship with a man who also had a reason to hate Agamemnon, Aegisthus. When she learned from a provocateur wishing to inflame her feelings of vengeance that Agamemnon planned to bring back the King of Troy’s daughter Cassandra and the children she bore to Agamemnon, Clytemnestra’s thoughts turned bloody.
Up to this time, Clytemnestra is entirely blameless. She slept with a man not her husband, but her current husband had killed her first husband, forced her into marriage, and was spreading his seed far and wide. It is said she would have been happy had Agamemnon never returned, but he did, and she beheaded him in the bath after pretending to welcome him home. Clytemnestra was unafraid of divine retribution, thinking her own acts retribution in themselves.
So what of the children from the union of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon? Orestes was raised by his grandparents Tyndareus and Leda. He was ten years of age and not at his mother’s place when Agamemnon returned from Troy. When he learned Agamemnon had been killed and his body disrespected in burial, Orestes felt he had to avenge the death. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra’s lover, lived for seven years in Agamemnon’s place, but was subservient to the true ruler of Mycenae, Clytemnestra, who finally came into her own as a ruler and leader.
When Orestes had grown to manhood and consulted the Delphic Oracle, he learned Apollo’s answer, authorized by Zeus, that he must avenge the death of his father lest he become an outcast from society and stricken with leprosy. At the same time, the Furies would not look kindly on matricide, so Orestes must defend himself against the Furies with a special bow of horn, which Apollo gave to Orestes. Some twenty years later, he returned to his mother’s house. Clytemnestra did not recognize her son. After Orestes had killed Aegisthus, whom he had tricked into letting down his guard, Clytemnestra saw he was her son. Some versions say he beheaded her at her own home, some say he gave her over to a court of law and they convicted her to death. (Why do I mistrust this version?) Another version says that Electra entices Clytemnestra to visit her home with news that she bore a child to her peasant husband. Clytemnestra, eager to see a grandson, was killed by Orestes who was hiding in Electra's house. This one actually breaks my heart.
Electra, Clytemnestra’s first daughter, had been betrothed to Castor of Sparta, but Aegisthus was afraid she might bear a son to avenge his grandfather and wanted to kill her. Clytemnestra forbade this, but allowed Aegisthus to force Electra to marry a Mycenaean peasant who was then afraid to consummate the marriage. (It is said he feared Orestes' wrath.) Electra was thus powerless, kept in poverty, and threatened with imprisonment and banishment if she called Clytemnestra and Aegisthus ‘murderous adulterers.’
Her sister, Chrysothemis, unmentioned in this telling and despised by Electra for her subservience and disservice to her father’s memory, is a fascinating child of myth. In some viewpoints since this myth came into being, Chrysothemis was the pious and noble daughter according to the matrilineal law still golden in some parts of Greece at this time. (Who knew?) Ignorant as I am, I must have picked up in various places the notion that Clytemnestra was perfectly within her rights to kill the philandering, murdering husband who left her. Call it matrilineal if you must, but at some point you must call a spade a spade.
This is what the notes by Graves have to say:
Crucial myth, indeed. Graves tells us the Furies had always acted for the mother only: Aeschylus is “forcing language” when he speaks of The Furies avenging paternal blood. Moreover, the White Goddess Leprea inflicts or cures leprosy, not Apollo or Zeus. “In the sequel,” Graves tell us, not all the Furies accept Apollo’s Delphic ruling and Euripedes “appeases his female audience by allowing the Dioscuri to suggest Apollo’s injunctions had been most wise.”
I will read Euripedes’ plays. I may have, in ignorance, chosen the perfect avatar in Clytemnestra, situated as she in between a society who reveres and respects matrilineal rule and and the struggle with a patrilineal line. Clytemnestra was not especially kind to the children she bore with Agamemnon, and this is regrettable. I would have preferred she love her children regardless of where they were sourced, but since she is not the one who gets to tell the story, we’ll never know the truth of it. She intervened to prevent overt harm to her children several times; we must take this at least at face value.
Years later, I have this lovely, dense paperback written by Robert Graves, poet, historian, novelist, memoirist. In it, Graves explains that the story of Clytemnestra—her death at least—is not fixed exactly, and is still disputed. Suffice it to say that she was killed, somehow, by her son Orestes, some say for good reason. However, I am more inclined than ever to couple her name with mine and may again one day, after learning what I have about her life in this book.
Unless I am missing something, it appears Clytemnestra was married to Tantalus, King of Pisa, when Agamemnon killed him in battle and forcibly married Clytemnestra as war spoils. Clytemnestra was Helen of Troy’s sister, and therefore, we deduce, not as lovely as the famed Helen but perhaps not so far behind in terms of beauty and skill. Clytemnestra’s brothers, The Dioscuri, came to rescue her from Agamemnon in Mycenae, but Clytemnestra’s father Tyndareus forgave Agamemnon and allowed him to keep Clytemnestra.
Clytemnestra bore Agamemnon one son, Orestes, and three daughters: Electra, Iphigeneia, and Chrysothemis. Iphigeneia may have been Clytemnestra’s niece, daughter of Helen and Theseus, whom she adopted. When Agamemnon set sail with Menelaus for Troy to bring Helen back after she left with Paris, winds whipped up by Artemis prevented them from getting to Troy, and so Agamemnon decided unilaterally to sacrifice—as in kill—Iphigeneia to appease Artemis.
Clytemnestra, who already hated Agamemnon for killing her first husband and forcing her into marriage against her will, was beside herself for Agamemnon’s killing an innocent teen she looked upon as her daughter. In the ten years Agamemnon was away, Clytemnestra had a sexual relationship with a man who also had a reason to hate Agamemnon, Aegisthus. When she learned from a provocateur wishing to inflame her feelings of vengeance that Agamemnon planned to bring back the King of Troy’s daughter Cassandra and the children she bore to Agamemnon, Clytemnestra’s thoughts turned bloody.
Up to this time, Clytemnestra is entirely blameless. She slept with a man not her husband, but her current husband had killed her first husband, forced her into marriage, and was spreading his seed far and wide. It is said she would have been happy had Agamemnon never returned, but he did, and she beheaded him in the bath after pretending to welcome him home. Clytemnestra was unafraid of divine retribution, thinking her own acts retribution in themselves.
So what of the children from the union of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon? Orestes was raised by his grandparents Tyndareus and Leda. He was ten years of age and not at his mother’s place when Agamemnon returned from Troy. When he learned Agamemnon had been killed and his body disrespected in burial, Orestes felt he had to avenge the death. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra’s lover, lived for seven years in Agamemnon’s place, but was subservient to the true ruler of Mycenae, Clytemnestra, who finally came into her own as a ruler and leader.
When Orestes had grown to manhood and consulted the Delphic Oracle, he learned Apollo’s answer, authorized by Zeus, that he must avenge the death of his father lest he become an outcast from society and stricken with leprosy. At the same time, the Furies would not look kindly on matricide, so Orestes must defend himself against the Furies with a special bow of horn, which Apollo gave to Orestes. Some twenty years later, he returned to his mother’s house. Clytemnestra did not recognize her son. After Orestes had killed Aegisthus, whom he had tricked into letting down his guard, Clytemnestra saw he was her son. Some versions say he beheaded her at her own home, some say he gave her over to a court of law and they convicted her to death. (Why do I mistrust this version?) Another version says that Electra entices Clytemnestra to visit her home with news that she bore a child to her peasant husband. Clytemnestra, eager to see a grandson, was killed by Orestes who was hiding in Electra's house. This one actually breaks my heart.
Electra, Clytemnestra’s first daughter, had been betrothed to Castor of Sparta, but Aegisthus was afraid she might bear a son to avenge his grandfather and wanted to kill her. Clytemnestra forbade this, but allowed Aegisthus to force Electra to marry a Mycenaean peasant who was then afraid to consummate the marriage. (It is said he feared Orestes' wrath.) Electra was thus powerless, kept in poverty, and threatened with imprisonment and banishment if she called Clytemnestra and Aegisthus ‘murderous adulterers.’
Her sister, Chrysothemis, unmentioned in this telling and despised by Electra for her subservience and disservice to her father’s memory, is a fascinating child of myth. In some viewpoints since this myth came into being, Chrysothemis was the pious and noble daughter according to the matrilineal law still golden in some parts of Greece at this time. (Who knew?) Ignorant as I am, I must have picked up in various places the notion that Clytemnestra was perfectly within her rights to kill the philandering, murdering husband who left her. Call it matrilineal if you must, but at some point you must call a spade a spade.
This is what the notes by Graves have to say:
Is this relevant to the world we live in today? It could very well be relevant. I’d had no idea about matrilineal law in ancient Greece, and somewhere along the way this got superseded with a patrilineal system, a kind of law I like far less well. Matrilineal law has always made sense to me, not just because I am a woman.
1. This is a crucial myth with numerous variants. Olympianism had been formed as a religion of compromise between the pre-Hellenic matriarchal principle and the Hellenic patriarchal principle; the divine family consisting, at first of six gods and six goddesses. An uneasy balance of power was kept until Athene was reborn from Zeus’s head, and Dionysus, reborn from his thigh, took Hestia’s seat at the divine Council; thereafter male preponderance in any divine debate was assured—a situation reflected on earth—and the goddesses’ ancient prerogatives could now be successfully challenged.
2. Matrilinear inheritance was one of the axioms taken over from the pre-Hellenic religion. Since every king must necessarily be a foreigner, who ruled by virtue of his marriage to an heiress, royal princes learned to regard their mother as the main support of the kingdom, and matricide as an unthinkable crime. They were brought up on myths of the earlier religion, according to which the sacred king had always been betrayed by his goddess-wife, killed by his tanist, and avenged by his son; they knew the son never punished his adulterous mother, who had acted with the full authority of the goddess whom she served.
Crucial myth, indeed. Graves tells us the Furies had always acted for the mother only: Aeschylus is “forcing language” when he speaks of The Furies avenging paternal blood. Moreover, the White Goddess Leprea inflicts or cures leprosy, not Apollo or Zeus. “In the sequel,” Graves tell us, not all the Furies accept Apollo’s Delphic ruling and Euripedes “appeases his female audience by allowing the Dioscuri to suggest Apollo’s injunctions had been most wise.”
I will read Euripedes’ plays. I may have, in ignorance, chosen the perfect avatar in Clytemnestra, situated as she in between a society who reveres and respects matrilineal rule and and the struggle with a patrilineal line. Clytemnestra was not especially kind to the children she bore with Agamemnon, and this is regrettable. I would have preferred she love her children regardless of where they were sourced, but since she is not the one who gets to tell the story, we’ll never know the truth of it. She intervened to prevent overt harm to her children several times; we must take this at least at face value.
February 18, 2017
Just finished with the kids. The second book (part 2) contains large segments of the Illiad and the Odyssey stories along with Hercules, Achilles and Ajax. The kids (13 & 11) were mainly interested in the sex, blood, and the strata of godhood (Gods, Demigods, Semidemi, etc). A poet's mythology for sure, and obviously influenced by Grave's own obscession with the White Goddess myth, etc. The most interesting survey of Greek Mythology I've come in contact with. I might have to revisit my Bulfinch and Hamilton again just to make sure I'm not clouded by some offbeat, proximity bias or elixer/aphrodisiakon that has attracted me to Graves from the egg.
March 10, 2023
As the title suggests, this is the second anthology of Greek Myths, retold by Robert Graves for a modern-day readership.
Just as in the first instalment, the stories here were numerous and characters and events occurred repeatedly throughout them. The stories were told in a straight-forward fashion but followed by lengthy footnotes, sometimes doubling the length of the original, and aiding in the reader's ability to piece together the whos, the wheres, the whens, and the whys.
These have definitely made Greek mythology more accessible for me and also the sheer abundance of tales, that both of these volumes contain, means I will definitely be returning here before each future retelling and as not all the information can be soaked up with just one reading. Thankfully, the contents pages and story titles make this task an easy one.
Just as in the first instalment, the stories here were numerous and characters and events occurred repeatedly throughout them. The stories were told in a straight-forward fashion but followed by lengthy footnotes, sometimes doubling the length of the original, and aiding in the reader's ability to piece together the whos, the wheres, the whens, and the whys.
These have definitely made Greek mythology more accessible for me and also the sheer abundance of tales, that both of these volumes contain, means I will definitely be returning here before each future retelling and as not all the information can be soaked up with just one reading. Thankfully, the contents pages and story titles make this task an easy one.
January 21, 2018
Not surprisingly, this second volume is much like the first. I found it rather dull and plodding, notwithstanding the salacious, barbaric, and outright disgusting details in some of the tales. On the good side, it does give a good basis for understanding the myths underpinning Greco-Roman culture, and provides insights on how Greeks and Romans perceived the world and on their value system (or the lack thereof). On the other hand, I found myself as put off by the immorality and capriciousness of the gods and heroes as by the villains. Moreover, the writing in this is not all that great ---- pedantic, skips around a lot interrupting the flow of the stories, and gets bogged down in distracting or unnecessary details.
February 7, 2025
You can see my general review for both volumes here
April 13, 2014
The Great Graves continued his dissection of the the ancient Greek myths with this second volume and as with the first volume, it is a collection of detailed research. The majority of the tales in this book center around the Twelve Labours of Heracles. And it was quite a labour reading them. I have nothing in particular against the strongest of the strong ones, but there are only so many labours I can belabour myself through.
...he lifted Eryx high into the air, dashed him to the ground and killed him - which taught the Sicilians that not everyone born of a goddess is necessarily immortal.
As these are the Olympian Gods, there is quite a bit of gore and fighting and swords clashing all over the place. There is also Graves' contention that the Minoan and Mycenaean myths (matriarchal) were overtaken by the invading Dorian versions (patriarchal), which would explain the Amazons and the defeat of the Trojans and their female-centric culture.
...if Hector was the hand of the Trojans, Aeneas was their soul.
The slog through Heracles' adventures is countered by the last part of the book, which is the telling of the Trojan War and the Odyssey. This wouldn't be the publication I would turn to for storytelling, but it is a systematic reference of quotes and footnotes and justification for Graves' mythological reasonings. His thoughts on the legend of Homer are worth the last chapters.
Book Season = Year Round
...he lifted Eryx high into the air, dashed him to the ground and killed him - which taught the Sicilians that not everyone born of a goddess is necessarily immortal.
As these are the Olympian Gods, there is quite a bit of gore and fighting and swords clashing all over the place. There is also Graves' contention that the Minoan and Mycenaean myths (matriarchal) were overtaken by the invading Dorian versions (patriarchal), which would explain the Amazons and the defeat of the Trojans and their female-centric culture.
...if Hector was the hand of the Trojans, Aeneas was their soul.
The slog through Heracles' adventures is countered by the last part of the book, which is the telling of the Trojan War and the Odyssey. This wouldn't be the publication I would turn to for storytelling, but it is a systematic reference of quotes and footnotes and justification for Graves' mythological reasonings. His thoughts on the legend of Homer are worth the last chapters.
Book Season = Year Round
May 8, 2023
Dead dove do not eat
May 8, 2023
No quiero verte nunca más
May 13, 2021
Considero que el segundo volumen de "Los mitos griegos" de Robert Graves es superior al primero, las razones pueden ser intrínsecas del propio lector, y es que es posible que con el paso de las páginas uno vaya asimilando el formato, un tanto peculiar, con el que van desarrollándose los mitos y tomando gusto por el mismo, pero sobre todo extrínsecas, ya que en el contenido de esta segunda parte nos toparemos con los Edipo, Tebas, Trabajos de Heracles, Jason, Troya, Odiseo y mucho más, es decir mucho más atractivo que la obra anterior.
Además las explicaciones e interrelaciones con mitologías célticas aumentan, las anécdotas son más jugosas -cabe citar la del origen del zodiaco por ejemplo- y hasta el propio autor parece ir más suelto y disfrutar más de la redacción del texto. Aunque el final es algo abrupto y hubiera merecido una conclusión.
Un gran esfuerzo intelectual del poeta -como a él le gustaba ser reconocido- de Wimbledon que acaba siendo disfrutable.
Nota: 7,5.
Además las explicaciones e interrelaciones con mitologías célticas aumentan, las anécdotas son más jugosas -cabe citar la del origen del zodiaco por ejemplo- y hasta el propio autor parece ir más suelto y disfrutar más de la redacción del texto. Aunque el final es algo abrupto y hubiera merecido una conclusión.
Un gran esfuerzo intelectual del poeta -como a él le gustaba ser reconocido- de Wimbledon que acaba siendo disfrutable.
Nota: 7,5.
November 21, 2011
I got through the first 300 pages of the first volume (not counting the notes that explain the origins of the myths) and didn't bother with the second volume. It's my opinion that this work is better used for reference than as reading material. The myths are recounted flatly, as though the myths are being described for definitions in an encylopoedia. Graves may be something of a scholar, but he's a lowsy story-teller.
June 10, 2015
I really hope that Graves never think to write a volume 3. I hated the first volume and I only read this one just because I'm trying to finish every serie or I would never pick this book. Is true that he does a good job in terms of facts and gives a very complete informations but how he writes it is just dry, numb and boring. My school boks are more appealing than this two volumes.
November 12, 2025
🏛️🏺🔱
Primera lectura de los mitos griegos de Graves 🙆♂️
Y digo primera porque, inevitablemente, tengo la intención de volver a esta magna obra.
Graves nos introduce los mitos hablando de las creencias que había antes de la llegada de los griegos, antes de la llegada del patriarcado.
Porque nada surge de la nada y, al final, toda la batería de personajes, diosas y dioses, heroínas y héroes, nacen como explicación a las migraciones que se produjeron en la península helénica, al choque entre el patriarcado que llegó con la adoración a una diosa femenina suprema que ya había. La diosa de la fecundidad, la diosa que da vida frente al invasor, hombre, destructor y mortífero.
Los inicios de la historia griega están llenos de especulación, es muy poco lo que realmente podemos afirmar con certeza sobre la caída de la cultura minoica (cuyo alfabeto seguimos sin poder descifrar) y el auge de la micénica, pero debió ser éste el periodo donde surgieron la mayoría de los mitos.
Unos mitos que derivaron en una literatura excelsa, que tenía su propia lengua, una literatura comprendida y compartida por todos pueblos griegos aún con sus deliferentes dialectos.
Unos mitos que, casi 4000 años después, continúan explicando la esencia humana, nuestras preocupaciones, nuestros deseos, nuestros miedos.
#losmitoshebreos #robertgraves #raphaelpatai #mitologia #religion #mitos #genesis #biblia #tora #historia #libros #literatura
Primera lectura de los mitos griegos de Graves 🙆♂️
Y digo primera porque, inevitablemente, tengo la intención de volver a esta magna obra.
Graves nos introduce los mitos hablando de las creencias que había antes de la llegada de los griegos, antes de la llegada del patriarcado.
Porque nada surge de la nada y, al final, toda la batería de personajes, diosas y dioses, heroínas y héroes, nacen como explicación a las migraciones que se produjeron en la península helénica, al choque entre el patriarcado que llegó con la adoración a una diosa femenina suprema que ya había. La diosa de la fecundidad, la diosa que da vida frente al invasor, hombre, destructor y mortífero.
Los inicios de la historia griega están llenos de especulación, es muy poco lo que realmente podemos afirmar con certeza sobre la caída de la cultura minoica (cuyo alfabeto seguimos sin poder descifrar) y el auge de la micénica, pero debió ser éste el periodo donde surgieron la mayoría de los mitos.
Unos mitos que derivaron en una literatura excelsa, que tenía su propia lengua, una literatura comprendida y compartida por todos pueblos griegos aún con sus deliferentes dialectos.
Unos mitos que, casi 4000 años después, continúan explicando la esencia humana, nuestras preocupaciones, nuestros deseos, nuestros miedos.
#losmitoshebreos #robertgraves #raphaelpatai #mitologia #religion #mitos #genesis #biblia #tora #historia #libros #literatura
January 25, 2026
This second volume of Greek myths covers Thebes, Heracles, Jason and the Argonauts, the Trojan War and Odysseus.
I found it more enjoyable than the first volume, partly because of greater familiarity, but also because there was more narrative continuity from one section to the next. However, it was still heavy going. The myths were not told in an engaging style, and the explanations for each myth were also perfunctory, assuming prior knowledge. I stopped to read other books between each section, for light relief.
Overall, I’m glad I’ve read these 2 books. They offer a useful survey of the broad scope of Greek myths which are referred to so often in later Western literature. They also offer a sense of the development of Mediterranean and Near East societies from Neolithic to Bronze Age and later classical cultures. It was a brutal world of superstition, conflict, savagery and female subjugation. Life was cheap. One is left with the impression that the Gods and Heroes were really just savage, scheming thugs.
I’m looking forward to reading more of the original sources and modern interpretations of these tales.
I found it more enjoyable than the first volume, partly because of greater familiarity, but also because there was more narrative continuity from one section to the next. However, it was still heavy going. The myths were not told in an engaging style, and the explanations for each myth were also perfunctory, assuming prior knowledge. I stopped to read other books between each section, for light relief.
Overall, I’m glad I’ve read these 2 books. They offer a useful survey of the broad scope of Greek myths which are referred to so often in later Western literature. They also offer a sense of the development of Mediterranean and Near East societies from Neolithic to Bronze Age and later classical cultures. It was a brutal world of superstition, conflict, savagery and female subjugation. Life was cheap. One is left with the impression that the Gods and Heroes were really just savage, scheming thugs.
I’m looking forward to reading more of the original sources and modern interpretations of these tales.
May 3, 2018
Grateful the author didn't write a tome 3. This series was mandatory in high-school whilst preparing for the French baccalaureate. Didn't enjoy reading it at all, and has nothing to do with the translation, because I had checked the original version as well and same result: very dry, pedantic and tedious and in some instances misleading- more to be used for cross-references than actual reading material. Lacks maps and pictures - crucial elements when studying Greek mythology, or any mythology as a teenager. The author is definitely not a story teller.
February 11, 2021
Tanto aqui quanto no volume 1, o autor consegue expor os mitos gregos de forma didática, interessante, desenvolvendo-os muito bem e mostrando a ideia por trás deles. Há aqui um mito mais interessante que o outro, sendo esses mitos carregados de simbolismo.
Por meio desses mitos, podemos ver diversos aspectos da cultura da época, como a cultura do patriarcado sendo muito forte, o relacionamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo mais normalizado, dentre outras coisas.
Ótimo livro para quem quiser estudar a fundo a mitologia grega.
Por meio desses mitos, podemos ver diversos aspectos da cultura da época, como a cultura do patriarcado sendo muito forte, o relacionamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo mais normalizado, dentre outras coisas.
Ótimo livro para quem quiser estudar a fundo a mitologia grega.
March 19, 2025
This book is not for entertainment. It's an academic work that compiles various Greek myths and boils them down to the bare bones. It then offers references to myths from other cultures with similar themes, and to historical events that inspired the myths. If you want to get into reading the Iliad or the Odyssey, or other works of fiction based on Greek mythology, you can go through this book first to enhance your understanding of the background. After finishing this book, I did become more sober about Hercules. This guy was a horrible character; nothing like the Disney movie ;)
July 28, 2021
Los mitos están muy bien contados y las explicaciones de sus orígenes detalladas y muy documentadas. Algunos mitos son interesantes de leer y atrapan, pero las explicaciones pueden ser algo tediosas.
El libro es un gran material de referencia, pero, si no es un tema que te apasione como lector, no lo recomendaría como material de lectura.
El libro es un gran material de referencia, pero, si no es un tema que te apasione como lector, no lo recomendaría como material de lectura.
March 5, 2025
Los dos volúmenes de Mitos griegos son de los mejores textos mitográficos del siglo XX. La forma en la que el autor te presenta las principales ideas y conceptos, junto con el ritmo y orden que elige para hacerlo, es exquisita. Hace de un ensayo histórico de 1955 una aventura por el mediterráneo. De conocerlo, pasaría una tarde entera haciéndole preguntas sobre la antigua Grecia.
November 23, 2025
This was really good! I liked it more than the last one because it felt like the myths were more fluid. I think in the last one, the myths felt too short and self-contained, and it was difficult to see the ways that it blended together, but this felt so much more like a story than the first book. I also read the footnotes last time, but this time I chose happiness and did not read the footnotes!
June 27, 2023
An entertaining collection of myths but with some questionable interpretations.
May 13, 2024
Super intéressant de (re)découvrir tout ces mythes! Mais c'était tellement looooong et lourd à lire, il faut s'accrocher, ça vaut le coup!
July 1, 2024
Part two of Graves' epic retelling of the most important Greek myths, explaining the religious and societal mores they are based on. This second part focuses mainly on Herakles, the Argonauts, and the heroes of the Trojan war and the Odyssee. Absolutely fascinating material, elucidated in a scholarly yet very readable way. Perhaps too detailed for most, but good stuff for anyone who wants to dig below the surface of Greek mythology.
January 6, 2021
The Folio edition of the Greek Myths was a very thoughtful gift I received from a friend some years ago but sadly the beauty ends at the front covers. I'm something of a Greek mythology fan, so was not expecting to be so disappointed by the contents. The problem is not the Greek myths themselves, which have obviously endured the test of the time, but the writer, Robert Graves. A quick search on the internet reassured me that it was not just myself who found his analyses of these ancient classics to be far off the mark. Graves suffers from a heavy obsession with Moon goddesses and pagan death cults, to the point where every single interpretation of the myths must be twisted to fit his theory. Indeed, some of the contortions he makes to prove his point are downright baffling and his monomania ruins the stories. I'd definitely recommend skipping all his scholarly notes.
For Graves, everything boils down to an old matriarchal king-killing religion that was succeeded by later patriarchy, as personified by the Olympian pantheon. When a myth doesn't contain elements of his beloved triple moon goddess cult, he dismisses it as having arisen from a mistaken image or icon that only he can correctly interpret. The repetition with which he belabours the same point over and over had me exasperated long before I finished reading the first volume. He also manages to achieve the singularly astounding feat of telling these exciting tales in the dullest possible manner, with far too much emphasis on which obscure personages founded which cities. Another far out theory of his is that The Odyssey was written by a woman. It's the first time I've encountered this idea, and whilst an interesting one, I don't buy into it. I would only recommend his work as a rough reference guide, since he does span quite a lot of lore.
For Graves, everything boils down to an old matriarchal king-killing religion that was succeeded by later patriarchy, as personified by the Olympian pantheon. When a myth doesn't contain elements of his beloved triple moon goddess cult, he dismisses it as having arisen from a mistaken image or icon that only he can correctly interpret. The repetition with which he belabours the same point over and over had me exasperated long before I finished reading the first volume. He also manages to achieve the singularly astounding feat of telling these exciting tales in the dullest possible manner, with far too much emphasis on which obscure personages founded which cities. Another far out theory of his is that The Odyssey was written by a woman. It's the first time I've encountered this idea, and whilst an interesting one, I don't buy into it. I would only recommend his work as a rough reference guide, since he does span quite a lot of lore.
March 12, 2014
Robert Graves may have done the most thorough job possible in collecting all the Greek Myths, all the variants and local legends pertaining to it. As a source for raw information on the subject, this is an absolute treasure.
Having said that, he had one flaw. 'The Golden Bough' was a highly influential book at the time he was writing. Most of its premises have been largely disproven now and are mainly ignored in the academic community. Graves explains all the myths, however, using the ideas laid out there. This is a masterpiece, but not for its wild connections. It is a masterpiece of research only.
Having said that, he had one flaw. 'The Golden Bough' was a highly influential book at the time he was writing. Most of its premises have been largely disproven now and are mainly ignored in the academic community. Graves explains all the myths, however, using the ideas laid out there. This is a masterpiece, but not for its wild connections. It is a masterpiece of research only.
July 9, 2018
Concise if somewhat idiosyncratic tellings of the Greek myths, coupled with completely over-the-rainbow analysis that says a lot about Graves and his muse and very little about the myths he's supposed to be discussing. It seems to be an openly acknowledged fact that this fails as a discussion of Greek myths; so the question is, what's the book that does what this book is supposed to do?
December 22, 2013
I love Greek Myths and this book, and part 1, bring me all the wonderful stories I want to read, and reread. It is true that the narrative is quite thick, what makes the reading slow paced, but it's worth the reading.
October 12, 2011
Hard reading, but exhaustive and enriching.
July 31, 2012
Part 2 was as enjoyable as the Vol. 1. I return to it often to read snippits from time to time for pure enjoyment.
September 11, 2013
So glad I read this! It was so informative, and there is CRAZY STUFF in here. It got great when the Oddysey started happening near the end. Definitely a keeper.
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August 23, 2008isbn,original
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