Greek Mythology Explained: A Deeper Look at Classical Greek Lore and Myth

by Marios Christou, David Ramenah

Greek mythology explored like never before
Fans of George R.R Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire series and the Game of Thrones TV series will love Greek Mythology Explained, a unique retelling of Greek mythological tales featuring love, betrayal, murder and ruthless ambitions.

A fascinating take on classical Greek stories: Discover six classic Greek myths in this exciting retelling that paints both famous and lesser well known characters in a whole new light. Follow the likes of Odysseus, Lamia, Bellerophon, Icarus, Medusa and Artemis as their fates are revealed through bloody trials, gut-wrenching betrayals, sinister motives and broken hearts. With an accessible writing style that delves into the thoughts, feelings, desires, and motivations of every character, these mythical figures and their compelling stories will resonate with readers as they are guided through perilous and tragic adventures.

A deeper understanding: Greek Mythology Explained provides an in-depth analysis of each story told as it unravels the greater themes and valuable lessons hidden within each chapter. Readers will gain a deeper insight into the character’s motives and the varying depictions of the original Greek myths.

Readers will:

Sail with Odysseus as he navigates through the straits of Messina with a terrifying monster on each side, intent only on killing him and his crew.
Witness Lamia’s world turned upside down as she loses her kingdom, her children and her humanity.
Journey with Bellerophon as he battles the Chimera and becomes the hero that he was destined to be.
Take flight with Icarus and Daedalus as they escape their confinement and the cretan navy.
Follow Medusa as she loses faith in the gods and becomes the monster she so adamantly wished to protect her people from.
Experience the love between Artemis and Orion, as well as the bitter jealousy it spawns at the core of her brother Apollo.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Greek Mythology, History, Cultural, Religion

236 pages, ebook

Published November 15, 2018

Reviews

[Wee Lassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cool new take on several Greek myths, I think my favourite was Artemis & Orion, but that’s just me. I’ve always loved a bit of doomed romance.

[Dennis Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek Mythology Explained: A Deeper Look at Classical Greek lore and Myth by Marios Christou and David Ramenah is a book that I'm not entirely sure who it is for. The book retells a series of Greek myths, but there's no real reason for why some myths are presented, while others are not. The retellings often seem reductionary, to the point of being children's stories. At a certain point things get rather graphically sexual, which makes the retelling's juvenile tone rather confusing. The explained sections often undermine the retellings by admitting that there are plenty of variations on the story, and sometimes they combined them haphazardly. The gods in this are also particularly malicious and indifferent, with little redeeming qualities to them. That is always part of the myth, but here its dialed sky high. Reflecting on the book, it seems as though the project was warped and ill-conceived.

What saves it is the myths themselves, which the explanations often providing useful information as well.

73/100

[Julio Biason · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw "Explained" in the title, I thought the explanations would point things in the stories that reflected things in the Greek society at the time.

But no, explanations are way more simpler than that.

For example, the mith of Odysseus and his voyage back home, starting when he has to choose between facing Scylla or Chyrabdis, one a monster of 6 heads and another a huge whirlpool. The explanation: "between a rock and hard place". I mean, it doesn't take much to realize that either option is terrible. You don't need explanation for that.

On the other hand, some explanations are, actually, explanations about the chosen story. Some characters in Greek mythology have different narrations for the same story -- for example, there are, according to the book, 6 different tales of Artemis and Orion, all with the same start, the same ending, but different content "in between". This is nice.

And, even if the explanations aren't a huge thing, the select stories are pretty good.

[Elaine Dumbrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Caroline 'relaxing with my rescue dogs' · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an Audible plus selection and I chose it as interested in greek mythology after recently going to Athens.

This was interesting sometimes sensually graphic so not sure who the audience was.
I liked the round up of different theories after a retelling.

all in all learned a lot but glad I wasn't listening on my Alexa devices

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting retelling and dissection of some myths obscure and others relevant.

[Leia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

A nice, easy listen

[Kieran Gemmell · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's an alright audio book nothing crazy

[Kunal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love reading up on mythology and the reason I bought the book is because I love the YouTube channel of the author. The channel has a ton of very well scripted and engaging content. So when I saw he authored a book to explain Greek myths, I was very excited. The title is definitely misleading. The book is more a series of retellings rather than an actual explanation. While that isn't a bad thing, the actual 2 to 4 page "explanation chapters" for each character are not the most well written. Some of the stories are edge of the seat material, while others I find myself skipping pages. Some of the longer chapters also have a LOT of repetition with no real plot progression. I am also curious about why the author chose these characters in particular. There is no real link between them and it feels like a random selection. I would have much rather the author have used a thematic approach to the book. That way it would have been nice to draw some parallels or at least correlation between the characters. It isn't a bad read at all. I enjoyed it. But if you are looking for a book that explains Greek mythology (or even parts of it), then this isn't for you. If you enjoy re-tellings, this isn't a bad read, but don't expect a Madeline Miller styled read.

[Benj (⌣̊┈̥-̶̯͡»̶̥-̶̯͡ː̗̀ß) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greek Mythology explained: I really appreciated and enjoyed the style of writing to this book. It sounded more like Christou than Ramenah but I could be wrong on that. I think the explained sections to each story could of provided a better in-depth analysis to the meaning of each myth. I felt they repeated themselves alot when trying to explain it to the general public. I throughly enjoyed the Artemis & Orion story towards the closing of the book. I think this narrative has strong relatability to how men in our modern era can be easily underestimated by women if they do not 'look the part' or fit in immediately. Orion was intelligent in his wise approach to seducing Artemis. It was a mare thought and I think one of the main reasons Artemis fell for him deeply was due to his human character. Intelligence is a desirable trait for most women when it comes to pair-bonding intimacy.

I hope both these authors collaborate on a second book. Great work.

[Arminda Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of mythology and enjoyed the narrative style of this book’s story telling. However, the authors seemed confused with their purpose and overall approach. It was part children’s fairytales, part fable with a moral, part overtly sexual and graphic, and part “true story” of whichever god they were discussing. A lot to navigate as a reader and I lost interest but persevered to the finish!

[Lexxs Hoffman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. I gave up in the middle of the Medusa story as I just felt the stories were unnecessarily over the top graphic both sexually and with violence. I've read plenty of greek myths and never had issue, I just felt like the authors were trying to push it for no reason. Also, I primarily started it for the "explained" part and that was such a small section compared to the story. The analysis also didn't really offer much in the way of explaining.

[John Martindale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both the title and subtitle are quite misleading. It is primarily the retelling of 6 Greek myths with an extremely brief explanation at the end. The author did a quality job of telling the stories, I was just hoping for a "deeper look at Classical Greek Lore and Myth" and was wanted to find "Greek Mythology explained."

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book got steamier than expected… 😳 . As someone who really doesn’t know much about Greek mythology, this was a pleasantly simple introduction that made the subject accessible, compelling and fun- and made me want to learn more!
*Review of the audiobook

[Michael Alonso · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I read the description that said it was trying to make Greek myths palatable to Game of Thrones fans I finally understood why the rape scene went on for way too many pages.

[Leah Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book however, Mythos by Stephen Ferry is way more entertaining. This was much more gruesome also whereas mythos is funny. I would have enjoyed this more had I not read the other.

[James Uscroft · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this audiobook might be an important and necessary introduction for people whose only knowledge of Greek mythology comes from references in movies and TV, for someone like myself who actually knows something about the subject, (or even has a basic understanding of how stories often have a moral,) it's superficial to the point of being insulting.

Of course, re-writing some parts of various myths in a more modern style, often mashing together different versions of that myth wasn't 'Too' bad. But then, having been promised a "Deeper Look" by the title, the explanation and discussion of each myth only served to reiterate the obvious. Because honestly, who needs to have it explained to them that Scylla & Charybdis were the ancient Greek equivalent of "A Rock & A Hard Place?"

While the authors mention the fact that Gorgons were originally born as hideous monsters, they completely gloss over the reality that the story of Medusa being a gorgeous High Priestess of Athena who was later transformed into a monster was invented out of whole cloth by the poet Ovid. And furthermore, that Gorgons as monsters were iconic in Archaic Greece for centuries before the obsession with beauty in the classical period coaxed artists from the era to depict even monsters like the Gorgons as beautiful and effeminate, leading eventually Ovid's 'Woman Scorned' Fan-Fic.

On top of which, the idea that Orion was the only man who Artemis ever loved and Apollo tricked her into killing him is also absurd Fan-Fic which only exists because a handful of translators, 19th century poets and Baroque artists decided it was more dramatic that way and the concept of a woman having no romantic or sexual interest in men whatsoever was completely alien to them. An interpretation which conveniently ignores the vastly greater number of other versions in which Artemis kills Orion deliberately or he is killed by a scorpion, meaning that I've literally seen funny Internet videos which go into greater depth and detail about the myths in question than this audiobook.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greek myths had always felt distant in the way they were often told, but this one brought them right down to the bone. These stories leaned hard into the messier parts of mythology: power, betrayal, obsession, cruelty, and the very human cost of divine interference. Gods were not distant ideals here, they were flawed, jealous, and often dangerous, while mortals were left to carry the consequences. Each retelling peeled back the layers and asked uncomfortable questions about fate, choice, and how easily love curdles into vengeance.

What stood out most was how much weight was given to motivation. These figures were not just names attached to famous endings, they were shaped by fear, pride, grief, and desperation. Watching characters like Medusa, Lamia, and Icarus spiral toward their inevitable ends felt tragic rather than mythic, and that shift made the stories hit harder. There was a constant tension between free will and destiny, and the sense that once the gods set their sights on someone, escape was rarely possible.

The writing kept things sharp and accessible without stripping away the darkness. Violence, heartbreak, and ambition were woven in naturally, never feeling sensational but never softened either. It was the kind of book that reminded me why mythology has endured for centuries. These stories survived because they reflect the worst and best parts of us, and this retelling understood that completely. I closed it feeling both unsettled and deeply satisfied, which honestly feels exactly right for Greek mythology.

Read more here: https://annietheinkdrinker.wordpress....

[Callie Pey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The retelling of these stories was witty, written for a modern reader with humor, spice (yes there was spice in here!) and snarky rhetoric. The easy cadence that kept you enraptured in the author's versions of the myths he shared. These are the six myths that he chose to tell: Odysseus sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, Lamia's transformation, Bellerophon's rise and fall, Icarus' flight, Medusa, and Artemis and Orion.

There are a lot of story telling liberties that take place here so if you just enjoy it for story telling sake and not take it as the entirety of the myths, its enjoyable. There is a small portion at the end of each section where he explains some of the lessons that the tales could have been alluding to as if you are in a class about these myths. It was an interesting read for sure!

[Jarrett Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. All right for what it is, although I think the authors foolishly chose not to retell some of the most popular Greek myths. Their take on the Medusa myth, while not the most feminist interpretation, was the best of the bunch. This is a good book, not great. Really, I'd encourage interested parties to just check out the Mythology and Fiction Explained channel on YouTube. Here's a link:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MythologyFi...

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The explanations at the end of each myth offered a different perspective of the actions of the gods and heros. For example for a god who is immortal and have seen millions of humans live and die, the god probably would not be inclined to step in to help another human being (even if that person was a son or daughter).

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I like this book. It's great on fleshing out the stories of medusa, Artemis, lamia....etc. I do wish there were more tales about the gods and demigods but then the book would probably be like Stephan King's It big at least. I love the artwork, and that's pretty much it. 👍

[Matina Lgt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Δεν είναι αυτό που περίμενα να διαβάσω, ο τίτλος παραπλανεί. Οι ιστορίες ήταν ωραίες και το audiobook προσεγμένο. Οι δε εξηγήσεις όμως των μύθων ήταν των 5 λεπτών και δεν πρόσθεταν κάτι παραπάνω πέραν του προφανούς.

[Christopher Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the novelization of the various greek myths. The author took various versions of the myths and combined some aspects, but also made them more story-like in format to make them easier to understand.

[Ishfaaq Peerally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was better than I was expecting. Loved the modern delivery of ancient myth, making them more relatable. The explanation at the end acknowledged the bias of the author also encouraged the reader to do more research.

[Raghad Muath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect read!

The stories, explanation and narration were excellent. It kept me wanting for more of Greek Mythology.

[Rita Sassatelli]

I liked the way the authors always gave us a compelling story on the characters. It really makes a difference. It is not just another greek mythology book.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories in here, and they get better as they go along. Some of them are *ahem* pretty ... descriptive.

[Marcel Schwarz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Stories reinterpreted. I liked that it wasn't the most well known stories but then also not exhaustive and a bit dull at times.

[Mortisha00 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining and beautifully explained.