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The Greek Myths
The Greek Myths I
In an encyclopaedic compilation, Robert Graves tells these compelling stories with scholarship and flair. Ariadne and the Minotaur, Demeter mourning her daughter Persephone and creating the seasons, Icarus flying too near the sun... this is both an invaluable reference book set and a magical point of entry into the minds of those who lived so many centuries ago.
Endymion, Pelops, Daedalus, Pygmalion -- we recognize the names, but what are the stories behind these and other familiar gods from the Greek pantheon -- names that recur throughout the history of European culture?
Drawing on an enormous range of sources, Robert Graves has brought together elements of these myths in simple narrative form. He retells the adventures of the most important gods and heroes of the ancient Greeks. His work has become the reference for the serious scholar as well as the casual inquirer.
Endymion, Pelops, Daedalus, Pygmalion -- we recognize the names, but what are the stories behind these and other familiar gods from the Greek pantheon -- names that recur throughout the history of European culture?
Drawing on an enormous range of sources, Robert Graves has brought together elements of these myths in simple narrative form. He retells the adventures of the most important gods and heroes of the ancient Greeks. His work has become the reference for the serious scholar as well as the casual inquirer.
358 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
337 people are currently reading
3760 people want to read
About the author
Robert Graves
642 books2,083 followersRobert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. Born in Wimbledon, he received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G.H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, "who had felt as I did".
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
April 11, 2024
This book is first of the two volumes and is more than a telling of Greek Myths. This volume has an intro, 104 myths and a map. It starts with the beginnings / creation and ends with the death of Theseus.
Thinking this would be nothing more than another telling of Greek Mythology it turned out to be a surprising and perfect read. Graves tells each myth in as a prose with all its versions. It’s the kind of read which would be easy to get lost in but in how Graves assigns a new letter for each version helped me to keep track of each version. I was surprised by this.
I was also thrilled how each story was followed by commentary, here each point is assigned a new number instead of a letter. As I kept reading, I realised this formatting was no accident. These numbers and letters (for each story version) were enabling easy referencing to create a network of connections between the stories. Reading Greek mythology for me has always been a daunting task but this book presents the stories like a roadmap, for the first time I began to see each myth in relation to others, I could now see it as part of a much bigger story.
But the biggest eye opener for me in reading this book was how the connections spilled outside Greek Mythology, making links to other world myths. Where it was beginning to dawn on me how myths also have a functional value (pointing to a historical / cultural events) and goes beyond a fictional tale of heroes and gods.
Thinking this would be nothing more than another telling of Greek Mythology it turned out to be a surprising and perfect read. Graves tells each myth in as a prose with all its versions. It’s the kind of read which would be easy to get lost in but in how Graves assigns a new letter for each version helped me to keep track of each version. I was surprised by this.
I was also thrilled how each story was followed by commentary, here each point is assigned a new number instead of a letter. As I kept reading, I realised this formatting was no accident. These numbers and letters (for each story version) were enabling easy referencing to create a network of connections between the stories. Reading Greek mythology for me has always been a daunting task but this book presents the stories like a roadmap, for the first time I began to see each myth in relation to others, I could now see it as part of a much bigger story.
But the biggest eye opener for me in reading this book was how the connections spilled outside Greek Mythology, making links to other world myths. Where it was beginning to dawn on me how myths also have a functional value (pointing to a historical / cultural events) and goes beyond a fictional tale of heroes and gods.
March 10, 2023
As the title suggests, this is an anthology of Greek Myths, retold by Robert Graves for a modern-day readership.
I initially thought I might struggle with this collection as the initial stories were very short in nature and I anticipated forgetting much of what this contained, if they continued on in such a stunted fashion. This did not occur and I soon found myself enchanted with the fantastical revelations here, all told in a straight-forward and easily understood style. I have read many Greek mythological retellings but few original tales and so I am glad to have discovered the roots for many a beloved tale, here.
I initially thought I might struggle with this collection as the initial stories were very short in nature and I anticipated forgetting much of what this contained, if they continued on in such a stunted fashion. This did not occur and I soon found myself enchanted with the fantastical revelations here, all told in a straight-forward and easily understood style. I have read many Greek mythological retellings but few original tales and so I am glad to have discovered the roots for many a beloved tale, here.
October 9, 2017
Robert Graves is quite thorough in writing about the myths and at the end of each story, he provides foot notes that can be as long as the story itself.
Some of the footnotes are speculative. "This god replaced an earlier pagan god etc.". It is difficult to know these things or the origins of any of these stories. But Graves gives his educated guesses and they are worth pondering.
In Graves' version the myths are not child friendly and a lot more graphic than I remember Edith Hamilton's version. I have not read Hamilton's version in many years, so I suppose I could be wrong. She also includes stories that Graves leaves out.
Graves seems to lean heavily on saga, which I appreciated since I recently read the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also fills in the gaps those two poems leave, letting us know how the Trojan War began and what happened to some of the key players such as Achilles, who is alive in the Iliad, but already dead in the Odyssey.
I do not know if Robert Graves has a certain predilection towards the salacious (his books, I, Claudius and Claudius the God were pretty lewd) or if he is simply preserving a faithful translation of the stories. He has been criticized for relying too heavily on Suetonius' histories, who is also known for creating scandals that are not as historically reliable as they should be.
Simply put, The Greek Myths Volume One and Two , are filled with violence and perversion. Every single story contains murder and rape. No Greek hero is exempt from practicing treachery, adultery, and, in one instance, necrophilia. Leaving children out for exposure was common. Many of the heroes were spared from an early death by compassionate shepherds, or even female animals who nursed them.
Women are treated savagely by men, and especially Zeus who ravaged the countryside without mercy.
These women were not only the victims of this heinous crime but they also got to be punished for it by the ever jealous Hera.
The female goddesses were not much better than the gods. Both male and female gods' sense of justice was based largely on caprice and selfish ambition. There seemed to be very little reason other than a cruel nature behind any of their actions.
Ancient Greece is known for being the intellectual epicenter of the B.C. epoch, but I have to conclude that these myths, as Robert Graves tells them, were formed during a much earlier time when the Greeks were no more than tribal barbarians steeped in pagan practice that by today's standards of morality seem demonic.
Some of the footnotes are speculative. "This god replaced an earlier pagan god etc.". It is difficult to know these things or the origins of any of these stories. But Graves gives his educated guesses and they are worth pondering.
In Graves' version the myths are not child friendly and a lot more graphic than I remember Edith Hamilton's version. I have not read Hamilton's version in many years, so I suppose I could be wrong. She also includes stories that Graves leaves out.
Graves seems to lean heavily on saga, which I appreciated since I recently read the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also fills in the gaps those two poems leave, letting us know how the Trojan War began and what happened to some of the key players such as Achilles, who is alive in the Iliad, but already dead in the Odyssey.
I do not know if Robert Graves has a certain predilection towards the salacious (his books, I, Claudius and Claudius the God were pretty lewd) or if he is simply preserving a faithful translation of the stories. He has been criticized for relying too heavily on Suetonius' histories, who is also known for creating scandals that are not as historically reliable as they should be.
Simply put, The Greek Myths Volume One and Two , are filled with violence and perversion. Every single story contains murder and rape. No Greek hero is exempt from practicing treachery, adultery, and, in one instance, necrophilia. Leaving children out for exposure was common. Many of the heroes were spared from an early death by compassionate shepherds, or even female animals who nursed them.
Women are treated savagely by men, and especially Zeus who ravaged the countryside without mercy.
These women were not only the victims of this heinous crime but they also got to be punished for it by the ever jealous Hera.
The female goddesses were not much better than the gods. Both male and female gods' sense of justice was based largely on caprice and selfish ambition. There seemed to be very little reason other than a cruel nature behind any of their actions.
Ancient Greece is known for being the intellectual epicenter of the B.C. epoch, but I have to conclude that these myths, as Robert Graves tells them, were formed during a much earlier time when the Greeks were no more than tribal barbarians steeped in pagan practice that by today's standards of morality seem demonic.
September 19, 2014
Read with the kids. My kids now think Greeks are all randy drinkers prone to murder (in all its forms) and incest, and the Gods are worse. Now, onto The Greek Myths II. I'll add a more detailed review once we finish the second part.
__________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014
__________________
- Robert Farwell / Edward Jones library / Mesa, AZ 2014
September 9, 2025
Volela bih da imam mozak Roberta Grevsa , pa da mogu da zapamtim sva imena bogova.
August 30, 2015
A myth is like a sponge for it soaks up centuries worth of material into it. The kernel of the story would be transformed into only a faint resemblance of its original as the years pass it by. If we were to imagine a character like Heracles to come alive today, he might listen to his own story in incredulity and say but that was not how it happened ! The factors of social, economic, environmental and demographic changes seep into the tales and make them more suited as moral fables with each succeeding societies and their norms. What Robert Graves has done here is to gather (in two volumes), a sweeping recollection of the myths of the Greeks. The collection is brilliant in its scope and breadth and a magisterial one.
The stories follow a logical pattern starting right from the creation myths and proceeding to the stories of the Titans. The Titans are eventually cast into Tartarus and the Olympians led by Zeus rise to take their place. The meat of the book is made up of the exploits of Zeus and his Olympians. We are then treated to the story of Prometheus and how fire came to the realm of the mortals, of Pandora and her opening the jar ( not a box, a jar !) and letting loose the evils into the world. The first of heroes in the form of Perseus then enters the fray and slays Meudsa and he is followed by Bellerophon who rides the Pegasus to slay the Chimera. Through the stories of a multitude of smaller yet well known characters ( Midas, Sisyphus and others) we finally reach Theseus and the first part of the collection ends with the life and times of Theseus. Following a short skeletal overview of each story, Graves gives a detailed break down of the symbolism behind the tales and his views on what the tales actually stand for. I could not but marvel at the amount of research and reading that Graves would have done for coming up with these inferences. This would undoubtedly be one reason why these books figure in the list of the best mythological references of all times.
Let's imagine the myths to be a beehive dripping with sweet and intoxicating nectar. Graves would pick this hive up and show it to us and we the readers would stare slack jawed and salivating at the honey that oozes down his hands. Graves then proceeds to take a good, clean jar and squeeze every bit of honey into it and keeps the husk aside. Once this is done, he takes and locks up the honey and gives us the husk for consumption. Like this analogy and in terms of this book, Graves is a master researcher but a horrible storyteller. His stories lack a heart and a soul and are treated only as dull and dreary research subjects. I love a good story when told in the right fashion but here the soul of the stories are missing. Greek myths are fantastic material for stories : violence, jealousy, greed, sex and high octane action abound in them but Graves discards them all for academic interest. I read a review on the site where a reader opined that his young son now thinks that all Greeks are drunkards who pick fights for the smallest of reasons after reading this book. He has a point there for in these stories, the Gods are almost all of them drunk most of the time, fornicate with anything that moves and start bloody wars for the smallest of reasons. In the hands of a better story teller, this could have taken a fairy tale sort of hue but Graves is determined to hold his interest only to the academic sphere of things and thereby reducing the stories to exploits of characters who behave like thugs.
Then again are Graves's theories of how a matriarchical society was later subjugated by a patriarchical one and thereby the cult of the goddess was overrun by a plethora of male gods. Almost 85% of the summations that Graves produces carry this result that the cult of the goddess was behind the origination of the myths. Most of these theories were later proved wrong by researchers. So it would also benefit any future reader to do some background reading prior to arriving at conclusions about these tales. Another part is that most of the assertions offered by Graves is against many a localized tribe or group which is next to unknown for a person who in unschooled about the terrain of Greece. This tended to throw my interest off big time. You need a map of Greece from the earlier times handy when you are reading this book.
If you are looking for an introduction into Greek myths, start with something lighter. If however, you are interested in a deep dive into how these myths came to fore then this is the book for you.
The content and material is worth four stars but the rating system is more a selfish one and I can only rate this against my interest level which is a solid three stars.
The stories follow a logical pattern starting right from the creation myths and proceeding to the stories of the Titans. The Titans are eventually cast into Tartarus and the Olympians led by Zeus rise to take their place. The meat of the book is made up of the exploits of Zeus and his Olympians. We are then treated to the story of Prometheus and how fire came to the realm of the mortals, of Pandora and her opening the jar ( not a box, a jar !) and letting loose the evils into the world. The first of heroes in the form of Perseus then enters the fray and slays Meudsa and he is followed by Bellerophon who rides the Pegasus to slay the Chimera. Through the stories of a multitude of smaller yet well known characters ( Midas, Sisyphus and others) we finally reach Theseus and the first part of the collection ends with the life and times of Theseus. Following a short skeletal overview of each story, Graves gives a detailed break down of the symbolism behind the tales and his views on what the tales actually stand for. I could not but marvel at the amount of research and reading that Graves would have done for coming up with these inferences. This would undoubtedly be one reason why these books figure in the list of the best mythological references of all times.
Let's imagine the myths to be a beehive dripping with sweet and intoxicating nectar. Graves would pick this hive up and show it to us and we the readers would stare slack jawed and salivating at the honey that oozes down his hands. Graves then proceeds to take a good, clean jar and squeeze every bit of honey into it and keeps the husk aside. Once this is done, he takes and locks up the honey and gives us the husk for consumption. Like this analogy and in terms of this book, Graves is a master researcher but a horrible storyteller. His stories lack a heart and a soul and are treated only as dull and dreary research subjects. I love a good story when told in the right fashion but here the soul of the stories are missing. Greek myths are fantastic material for stories : violence, jealousy, greed, sex and high octane action abound in them but Graves discards them all for academic interest. I read a review on the site where a reader opined that his young son now thinks that all Greeks are drunkards who pick fights for the smallest of reasons after reading this book. He has a point there for in these stories, the Gods are almost all of them drunk most of the time, fornicate with anything that moves and start bloody wars for the smallest of reasons. In the hands of a better story teller, this could have taken a fairy tale sort of hue but Graves is determined to hold his interest only to the academic sphere of things and thereby reducing the stories to exploits of characters who behave like thugs.
Then again are Graves's theories of how a matriarchical society was later subjugated by a patriarchical one and thereby the cult of the goddess was overrun by a plethora of male gods. Almost 85% of the summations that Graves produces carry this result that the cult of the goddess was behind the origination of the myths. Most of these theories were later proved wrong by researchers. So it would also benefit any future reader to do some background reading prior to arriving at conclusions about these tales. Another part is that most of the assertions offered by Graves is against many a localized tribe or group which is next to unknown for a person who in unschooled about the terrain of Greece. This tended to throw my interest off big time. You need a map of Greece from the earlier times handy when you are reading this book.
If you are looking for an introduction into Greek myths, start with something lighter. If however, you are interested in a deep dive into how these myths came to fore then this is the book for you.
The content and material is worth four stars but the rating system is more a selfish one and I can only rate this against my interest level which is a solid three stars.
Read
March 2, 2023DNF
Робърт Грейвс е попрекалил с опитите си да свърже всеки един древногръцки мит със Старата Европа, матриархалните неолитни общества и Великата богиня. Знам, че са му любими ама това няма как да го приема сериозно. Когато втъкава елементи от анализите си в романите си, те им добавят много приятен вкус, но тук в такова насипно състояние могат да задушат.
Робърт Грейвс е попрекалил с опитите си да свърже всеки един древногръцки мит със Старата Европа, матриархалните неолитни общества и Великата богиня. Знам, че са му любими ама това няма как да го приема сериозно. Когато втъкава елементи от анализите си в романите си, те им добавят много приятен вкус, но тук в такова насипно състояние могат да задушат.
December 23, 2017
Given the extent to which Greek mythology has influenced Western culture, art, and literature, I had what in hindsight were excessively high expectations of it, most of my knowledge having previously been from reading on it as a lad in the condensed versions found in encyclopedias. For a book with such salacious details and barbarities, you would think it would be at the very least, engaging, but, no, I found this to be a real plod to get through. It tends to relate each tale in a meandering way, then Graves explains the background and naturalistic explanations behind the myth. It's ok, but it's not great. In addition, it's hard to tell how much of Graves' explanations are based upon facts and research or merely upon his own conjectures. As far as the Greek heroes and heroines, frankly, I was disappointed ----- most seemed lustful, cruel, capricious, petulant, and arbitrary --- their primary claim to greatness being great feats of strength or great beauty more than any really great character or integrity. The Greek gods, who guide and influence most of the events in these myths, not only are no better than their human counterparts ---- they are worse. Zeus, for example, far from coming across as the Supreme Being and Leader of the Gods, is more a lustful old goat, using his powers to sate his own incontinent desires and to unjustly and cruelly inflict his power upon his lessors based more upon whims and caprice instead of any standard of morality or ultimate justice. The same applies to the lesser Greek gods as well. Given the degenerate nature of Greek mythology and ancient Greek pagan religion, I finish this first volume convinced that Greco-Roman culture succeeded for as long as it did more in spite of these than because of them, and can see how the rise of a new faith, Christianity, with its belief in a holy, perfect God eventually supplanted it altogether. In my own mind, after reading this book, it did make me appreciate even the perfection, justice, mercy, and grace of the the one true God --- so much in contrast to the weakness, foulness, cruelty, and hypocrisy of the Greek pagan pantheon.
June 2, 2014
update: The more I have thought about it the less I would recommend this book. Its a real shame that it is called "The Greek Myths", it would be more accurate to call it "Robert Graves reports the greek myths and then theorizes about their meanings".
I really wouldn't even recommend this book as literature becuase it is a rather dense read and the re-telling of the myths is dry.
Don't mean to hate on Graves, but I just think his treatment of the myths will lead to their being further misunderstood.
--------old review
This book is really weird. I can appreciate the authors mastery of his subject, but that perceived mastery leads to a mixed result.
To be fair he makes note that his analysis is derived from long study, observation and careful inference, and that because many of these myths come from pre-history the interpretations of them are very rarely based in anything other than structural theory.
I guess I would recommend this book from a literary standpoint, but to those who are not already well versed in mythology and greek history it presents a very confusing and at times misleading read.
My advice would be to read the book, but take his analysts of the myths as being the gestational material for his White Goddess theories.
I have a feeling that this book will appeal to those who have rather lax standards of scholarship as long as the author is sympathetic to their views...I.e certain feminists who want some matriarchal mythos to hang their hats on.
I really wouldn't even recommend this book as literature becuase it is a rather dense read and the re-telling of the myths is dry.
Don't mean to hate on Graves, but I just think his treatment of the myths will lead to their being further misunderstood.
--------old review
This book is really weird. I can appreciate the authors mastery of his subject, but that perceived mastery leads to a mixed result.
To be fair he makes note that his analysis is derived from long study, observation and careful inference, and that because many of these myths come from pre-history the interpretations of them are very rarely based in anything other than structural theory.
I guess I would recommend this book from a literary standpoint, but to those who are not already well versed in mythology and greek history it presents a very confusing and at times misleading read.
My advice would be to read the book, but take his analysts of the myths as being the gestational material for his White Goddess theories.
I have a feeling that this book will appeal to those who have rather lax standards of scholarship as long as the author is sympathetic to their views...I.e certain feminists who want some matriarchal mythos to hang their hats on.
January 29, 2017
Una muy buena recolección, con muchas fuentes, de lo que es la mitología griega. La introducción es asombrosa, y nos hace imaginar un mundo panhelénico, una Europa antigua sin dioses de la Edad Oscura donde una gran Diosa inmortal, inmutable y omnipotente regía una sociedad matrilineal donde, por ejemplo ni siquiera existía el concepto de paternidad.
El delirio sigue, y repito, es muy lindo de imaginar, pero si bien a lo largo de todo el libro Robert Graves vive exponiendo sus fuentes, en el caso de esta introducción (que además servirá de base interpretativa para el resto del libro) no nos dice absolutamente nada, expone, digamos, su teoría, su versión, con expresiones como "Parece ser" (sic). Obviamente con el avanzar de las páginas se ataja: "Permítaseme que haga hincapié en que cualquier afirmación que se hace aquí acerca de la religión o del ritual mediterráneos antes de la aparición de documentos escritos es conjetural". Bueno, no está nada mal que lo explicite y aclare, pero si vamos a TODO el libro, más allá de la correcta (y solo correcta porque a nivel literario le falta bastante) exposición de los diferentes mitos que va retomando (son en total 104 historias), de cada una, y con detalle, nos hace una especie de interpretaciones faloperas donde mezcla todas las tradiciones mitológicas que puede a mero criterio de coincidencias. Está bien, no digo que esto no sirva para pensar, para construir un relato, lo que me molestó es que estas obstinadas y delirantes afirmaciones tuvieran tanto lugar en el libro. Además algo horrendo es que no haya querido dejar nada sin explicar, y esto, en contraposición con un autor como es Roberto Calasso, lo reduce a ceniza como propuesta literaria.
La verdad es que Graves es un autor que puede servir para introducir sobre ciertos detalles de la mitología griega, para contarnos por arriba los diferentes acontecimientos, e inclusive para introducir más de una curiosidad, pero la ausencia de rigor de sus propuestas vuelve a este libro una especie de pantomima.
En resumen, es un buen libro, está ok, pero la verdad prefiero ir directamente a las fuentes.
El delirio sigue, y repito, es muy lindo de imaginar, pero si bien a lo largo de todo el libro Robert Graves vive exponiendo sus fuentes, en el caso de esta introducción (que además servirá de base interpretativa para el resto del libro) no nos dice absolutamente nada, expone, digamos, su teoría, su versión, con expresiones como "Parece ser" (sic). Obviamente con el avanzar de las páginas se ataja: "Permítaseme que haga hincapié en que cualquier afirmación que se hace aquí acerca de la religión o del ritual mediterráneos antes de la aparición de documentos escritos es conjetural". Bueno, no está nada mal que lo explicite y aclare, pero si vamos a TODO el libro, más allá de la correcta (y solo correcta porque a nivel literario le falta bastante) exposición de los diferentes mitos que va retomando (son en total 104 historias), de cada una, y con detalle, nos hace una especie de interpretaciones faloperas donde mezcla todas las tradiciones mitológicas que puede a mero criterio de coincidencias. Está bien, no digo que esto no sirva para pensar, para construir un relato, lo que me molestó es que estas obstinadas y delirantes afirmaciones tuvieran tanto lugar en el libro. Además algo horrendo es que no haya querido dejar nada sin explicar, y esto, en contraposición con un autor como es Roberto Calasso, lo reduce a ceniza como propuesta literaria.
La verdad es que Graves es un autor que puede servir para introducir sobre ciertos detalles de la mitología griega, para contarnos por arriba los diferentes acontecimientos, e inclusive para introducir más de una curiosidad, pero la ausencia de rigor de sus propuestas vuelve a este libro una especie de pantomima.
En resumen, es un buen libro, está ok, pero la verdad prefiero ir directamente a las fuentes.
March 26, 2013
I've always been a big 'fan' (for want of another word) of ancient mythology and I've been looking for the 'perfect' book that just has them all together for quite a while. One that has it all neatly wrapped in a bow and I genuinely cannot believe it took me so long to find this!
I enjoyed the collection of these myths, some were familiar, some were really unfamiliar - which was brilliant, because though I really love the familiar myths, it was really good to read those that were unfamiliar and new to me. I also enjoyed Graves' interpretation and comments after each myth, though I didn't always agree with his take on several of them. Some of the interpretations of the imagery of these stories seemed strongly influenced by his own thought and opinion rather than based on historical sources.
However, though a really good anthology, I felt that the stories themselves were quite lacking. Really it was 'bam, bam, bam' with all the information and I was hoping for a little more glorification (more like children's mythology collections I suppose!). This particularly felt really heavy in places. I think this book is worth having more as a reference work, thanks to what seems like a thorough index and the very frequent occurence of references to these stories in other writings, rather than as something to read straight through. I will read Volume 2 one day, which means I liked this quite well - I just found it really, really tough in places!
I enjoyed the collection of these myths, some were familiar, some were really unfamiliar - which was brilliant, because though I really love the familiar myths, it was really good to read those that were unfamiliar and new to me. I also enjoyed Graves' interpretation and comments after each myth, though I didn't always agree with his take on several of them. Some of the interpretations of the imagery of these stories seemed strongly influenced by his own thought and opinion rather than based on historical sources.
However, though a really good anthology, I felt that the stories themselves were quite lacking. Really it was 'bam, bam, bam' with all the information and I was hoping for a little more glorification (more like children's mythology collections I suppose!). This particularly felt really heavy in places. I think this book is worth having more as a reference work, thanks to what seems like a thorough index and the very frequent occurence of references to these stories in other writings, rather than as something to read straight through. I will read Volume 2 one day, which means I liked this quite well - I just found it really, really tough in places!
March 20, 2018
I took a very long time to read this book, because I read it bit by bit, when I wanted to. As I borrowed it from the library, I was "obliged" to finish it soon, and so hurried for the last part of it.
I didn't know that The Greek Myths was, not only a book about the myths AND their variations, but also a commentary by Robert Graves, explaining from where they come from, what they are really, historically, about. It was really interesting, but quite confusing - mostly because of the variations and the names -, and quite annoying because the author clearly explains how Greek society was misogynous. The number of rapes, ravishments and replacements of women cults by men cults ...
I have probably not understood it all, and I won't read the second volume soon, but I think about getting the whole version, and reading it latter, more slowly!
I didn't know that The Greek Myths was, not only a book about the myths AND their variations, but also a commentary by Robert Graves, explaining from where they come from, what they are really, historically, about. It was really interesting, but quite confusing - mostly because of the variations and the names -, and quite annoying because the author clearly explains how Greek society was misogynous. The number of rapes, ravishments and replacements of women cults by men cults ...
I have probably not understood it all, and I won't read the second volume soon, but I think about getting the whole version, and reading it latter, more slowly!
May 8, 2023
Zeus? Not a great guy, actually he's like the worst, Disney lied to me.
January 15, 2015
Read these first in my teens and still dp back into them from time to time.
Masterly.
Masterly.
April 8, 2019
To quote the introduction "Greek myths survive much better than other ancient world-system because they validated daily life of people who created and maintained them, and irradiated their imaginations."
In this book, Graves records these stories and added a lot of notes, sometimes anecdotes and other people's half-digested ideas (again according to the introduction). Nothing is certain by the way as discrepancies in time and name are the rule in mythology. Many are created as a history device: Zeus raping this goddess or that refers to some invasion. Mythical genealogies are invented when sovereignty of states or hereditary privileges came into dispute. The Zeus-Ganymede myth is popular as it afforded religious justification for a grown man's love of a boy. Most of the stories themselves are pretty bland. But the notes are occasionally interesting. Here are three examples:
Smiths
Cyclopes seem to have been a guild of Early Helladic bronze-smith. The name means "ring-eyed", and they are likely to have been tattooed with concentric rings on the forehead, in honor of the sun, the source of their furnace fire. In primitive times, smiths are often purposely lamed to prevent them from running off and joining the enemies, hence the lame Hephaestus.
Patriarchy
We began with matriarchy. Plato identified Athene with Libyan goddess Neith, who belonged to an epoch when fatherhood was not recognized. There is a time where matriarchy is being supplanted by patriarchy. This happens perhaps gradually, first with kings deputizing for the priestesses. Sometimes they wear artificial breasts, hence the myth of Hermaphrodite. The king's reign is often limited in time (sometimes 13 months, sometimes a Great Year of 100 lunations). Offering boy victims becomes one mechanism for kings to prolong their reign. Hence stories of Cronus eating his own sons to avoid dethronement. Other times, the sacred king will pretend death for one day while a boy interrex will take his place for one day. This circumvents the law that forbade him for extended rule. This is thought to be the origin of the heroes-harrowing-in-Hell mythologies. The brotherhood of Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus forcibly marrying the pre-Hellenic Triple-goddess Hera, Demeter, Persephone/Kore refers to the male usurpation of female agriculture mysteries in primitive times. Later, Athenians abandoned the Cretan custom of taking their mother's names. Now patriarchy is firmly in place.
Stories about names
1. Atlas is a personification of Mount Atlas, in north-wester Africa, whose peak seemed to hold up Heavens. For Homer, however, the columns on which he supported firmament stood far out in the ocean, which afterwards was named by Herodotus in Atlas's honor.
2. Prometheus's name means forethought in Greek. But that is perhaps from Sanskrit "Pramantha" which means the swastika, or fire-drill, which he supposedly invented.
3 Midas has been plausibly identified with a king called Mita. The Golden touch was invented to account for the riches of the dynasty and for the presence of gold in Pactolus river.
4. Narcissus's tale is perhaps invented to give the name of flower, from which the narcissus oil (a well known narcotic) is made.
5. Amazon is derived from "a" and "mazon" (without breasts), because they were believed to sear away one breast to shoot better. (ouch).
6. An Etruscan vase shows the a moribund king called Jason in the jaws of a sea-monster. Apparently this gives rise to the Jonah and Whale story later on.
In this book, Graves records these stories and added a lot of notes, sometimes anecdotes and other people's half-digested ideas (again according to the introduction). Nothing is certain by the way as discrepancies in time and name are the rule in mythology. Many are created as a history device: Zeus raping this goddess or that refers to some invasion. Mythical genealogies are invented when sovereignty of states or hereditary privileges came into dispute. The Zeus-Ganymede myth is popular as it afforded religious justification for a grown man's love of a boy. Most of the stories themselves are pretty bland. But the notes are occasionally interesting. Here are three examples:
Smiths
Cyclopes seem to have been a guild of Early Helladic bronze-smith. The name means "ring-eyed", and they are likely to have been tattooed with concentric rings on the forehead, in honor of the sun, the source of their furnace fire. In primitive times, smiths are often purposely lamed to prevent them from running off and joining the enemies, hence the lame Hephaestus.
Patriarchy
We began with matriarchy. Plato identified Athene with Libyan goddess Neith, who belonged to an epoch when fatherhood was not recognized. There is a time where matriarchy is being supplanted by patriarchy. This happens perhaps gradually, first with kings deputizing for the priestesses. Sometimes they wear artificial breasts, hence the myth of Hermaphrodite. The king's reign is often limited in time (sometimes 13 months, sometimes a Great Year of 100 lunations). Offering boy victims becomes one mechanism for kings to prolong their reign. Hence stories of Cronus eating his own sons to avoid dethronement. Other times, the sacred king will pretend death for one day while a boy interrex will take his place for one day. This circumvents the law that forbade him for extended rule. This is thought to be the origin of the heroes-harrowing-in-Hell mythologies. The brotherhood of Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus forcibly marrying the pre-Hellenic Triple-goddess Hera, Demeter, Persephone/Kore refers to the male usurpation of female agriculture mysteries in primitive times. Later, Athenians abandoned the Cretan custom of taking their mother's names. Now patriarchy is firmly in place.
Stories about names
1. Atlas is a personification of Mount Atlas, in north-wester Africa, whose peak seemed to hold up Heavens. For Homer, however, the columns on which he supported firmament stood far out in the ocean, which afterwards was named by Herodotus in Atlas's honor.
2. Prometheus's name means forethought in Greek. But that is perhaps from Sanskrit "Pramantha" which means the swastika, or fire-drill, which he supposedly invented.
3 Midas has been plausibly identified with a king called Mita. The Golden touch was invented to account for the riches of the dynasty and for the presence of gold in Pactolus river.
4. Narcissus's tale is perhaps invented to give the name of flower, from which the narcissus oil (a well known narcotic) is made.
5. Amazon is derived from "a" and "mazon" (without breasts), because they were believed to sear away one breast to shoot better. (ouch).
6. An Etruscan vase shows the a moribund king called Jason in the jaws of a sea-monster. Apparently this gives rise to the Jonah and Whale story later on.
February 7, 2025
The first time I read these was for a class on mythology, in which these were the textbooks. Here, Graves retells the Greek myths, from the stories about the creation of the cosmos to those about the Titanic and Olympian gods and goddesses, and about heroes like Hercules and Jason.
After re-reading them over the past year, I think they may become my preferred reference works on the Greek myths. Here, along with his retelling of each myth, Graves includes the classical sources from which he takes his details, as well as his own commentary on how the myth is related to Greek history and geography, or how various mythic gods and personages appear to have been adapted from other mythic or religious systems, or how in this or that Greek village--at least at the time of Graves's writing, in the late 1940's--people continue to maintain traditions associated with the classic myths.
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to mention that when our class was assigned these two volumes as our primary textbooks, the professor told us that we could ignore Graves's commentaries on the myths. On this re-reading, I did read the commentaries, and enjoyed them as, whether he is right or wrong, I am interested in what Graves has to say about the myths.
After re-reading them over the past year, I think they may become my preferred reference works on the Greek myths. Here, along with his retelling of each myth, Graves includes the classical sources from which he takes his details, as well as his own commentary on how the myth is related to Greek history and geography, or how various mythic gods and personages appear to have been adapted from other mythic or religious systems, or how in this or that Greek village--at least at the time of Graves's writing, in the late 1940's--people continue to maintain traditions associated with the classic myths.
In the interest of full disclosure, I want to mention that when our class was assigned these two volumes as our primary textbooks, the professor told us that we could ignore Graves's commentaries on the myths. On this re-reading, I did read the commentaries, and enjoyed them as, whether he is right or wrong, I am interested in what Graves has to say about the myths.
November 27, 2020
The myths are told simply but with a thesis that was quite new to me despite dating to the 1950s, offering a very different take on the stories than I had ever encountered. I would love to track down the second volume.
May 9, 2019
The Folio edition is so beautiful, it was nice to read over a period of nine months. This is definitely not the book use for a quick Greek mythology lesson. Especially since it's considered highly inaccurate.
March 26, 2020
When Robert Graves sat down to write his deconstruction of the Greek myths in the 1950s, he was a man on a mission. He had a single great theme, first revealed in his book The White Goddess, which he was determined to highlight again and again out of every facet of the vast source material.
According to Graves, virtually every story in Greek myth can trace its origins to when the pre-Hellenic system of matriarchy was usurped by a subverting patriarchy, which re-wrote all the accepted legends in order to suit the victory of the new order. The king and his tanist (second) used to be sacrificed to the Mother Goddess, then they decided to save themselves by taking over control of ritual and religion.
The Mother Goddess is replaced by the king, the Triple-goddess by a host of Olympians, priestesses by priests etc. Even the term 'Hellenes' derives from Helen (of Troy), once the Moon-goddess; Athene predates her father, Zeus; Hecate is the true ruler of Tartarus, not Hades; the Olympics started as a foot-race for women competing to be moon-priestesses, and on and on.
Can this all be true? I have no idea, though I know that it has been rejected out of hand by many academics. It is fascinating though, particularly the idea that the Hellenes and the following Achaeans and Dorians needed new myths to explain war, as this was a condition unknown when women ruled the community.
Graves was a poet, so I was looking forward to his lyrical spin on the old and often told stories. I accept that by necessity his explanations are primarily scholastic, but his retellings of the myths are disappointingly far from poetical, or at least only glibly poetic at best.
Therefore, though this first part of a comprehensive two part work - which focuses on the individual creation myths, gods, demi-gods and heroes - is an invaluable reference book, I wasn't stirred or entertained by it as much as its reputation suggested.
An extraordinary undertaking, but not as enjoyable to read as anticipated.
According to Graves, virtually every story in Greek myth can trace its origins to when the pre-Hellenic system of matriarchy was usurped by a subverting patriarchy, which re-wrote all the accepted legends in order to suit the victory of the new order. The king and his tanist (second) used to be sacrificed to the Mother Goddess, then they decided to save themselves by taking over control of ritual and religion.
The Mother Goddess is replaced by the king, the Triple-goddess by a host of Olympians, priestesses by priests etc. Even the term 'Hellenes' derives from Helen (of Troy), once the Moon-goddess; Athene predates her father, Zeus; Hecate is the true ruler of Tartarus, not Hades; the Olympics started as a foot-race for women competing to be moon-priestesses, and on and on.
Can this all be true? I have no idea, though I know that it has been rejected out of hand by many academics. It is fascinating though, particularly the idea that the Hellenes and the following Achaeans and Dorians needed new myths to explain war, as this was a condition unknown when women ruled the community.
Graves was a poet, so I was looking forward to his lyrical spin on the old and often told stories. I accept that by necessity his explanations are primarily scholastic, but his retellings of the myths are disappointingly far from poetical, or at least only glibly poetic at best.
Therefore, though this first part of a comprehensive two part work - which focuses on the individual creation myths, gods, demi-gods and heroes - is an invaluable reference book, I wasn't stirred or entertained by it as much as its reputation suggested.
An extraordinary undertaking, but not as enjoyable to read as anticipated.
May 13, 2021
Es complicado ser justo a la hora de valorar una obra como "Los mitos griegos" de Robert Graves, porque es obvio que el esfuerzo, investigación, trabajo y erudición que muestra el autor son descomunales. Pero al mismo tiempo desde mi punto de vista no termina de encandilar. No es un diccionario donde puedas encontrar lo que buscas cómodamente, tampoco es una narración sistemática y didáctica sobre los mitos, no es literatura, y tampoco existen referencias u opiniones de otros autores -más allá de las obras clásicas- por parte de Graves, pareciera que fue él el primero que investigó sobre el tema.
Además en este primer volumen, nos encontramos con la parte más denso y menos atractiva de la mitología griega, la parte los orígenes se hace cuesta arriba, mejora algo sin ser grandioso en la naturaleza y hechos de los dioses, aceptable la parte de las criaturas del mito, y lo mejor llega al final con los ciclos de Minos y Teseo.
Aunque sigue siendo una obra de referencia en la materia, creo que a día de hoy hay obras más completas sobre los mitos griegos, en cualquier caso es recomendable si te apasiona ese mundo.
Además en este primer volumen, nos encontramos con la parte más denso y menos atractiva de la mitología griega, la parte los orígenes se hace cuesta arriba, mejora algo sin ser grandioso en la naturaleza y hechos de los dioses, aceptable la parte de las criaturas del mito, y lo mejor llega al final con los ciclos de Minos y Teseo.
Aunque sigue siendo una obra de referencia en la materia, creo que a día de hoy hay obras más completas sobre los mitos griegos, en cualquier caso es recomendable si te apasiona ese mundo.
Read
February 5, 2018Un excelente libro de referencia , Robert Graves toma cada personaje mitológico y cuenta la leyenda individual de cada uno, cada deidad, cada héroe , su historia y sus variaciones contadas según la época y la tribu que le rindiera culto , además de una explicación detallada del por qué de la leyenda, como cada mito describía no sólo el imaginario social si no también político e histórico, la caída de un héroe muchas veces representaba la caída del pueblo que lo veneraba, la perdida de dones como el control de los vientos de las diosas matriarcales como una derrota ante el patriarcado, las peleas entre los dioses narraban en realidad guerras entre clanes , etc. Robert Graves realizó la tarea titánica de reunir todos estos mitos, todas sus variantes, y todas las posibles explicaciones alrededor de ellos.
Es un libro indispensable para comprender sobre mitología griega, y sobre la historia de la misma.
Es un libro indispensable para comprender sobre mitología griega, y sobre la historia de la misma.
January 3, 2022
La explicación de los mitos griegos es un campo en el que los inexpertos poco nos adentramos, lo usual es recrear y deleitarse con las narraciones mas o menos fidedignas de las creencias del mundo helénico. Pero es Robert Graves quien unos lleva a la explicación antropológica, sociológica e histórica del nacimiento de dichos mitos, las verdades humanas que el tiempo fue desdibujando hasta quedar todo como un cuento de ficción, y en donde concluimos que son los hombres quienes crean a los dioses.
February 7, 2023
I like how Robert Graves writes - I really do. But I’ve never seen so many nouns in my life. To the impatient reader, beware. You’ll find yourself completely lost among the never ending list of mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, enemies, friends, cities, cults, religions, and the like.
To give Graves credit, it’s clear any attempt to make sense of this family tree would be a Sisyphean struggle (see! I did learn something at least…)
To give Graves credit, it’s clear any attempt to make sense of this family tree would be a Sisyphean struggle (see! I did learn something at least…)
July 31, 2007
but seriously, this book is good if you're looking for a strong supliment to someone like Jung, who assumes that his readers have a good grasp of greek mythology and its implications on archetypal theory.
March 31, 2010
A brilliant compendium of Greek mythology, drawn from all the major Classical sources and rewritten with flair by Graves. His erudite commentaries on each myth are illuminating, even if his interpretations are sometimes a bit forced. Looking forward to vol. 2.
November 29, 2008
No better source to ensnare you in the material, and he's thorough.
December 15, 2022
Entretenidísimo!
December 10, 2024
Not a particularly good retelling of the greek myths. I'd pick Ovid's Metamorphoses every day of the week over this.
That's not the main reason for the single star though. It's the completely misleading and wrong depiction of the underlying meaning of the myths. His intepretation makes no sense, he constantly circles around the idea of some triple lunar goddess behind every story. Every single female character is somehow a representation of the Goddess. Every myth with a male hero (so, practically any myth) is somehow a depiction of a "royal sacrifice" where a king is killed as an offering to the Goddess. That's about it, repeated ad nauseam throughout the book.
If a story doesn't fit his narrative, it's either twisted, or some random piece of evidence from a painting or some sculpture from a museum is brought to the analysis, or he outright claims that he knows how to interpret the allegorical meaning of the myths better than ancient greeks themselves.
Not to mention that ancient historians nor archaeology support his colorful interpretations.
The guy is brilliant, no doubt about it, I actually admire the depth and creativity of his analysis and the commitment to his triple-lunar-great-goddess hypothesis, but it's not my cup of tea. I don't think I'll read the second part if it's more of the same slog.
That's not the main reason for the single star though. It's the completely misleading and wrong depiction of the underlying meaning of the myths. His intepretation makes no sense, he constantly circles around the idea of some triple lunar goddess behind every story. Every single female character is somehow a representation of the Goddess. Every myth with a male hero (so, practically any myth) is somehow a depiction of a "royal sacrifice" where a king is killed as an offering to the Goddess. That's about it, repeated ad nauseam throughout the book.
If a story doesn't fit his narrative, it's either twisted, or some random piece of evidence from a painting or some sculpture from a museum is brought to the analysis, or he outright claims that he knows how to interpret the allegorical meaning of the myths better than ancient greeks themselves.
Not to mention that ancient historians nor archaeology support his colorful interpretations.
The guy is brilliant, no doubt about it, I actually admire the depth and creativity of his analysis and the commitment to his triple-lunar-great-goddess hypothesis, but it's not my cup of tea. I don't think I'll read the second part if it's more of the same slog.
May 30, 2020
These are the greatest stories ever told- the labours of Hercules, the voyage of the Argonauts, Theseus and the minotaur, Midas and his golden touch, the Trojan War and Odysseus's journey home -brought together into one epic and unforgettable story.
Ideal for the first time reader, it can be read as a single page-turning narrative, while full commentaries, as well as a comprehensive index of names, make it equally valuable for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed account of the spectacular stories that make up the bedrock of Western literature.
Graves can be incredibly valuable for artists and creators, because his commentary is fruitful ground for the imagination, and useful for generating insights about modern literature. His commentary may be taken as a form of non-canonical mythology from a very fine and serious literary artist.
Ideal for the first time reader, it can be read as a single page-turning narrative, while full commentaries, as well as a comprehensive index of names, make it equally valuable for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed account of the spectacular stories that make up the bedrock of Western literature.
Graves can be incredibly valuable for artists and creators, because his commentary is fruitful ground for the imagination, and useful for generating insights about modern literature. His commentary may be taken as a form of non-canonical mythology from a very fine and serious literary artist.
September 26, 2024
Mientras leí este libro, renegué todo el tiempo de la mirada sesgada, pobre y triste de las materias de literatura clasica que vi en la universidad.
Más allá de la revisión superficial metaforica de los mitos, en clase no llegamos a nada más. Que si la emntrega del fuego de prometeo habla de darle la espalda a lo divino, que si el deseo sexual de zeus habla de una pulsión de muerte, no más. Nunca mencionaron o plantearon un puente historico, una revisión en terminos de relatos politicos y de dominación y mucho menos se plantearon decirnos que hubo un tiempo en que el mundo era matriarcal.
Volviendo sobre el libro.
Graves además de informativo es divertido. Aunque el libro es denso es leíble.
Cada mito está acompañad de sus conexiones e interpretaciones posibles.
Un libro sumamente necesario para ahondar en los relatos que sobreviven a lo largo de la historia.
Más allá de la revisión superficial metaforica de los mitos, en clase no llegamos a nada más. Que si la emntrega del fuego de prometeo habla de darle la espalda a lo divino, que si el deseo sexual de zeus habla de una pulsión de muerte, no más. Nunca mencionaron o plantearon un puente historico, una revisión en terminos de relatos politicos y de dominación y mucho menos se plantearon decirnos que hubo un tiempo en que el mundo era matriarcal.
Volviendo sobre el libro.
Graves además de informativo es divertido. Aunque el libro es denso es leíble.
Cada mito está acompañad de sus conexiones e interpretaciones posibles.
Un libro sumamente necesario para ahondar en los relatos que sobreviven a lo largo de la historia.
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