The Greek myths

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I’ve only read the beginning so far, but it got me hooked, and I’ve reserved a copy from my local library. This was interesting as I learned some new things and was able to make some connections between the family lines, or names I had heard from other retellings of the myth- I loved discovering something new! Un pregio importante del libro consiste nell'abilità di una scrittura scorrevole, non accademica, che però si associa ad un grande rigore conoscitivo e storico.

Il testo è arricchito da note utilissime, come assai utili sono le pagine finali con l'elenco in ordine alfabetico dei nomi e l'indicazione delle relative pagine di riferimento ; ciò permette l'agevole utilizzo del libro anche come testo di consultazione. 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. Graves proposes the existence of a European deity, a certain “White Goddess of Birth, Love, and Death” (similar to the Mother Goddess archetype, and inspired and represented by the phases of the moon), who is really behind all the various goddesses of assorted European and/or pagan mythologies; Graves then argues that “true” or “pure” poetry is inextricably linked with the allegedly ancient cult-ritual of his proposed White Goddess (and her son). Graves also claims that in pre-Hellenic Greece, kings' rules were limited to solar cycles (such as one year, or 'great years' of 4 or 19 years, when the moon and sun are in greater alignment), and rule was divided between a sacred king and a 'tanist' (an earthly king), who were often in competition. While other collections depict the stories in isolation, Green creates drama and tension by presenting his myths as a sequence of events, so that the Heroic Age is relived as a complete historical era.This two volume set does cover Greek mythology but instead of a story like Homer’s Iliad these are the stories of where the Greek gods and deities came from. 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. Featuring a fascinating introduction by Val McDermid and new illustrations by Juan Esteban Rodríguez, each copy has been signed by both the introducer and the illustrator. A second way to use the book is to simply browse until you find a myth that interests you and spend some time reading about it and its variations. The myths are intentionally split apart to better focus on the individual parts and so it doesn’t flow.

He is most noted for his series of novels about the Roman emperor Claudius and his works on mythology, such as The White Goddess. Because 350 represents the number of days in the Egyptian calendar besides the 5 devoted to the gods (and a year was the length of a king's term in office).My edition came with an introduction by Kenneth McLeish which mentioned the importance of this book in re-establishing the Greek myths as suitable reading for adults. The question is largely rhetorical, I have other sources of Greek myths, just wondered if anyone else was disappointed by him.

King Aegeus, father of Theseus, jumping into the Aegean Sea and Icarus falling into the Icarian Sea are two of MANY examples). A fine copy in the publisher's brown slipcase in very good condition, small surface paper scuff to one side and general scuffing. I don’t think that I could actually have sat down and read this from cover to cover as there is too much factual information and some of the names can be quite confusing. In addition, many of the myths have multiple versions and Graves discusses many of these variations which also interfere with treating this book like a story book.

A good introductory volume on myths - and one which deserves "Folioisation" - is Edith Hamilton's Mythology. Charmed Life arrives in an explosion of magic in this edition illustrated by Alison Bryant and introduced by Katherine Rundell.