Greek Myths

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Summary: The Greek Myths brought to life.
Review: Despite being nearly 40 years old, Robert Graves' brilliant mixture of poetic prose and scholarly exegesis continues to make his Greek Myths a stunning read as well as a valuable resource for ancient greek mythology. As a poet, novelist, classicist, translator, historian and literary critic, Graves' had the ability to blend "poetic intuition" with scholarship to bring the myths of a distant time to life. As Graves himself always claimed, the ancient past is no less knowable than a contemporary political cartoon; however, a contemporary political cartoon seems easier to understand than an ancient myth because it's a product of what we know well. Graves sought to bring the past to life so that the ancient myth would seem as current and knowable and understandable as the present. Classicists and historians often reject Graves *because* he demystifies the knowledge they claim as their own.

Anyone at all interested in Greek mythology must come to own Graves' work. They can serve themselves well by also reading his The White Goddess, and The Hebrew Myths. His famous Claudius Novels, The Golden Fleece (Hercules, My Shipmate in America), and King Jesus are vaulable reads as well.

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Summary: Textbook, not pleasure book
Review: I came to Graves' the Greek myths full of high expectations, having absolutely loved I,Claudius and knowing Graves' excellent reputation as both poet and scholar. Unfortunately, what I found was a textbook, not a retelling of the myths ala Edith Hamilton. I am not qualified to opine on The Greek Myths as a textbook; I'll leave that to those reviewers who teach mythology. As a lay reader, however, The Greek Myths is a bit cumbersome. Far too many of the myth stories consist of "but others say that his mother was XYZ, or YXZ, or ZXY and that this happened at QRS or TUV, but still others say . . . ." I found myself skipping entire paragraphs to avoid all of the variants on the main story. Graves' description of the Trojan War and Odysseus' journey are very well-done but are too little, too late to make the work as a whole truly enjoyable. The commentaries range from interesting to deadly dull - again, in this lay reader's opinion.

Bottom line, if you merely enjoy reading the myth stories you learned in childhood stick with Edith Hamilton. If you are looking for a more detailed *textbook* (or, as others have said, a *reference* book), then pick up Graves.

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Summary: Insightful Reevaluation of Greek Mythology
Review: Robert Graves' "Greek Myths" is an innovative review of Greek Mythology. The book provides compiled summaries for each main Greek hero and deity. Graves then provides his own evaluation as to the anthropological origins of the myths in the context of early Greek civilization. His focus is primarily on Minoan and pre-Mycenean civilizations.

Through etymology and historical analysis, Graves contends that Greek mythology is a compilation of two distinct religious practices that were later merged. Graves argues that cults for female godesses such Hera, Diane, Athena, Hecate, etc., were the product of early Greek matriarchal/amazonian societies. Graves argues that myths such as the castration of Kronos and the labors of Herakles refer to the practice of mock-kings who were used for ceremony in fertility rituals. Such mock-kings, Graves recites, were sacrificed at the end of the ritual by the Amazon Queen. Graves suggests that the traditional patriarchal triad of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon was introduced later when the Myceneans invaded Greece and conquered these matriarchies.

(...)Overall, the book offers a direction of study that would be useful in corroborating a facinating theory about societies in Ancient Greece and how their evolution was presented through mythology. Unfortunately, as is usual with virtually an myth, the reason events usually become mythical is because there were few hard facts left behind to corroborate the truth that lies behind them.

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Summary: An Exhaustive Text For Advanced Students of Greek Mythology
Review: Robert Graves' THE GREEK MYTHS falls between the Victorian bombast of Bulfinch and the popular style of Edith Hamilton, less stylistically intimidating than the former and more scholarly than the latter. Originally published as a two volume set in 1955 with author revisions in 1957 and 1960, this single volume text does not abridge the original text but merely confines it to a single binding.

One's reaction to THE GREEK MYTHS will depend to some extent on one's purpose in acquiring it. This is an exhaustive collection of Greek mythology that far outstrips any other modern anthology that I have encountered, including myths both better known and extremely obscure. Each myth is presented in concise, graceful prose, and where possible Graves includes genealogies of the characters and major variations of each myth; an interpretive essay also follows each myth.

While Graves' retelling of the myths themselves have been widely praised, his interpretations of the myths have been somewhat criticized--and justly so. Graves tends to see incarnations of the "White Goddess" and the "Sacrificial King" in every third story; more dangerously, he tends to tie the myths to historical events in a highly speculative way. While this does not undercut the interest of his interpretations, it does hold a number of traps for the casual reader, who may assume that Graves' essays offer standard, scholastically unbiased interpretations based on proven historical events.

For myself, I use Graves' THE GREEK MYTHS as both reference and pleasure-reading, and I enjoy it a great deal; it is an indispensable purchase for any one with a serious interest in Greek mythology for any one who must frequently reference the same for scholarly purposes, and I strongly recommend it to them. At the same time, however, I would hesitate to recommend it to readers who have not previously been exposed to Greek mythology or who wish only a general knowledge of the major Greek myths; in such cases I would instead recommend Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS AND HEROES.

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Summary: THE Reference Work on the Variations of the Greek Myths
Review: There is simply not a better reference book to be found in terms of cataloguing the breadth and depth of Greek mythology. Drawing from virtually every remaining work or scrap of writing from ancient Greece, Robert Graves meticulously documents how there are variations on every single Greek myth. However, this is not a book to be read INSTEAD of Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Bullfinch, Hamilton, etc.; this is to be read in ADDITION to the original works or the more contemporary renditions. To judge this work as a novel is to completely miss the point. But if you are teaching Homer's epics or any of the plays of the Greek tragedians, this is the book that will allow you to better understand the choices being made in that particular telling of the tale. For example, according to a line in the Iliad, Oedipus died in battle, which suggests he did not blind himself as depicted in Sophocles and might force your students to reconsider the play in that light. There are citations for the original sources, as well as maps covering all the places mentioned and a fairly straightforward index. The bottom line is that this book will tell you everything the Greeks knew about any given aspect of mythology and not just what is said in a particular work whether it is an epic poem or a tragic play. If you spend a lot of time teaching the Dead Greeks, this book will be a very valuable and often used addition to your library.