Classical Mythology

Modern Retelling

Hardcover

Educational

410

28

2018-06-26 17:23:45

The myths of Greece and Rome have inspired so much of the best thought in English literature that a knowledge of them is often essential to the understanding of what we read. So writes H.A. Guerber in Classical Mythology, a colorful and comprehensive retelling of classic myths that for centuries have influenced our literature and arts. Here are some of the greatest legends ever spun about the gods and heroes of antiquity:

Pandora, who recklessly opened the box of miseries and unleashed all the diseases, sorrows, vices, and crimes that afflict humanity.

Perseus, who with the help of a mirror-like shield given to him by the goddess Minerva slew the snake-headed gorgon Medusa.

Midas, who, to his unexpected dismay, was granted by the gods his wish that everything he touched turn to gold.

Jason, who, with his sailing crew the Argonauts, undertook the dangerous quest to retrieve the fabled Golden Fleece from under the watchful eye of it’s dragon protector.

Hercules, the son of the god Jupiter and mortal princess Alcmene, who was tasked with twelve seemingly impossible labors that, when completed, guaranteed his recognition as the greatest hero of all time.

In addition to these and other seminal myths, the author includes adaptations of some of the greatest works of literature that they inform: Homer’s Iliad, and it’s epic account of the Trojan War; his Odyseey, a chronicle of Ulysses’ perilous ten-year voyage home after the war; and the Roman poet Virgil’s Aeneid, which recounts the adventures of Aeneas, leader of the Trojan fleet.

The texts of these myths are punctuated through with passages from poems spanning thousands of years to show the extraordinary impact they have had an out literature. And the book is illustrated with more than fifty photos of classic paintings and sculptures to show their influence in centuries of the visual arts.

Fall River Press

9781435162884

1907-01-01

1

English

Yes

~$7.00

2026-03-21

2018-06-26 17:23:45