The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988)

Calasso é muito contundente em suas declarações, como quando diz que só havia duas formas de relação com os deuses: o convívio e o estupro.
Gosto muito de como ele parece colocar uma ordem nos mitos, não parecem cem histórias separadas, como a gente normalmente aprende, mas algo coeso. ( )

This is the second time I have read this wonderful book. It just gets better. Elegantly written, it takes you on a deceptively casual meander through (mostly) Greek myth, literature and thought. Calasso creates a kind of mythic history and polity. He takes a myth at face value, moves through its variants and parallels - how, say Zeus has to have Necessity in order to establish his own order but in doing so creates the ending of his own order. He traces the image, figure, idea of the abandoned woman through the myths, drawing out parallels and differences. It is like some ever more intricate silk weaving - there is always another strand leading off. Fascinating.

And it is also a discursion on the literature which uses or, more commonly, develops these myths and creates new ones. So there are perceptive insights on Homer or the dramatists and even Nonnus whom otherwise one would avoid as a writer is enthusiastically presented. ( )

This is a wonderful, strange and brilliant study of classical myth, detailing why these stories are still relevant and indeed necessary today. When I finished it, I didn't even close the book, I just turned to the front and started reading again from the beginning. Calasso's ideas aren't easily understood, but the trip is fascinating.

Am still reading this, on & off. So far, approx 50% in agreement with Peter Green's assessment of the book but shall defer final opinion until finished. However, altho' my copy is sprouting lots of yellow mini-PostIt notes, entirely pos. I may (eventually) agree with Prof Green. I usually do ~ PG being one of my all-time favourite classicists, if not THE favourite. ( )

The books about Mythology by Hamilton and Bulfinch are like those froofy drinks you get at the bar. You know: the ones that taste like candy or juice, and have a little umbrella or other bauble in them. At least, that's what they are when compared to Calasso. His book on mythology; that's like a shot of whiskey, neat.

While Hamilton and Bulfinch are accessible, and goes down smooth, Calasso's writing is hard to swallow, but hits you like a freight train. In his book, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, he takes you, the reader, on an epic journey across the whole of Greek Mythology, from the creation of creation to the early vestiges of paganism that shot off from it.

This book is a must have for any student of Greco-Roman Mythology, as Calasso has done most of the hard work for you, pouring through myth after myth and refining the results for you to consume in more readily digestible chunks (though, not quite as digestible as those in Hamilton or Bulfinch).

The writing is very dry at times, but that does not mean it is not worth reading. In fact, the dry prose gives more life to these ancient tales of gods and heroes. It gives them an air of realism, written as if they actually roamed the earth.

If you seek one volume to summarize an ancient religion, I would highly recommend it be this one. You may need to get volumes written by other authors to better understand what you read there, but it is definitely an indispensable resource for your mythological studies. ( )