Richard Buxton

I have started reading the Percy Jackson series so I thought I should brush up on my mythology before I got too far along in the Riodan series, so I picked up this book at the library.

I was surprised with very detailed lists of major and minor Greek gods as well as indications of their spheres of influence. The book included charts of the genealogy of the Gods (who begat who), details of ancient myths, and pictures of beautiful sculptures and art work from centuries ago I was, however, show more disappointed that there was not a detailed listing of the constellations and their connections to Greek Mythology.

Two things surprised me the most - 1) Apollo was the only God who didn't get his name changed when the Roman Gods were identified and 2) many of the myths both Greek and Roman have been used through the ages for a cultural basis - i.e. in Literature there is the Divine Comedy, Iliad and the Odyssey, art has Rembrandt's Rape of Ganymede, Botticelli's Birth of Venus and of course, there are sculptures galore.

A few other items that interested me were 1) I never realized that Poseidon was Zeus' brother 2) Zeus was so promiscuous ( had had over 25 different partners both mortal and immortal and a great number of children) and 3) many of the gods were patterned on the Egyptians' deities.

Overall, it was a very enlightening book and I'm glad that I happened upon it at the library. show less

Excellent review of Greek mythology, with great pictures. Doesn't just catalog the myths, but gets into their meanings and contexts. n.b. also, poem 'Ithaca' by C.P. Cavafy on p. 242.