Greek Gods and Heroes

by Robert Graves

On This Page

Description

A retelling of the greatest myths and legends of the ancient Greek gods and heroes for readers of all ages by a celebrated historical novelist. In the ancient past, the Gods and Goddesses of ancient Greece lived on Mount Olympus and ruled the world of mortals. Famous heroes shaped the course of history, beautiful women drew the gazes of gods and men alike, and the gods were both fickle in their favors and breathtakingly generous to those they smiled upon. From Midas' tragic gift to the show more exploits of Hercules and the curse of Pandora, renowned classicist and historical novelist Robert Graves brings the legends of ancient Greece to life in a lively, accessible way that's sure to appeal to everyone; from children to adults, and from casual readers to serious scholars. show less

Tags

Recommendations

Member Recommendations

Member Reviews

7 reviews
Robert Graves, el célebre autor de Yo, Claudio o La hija de Homero, pone al alcance de todos, jóvenes y mayores, los mitos griegos, imprescindibles para comprender no só­lo la civilización griega y aun la romana, si­no también para disfrutar en toda su riqueza del arte y la cultura occidentales. Las entretenidas historias protagonizadas por dio­ses como Zeus, Hera, Hermes o Poseidón, o por héroes como Heracles y Perseo, se trasforman, gracias a la maestría de Graves, en ági­les relatos llenos de sabiduría, en ocasiones hilarantes, en una obra destinada a acercar a los lectores a seres tan fascinantes como el ca­ballo alado Pegaso, la hermosa Andrómeda, el cazador Orión o el centauro Quirón, y deleitarse con narraciones show more como las de los Siete contra Tebas, Leda y el cisne, Orfeo y Eurídice, o las orejas del rey Midas. show less
Primarily for the YA audience, I suppose. All in all, a hurried affair. No doubt Graves needed to generate some cash flow, so he took an afternoon off to knock out a quickie. I kind of like, however, his trope of introducing the Olympians by imagining a dinner party at which each is seated at table, boy//girl, boy/girl, according to rank.
½
Greek Gods and Heroes – by Robert Graves. Another great anthology for young readers. I used this as my classroom text for 5th-6th grade when I taught English in San Francisco.
Extremely enjoyable retelling of the myths; intended for older children but can be enjoyed by adults.
Ava Gardner was one of the few at his funeral.
Graves nos cuenta la historia de la mitología griega con toda su belleza pero también con divertido desenfado. "Estos mitos no son solemnes", nos dice, "Como las historias bíblicas. La idea de que sólo podía existir un dios y ninguna diosa no gustaba a los griegos, raza con gran sentido del humor... Veían los cielos como un lugar gobernado por una familia divina, como cualquier otra familia rica de la tierra, sólo que sus miembros eran inmortales y extremadamente poderosos."

Members

Recently Added By

Lists

Author Information

Picture of author.
259+ Works 40,616 Members
Robert Graves (also known as Robert Ranke Graves) was born in 1895 in London and served in World War I. Goodbye to All That: an Autobiography (1929), was published at age thirty three, and gave a gritty portrait of his experiences in the trenches. Graves edited out much of the stark reality of the book when he revised it in 1957. Although his most show more popular works, I, Claudius (1934) and its sequel, Claudius the God and His Wife Messalina (1935), were produced for television by the BBC in 1976 and seen in America on Masterpiece Theater, he was also famous as a poet, producing more than 50 volumes of poetry. Graves was awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Also a distinguished academic, Graves was a professor of English in Cairo, Egypt, in 1926, a poetry professor at Oxford in the 1960s, and a visiting lecturer at universities in England and the U.S. He wrote translations of Greek and Latin works, literary criticism, and nonfiction works on many other topics, including mythology and poetry. He lived most of his life in Majorca, Spain, and died after a protracted illness in 1985. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Robert Graves has a Legacy Library. Legacy libraries are the personal libraries of famous readers, entered by LibraryThing members from the Legacy Libraries group.

Some Editions

Graves, Lucía (Translator)

Awards and Honors

Series

Belongs to Publisher Series

Work Relationships

Common Knowledge

Canonical title
Greek Gods and Heroes
Original publication date
1960
Important places*
Grecia
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genre
Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
292.13ReligionOther religionsClassical religion (Greek and Roman religion)Religious mythology, general classes of religion, interreligious relations and attitudes, social theologyMythology and mythological foundations
LCC
PZ8.1 .G75 .GLanguage and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
593
Popularity
49,134
Reviews
6
Rating
½ (3.59)
Languages
5 — Catalan, English, German, Portuguese, Spanish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
21
ASINs
11