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Stories from Greek Mythology
This ebook edition has been proofed and corrected for errors and compiled to be read with without errors!
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the
CUPID AND THE GRACES
CUPID, called also Amor by the Latins, and, still better, Eros by the Greeks, was the first begotten, and yet the youngest, of all the gods,—the first, and, in a sense, the last . He was the first hatched from the world-egg, which is sometimes, therefore, called the egg of Eros, when as yet the only separate existences that had sprung from Chaos were, Gaia, or the passive material, and Tartaros, or the active immaterial, or spiritual, elements of being. No further progress could the work of creation make till Eros arose out of it to brood over it. There was nothing in it, above it, or under it, till then; only the possibilities of things were, not the things themselves; the very gods and demons only possibilities—that is, creatures that might exist, but as yet did not. The friendly and the hostile elements of nature, the war of which since constitutes the history of the universe, lay all in silent and most peaceful neighbourhood within the womb of Chaos then, "not a mouse stirring," not a mouse to stir. All, indeed, waited to be born, each in its order and time, but would have waited fo ever, if the egg of Eros had proved addle, and no Eros appeared. The individual loves and hatreds, which sum up existence and life, are the brood of Eros; for hatred is only love in some form, crossed and thwarted, and always in nature so much hostility, so much affection of some kind is there. Nothing of it all could come into being till Eros managed to do so; and the spirit of Eros emerged triumphant, the spirit of the upper gods.
It was, in the Greek cosmogonies, the first day's work of creation, this hatching of the Eros-egg, as the creation of light was in the Mosaic. "Let love be," was the first articulately spoken command of the hitherto dumb and helpless, but heaving, Chaos; "Let light be," was the first creative word of the already, and from everlasting, living and loving God. And both were obeyed; Chaos, as the Greeks thought, calling for "Love" to lead, and God for "Light." And both are of the beginnings, and a pair decreed from the first in holy wedlock to rule the world. Nay, finds Max Müller, Eros is just Eōs (the Greek for the " dawn") in the masculine gender,—a dawning sun flooding and pervading the world with an ethereal, true heaven's light. But he makes "light" only the image of which "love" is the original. The ancient nations, he thinks, called Love Eros, because the rise of love in the soul seemed to them to resemble nothing so much as a dawning light, revealing to it for the first time the true splendours and terrors of the world. There is ever a tendency in man to think that to have been first in existence, which he finds to have been first in his experience. He himself loves before he sees; his heart is open, before his eyes; love must irradiate his world for him before he well knows he is in it, what it is made of, and what to make of it. And so, he thinks, love must have preceded light in nature as it ever does in him, and that as the world first properly comes into existence for him under the power of love, love itself must have been the beginning of all things, and the first-begotten of the immortals.
***
Contents
Preface
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
THE SLEEP OF ENDYMION
THE TALE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PSYCHE
CUPID AND THE GRACES
MIDAS
THE ARGONAUTS
PHILEMON AND BAUCIS
ARETHUSA
***
An excerpt from the beginning of the
CUPID AND THE GRACES
CUPID, called also Amor by the Latins, and, still better, Eros by the Greeks, was the first begotten, and yet the youngest, of all the gods,—the first, and, in a sense, the last . He was the first hatched from the world-egg, which is sometimes, therefore, called the egg of Eros, when as yet the only separate existences that had sprung from Chaos were, Gaia, or the passive material, and Tartaros, or the active immaterial, or spiritual, elements of being. No further progress could the work of creation make till Eros arose out of it to brood over it. There was nothing in it, above it, or under it, till then; only the possibilities of things were, not the things themselves; the very gods and demons only possibilities—that is, creatures that might exist, but as yet did not. The friendly and the hostile elements of nature, the war of which since constitutes the history of the universe, lay all in silent and most peaceful neighbourhood within the womb of Chaos then, "not a mouse stirring," not a mouse to stir. All, indeed, waited to be born, each in its order and time, but would have waited fo ever, if the egg of Eros had proved addle, and no Eros appeared. The individual loves and hatreds, which sum up existence and life, are the brood of Eros; for hatred is only love in some form, crossed and thwarted, and always in nature so much hostility, so much affection of some kind is there. Nothing of it all could come into being till Eros managed to do so; and the spirit of Eros emerged triumphant, the spirit of the upper gods.
It was, in the Greek cosmogonies, the first day's work of creation, this hatching of the Eros-egg, as the creation of light was in the Mosaic. "Let love be," was the first articulately spoken command of the hitherto dumb and helpless, but heaving, Chaos; "Let light be," was the first creative word of the already, and from everlasting, living and loving God. And both were obeyed; Chaos, as the Greeks thought, calling for "Love" to lead, and God for "Light." And both are of the beginnings, and a pair decreed from the first in holy wedlock to rule the world. Nay, finds Max Müller, Eros is just Eōs (the Greek for the " dawn") in the masculine gender,—a dawning sun flooding and pervading the world with an ethereal, true heaven's light. But he makes "light" only the image of which "love" is the original. The ancient nations, he thinks, called Love Eros, because the rise of love in the soul seemed to them to resemble nothing so much as a dawning light, revealing to it for the first time the true splendours and terrors of the world. There is ever a tendency in man to think that to have been first in existence, which he finds to have been first in his experience. He himself loves before he sees; his heart is open, before his eyes; love must irradiate his world for him before he well knows he is in it, what it is made of, and what to make of it. And so, he thinks, love must have preceded light in nature as it ever does in him, and that as the world first properly comes into existence for him under the power of love, love itself must have been the beginning of all things, and the first-begotten of the immortals.
***
Contents
Preface
ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE
THE SLEEP OF ENDYMION
THE TALE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PSYCHE
CUPID AND THE GRACES
MIDAS
THE ARGONAUTS
PHILEMON AND BAUCIS
ARETHUSA
155 pages, Nook
First published January 1, 1867
9 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
James Wood
148 books452 followersJames Douglas Graham Wood is an English literary critic, essayist and novelist. He is currently Professor of the Practice of Literary Criticism at Harvard University (a part-time position) and a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine.
Wood advocates an aesthetic approach to literature, rather than more ideologically-driven trends in academic literary criticism.
Wood is noted for coining the genre term hysterical realism, which he uses to denote the contemporary conception of the "big, ambitious novel" that pursues vitality "at all costs." Hysterical realism describes novels that are characterized by chronic length, manic characters, frenzied action, and frequent digressions on topics secondary to the story.
Wood advocates an aesthetic approach to literature, rather than more ideologically-driven trends in academic literary criticism.
Wood is noted for coining the genre term hysterical realism, which he uses to denote the contemporary conception of the "big, ambitious novel" that pursues vitality "at all costs." Hysterical realism describes novels that are characterized by chronic length, manic characters, frenzied action, and frequent digressions on topics secondary to the story.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 7, 2015
I think I liked it, took me some time reading it. Though, I highlighted most of it. :O
December 19, 2019
Short book, of eight mostly unrelated short stories. I tend to like Greek mythology and the short story format, but because they are distinct it's difficult to review them as an ensemble.
Right out the gate, I loved Orpheus and Eurydice. Aside from feeling like it spoke to me at this particular point in time, it was well-written and captivating. I also like an ancient myth that takes a character into the underworld; fascinating stuff, which often raises questions and ideas that I'm not able to resolve internally, leaving me something to chew on for a while.
II: The Sleep of Endymion...not great, not terrible.
III: The Tale of the Beautiful Psyche...loved it! This was an inspiring character and an engaging story with—you guessed it—a journey to Hades/Pluto included. :)
IV: Cupid and the Graces - a nice little history of Cupid and his significance, right after he was featured prominently in the previous story. Little bit of deep ideas, little bit of dry material here.
V: Midas - a cute warning story, almost a proverb, about foolish desires.
And with VI-VIII, I was either not getting it or they were just not as good as the first half of the book. I expected more of a story with Hercules in it, but The Argonauts failed to deliver.
Right out the gate, I loved Orpheus and Eurydice. Aside from feeling like it spoke to me at this particular point in time, it was well-written and captivating. I also like an ancient myth that takes a character into the underworld; fascinating stuff, which often raises questions and ideas that I'm not able to resolve internally, leaving me something to chew on for a while.
II: The Sleep of Endymion...not great, not terrible.
III: The Tale of the Beautiful Psyche...loved it! This was an inspiring character and an engaging story with—you guessed it—a journey to Hades/Pluto included. :)
IV: Cupid and the Graces - a nice little history of Cupid and his significance, right after he was featured prominently in the previous story. Little bit of deep ideas, little bit of dry material here.
V: Midas - a cute warning story, almost a proverb, about foolish desires.
And with VI-VIII, I was either not getting it or they were just not as good as the first half of the book. I expected more of a story with Hercules in it, but The Argonauts failed to deliver.
October 12, 2014
This was such a slog reading through this but glad I finished!
So many things wrong with this translation(been stated by other reviewers before me):
-the author uses Romanized names of deities(after all it's GREEK mythology, stay with the proper names!)
- the author was a priest, hence there is a lot of Christian commentary and perspective written along side the myths
-the writing style is very difficult to read and hard to even remember what the story was about
There are better books about Greek myths out there, don't bother with this one.
So many things wrong with this translation(been stated by other reviewers before me):
-the author uses Romanized names of deities(after all it's GREEK mythology, stay with the proper names!)
- the author was a priest, hence there is a lot of Christian commentary and perspective written along side the myths
-the writing style is very difficult to read and hard to even remember what the story was about
There are better books about Greek myths out there, don't bother with this one.
July 17, 2016
Possibly the worst "translation" of Greek mythology ever.
1) He uses Roman names instead of Greek.
2) Almost every sentence is a run-on that says abosolutely nothing.
3) Completely useless juxtaposition with Christian mythos. (author was a priest)
4) Quiz yourself five minutes after reading a story. If you remember what the tale was even about then congrats, you're already familiar with ancient mythology. This is useless as an introduction to "Greek" mythology.
1) He uses Roman names instead of Greek.
2) Almost every sentence is a run-on that says abosolutely nothing.
3) Completely useless juxtaposition with Christian mythos. (author was a priest)
4) Quiz yourself five minutes after reading a story. If you remember what the tale was even about then congrats, you're already familiar with ancient mythology. This is useless as an introduction to "Greek" mythology.
July 8, 2014
After starting to read the poorly written 4th story about Cupid(which the author changed to something else) I closed the book and stopper reading. The changes he made to the stories just made them hard to enjoy. Would not recommend this book to anyone
September 15, 2016
A lovely collection of various stories from Greek Mythology. Of course there were some stories that I liked more than others, but I really dredged through reading Cupid and The Graces. Besides that though, I loved the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, The Tale of the Beautiful Psyche and Midas.
July 27, 2013
it was interesting. I don't know how close it was to the literal translations but it was still good literature candy. :)
September 6, 2014
It's free, just to fill time
September 25, 2014
some stories were difficult to understand, there isn't a plot and the purpose of the story unclear. the tale on psyche and cupid were the best.
December 12, 2016
a very slow book
November 17, 2015
Not what I thought, but it was ok
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews