The Macmillan Book of Greek Gods and Heroes

by Alice Low

From Chapter TRIUMPHS OF THE GODS, Io and Europa

Suddenly the girls looked up and saw a herd of bulls coming toward them. "Oh, look!" cried Europa to her friends. "Have you ever seen a bull as magnificent as tha

The bull, who was Zeus of course, ambled toward Europa and mooed softly. "How gentle he is!" Europa said, stroking him. Then the bull lay down at her feet, as if inviting her to climb onto his back.

Europa did so without fear. But before her friends could join her, the bull leaped up, dashed toward the ocean, and then flew over it, far out to sea. Clinging to the bull's horns, Europa looked down and saw a procession of sea gods riding on dolphins, led by Poseidon.

Europa cried out to the bull, "You, too, must be a god. And if you are, take pity on me. Do not carry me off to some strange land far from all my friends."

And the bull answered, "I am Zeus, lord of the sky, but do not be afraid, for I love you. I am carrying you to my own special island, Crete, where I was born. There I shall show myself to you as a god, and you shall bear me sons who one day will be famous and revered."

And so it happened. Europa became the mother of a great king, Minos, and also of Rhadamanthus, both judges of the dead. And Europa, after whom the continent of Europe is named, became even more famous than her sons.

Copyright © 1985 by Macmillan Publishing Company

Genres: Mythology, Childrens, Greek Mythology, Nonfiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1985

Reviews

[✨ Helena ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little Helena went to bed with this book every night 🥺

(Thanks, Mum and Da. You created a monster haha 😜)

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book responsible for my love of reading.

[Vanessa Withun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely a great introduction to Greek mythology for children. My 5 year old and 9 year old love it!

[Vfc]

I read this to my children growing up. They revisited when they were old enough to read independently.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to help get kids started on some of the world's greatest myths, and it provides a handy review for parents reading the book with their children. The nice illustrations are memorable also.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I picked this up at the library while browsing the non-fiction aisles. I am a sucker for anything Greek mythology, but I didn't realize until later that this is technically a children's book. 😅 But hey, no shame here, right? This is a short, concise, "no-frills" rundown of Greek mythos. Since there are so many renditions of these tales, it was nice to have a Cliff's Notes version to act as a refresher. For what it is, it does well.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was kid. It was nice to revisit it.

[Kyra Hotto · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, personally love Greek mythology, so for me, this book was outstanding!! 😁

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories are all classics. It's a nice touch to have color pictures and black and white pictures in the same book.

[Leyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very good. I was hooked!

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous collection of Greek stories and beautiful illustrations to match!

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hero
Low, Alice The Simon & Schuster Book of Greek Gods and Heros (1985) Heracles or also known as Hercules was the strongest man in the world. HIs parents were Zeus the king of the Gods but his mother was not Zeus’s wife. His mother was Zeus’s mistress Alemena this causes all the problems in this hero's life. Zeus’s wife Hera is angry and jealous of Alemena therefore she wants to kill Hercules as a baby. When she is unable to do this it is prophesied that Heracles would become a mighty hero. Unfortunately for Hercules his great strength cannot keep Hera from trying to ruin his life and cause many problems. The greek myths can be hard to follow with all the different characters and the greek names. The illustrations help give some clarification to the action and scenery in the story. The target audience is 13-16 years old.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

We checked this out at the school library (an older MacMillan edition). We were looking for a good introduction to the Greek myths for my 6- and 3-year olds. This was it. At one point my little one turned to the big one and said, "These are great stories, aren't they." I doubt the little one understood them all, but the 6-year old had a good understanding. I spied them one morning in their room looking through the pictures and the elder telling the younger the story of the earth and the sky and then discussing the three brothers Zeus ("the king of the gods AND the king of his brothers"), Poseidon, and Hades. The stories are brief and to the point. We were able (and interested) to read several in a sitting.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gods & Heros,

Let's be honest, there was Godesses in that book as well. Over all, I loved it. Children's books give you the facts but are straight to the point. I started with a more adult version of the history of Gods and when you are just starting out your learning, it got me lost, so fast!

This book made me learn them and they were awesome!

I am glad this book exists thank you!

[Kauther · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book hoping that it will be a simple and easy way to address my lack of knowledge in Greek mythology; I was right. However, it is too simple for my taste, and I felt it is childish in its narrative.

I would recommend it to people younger than 12.

[Anders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great kids book for Greek myth. It was mine growing up so I enjoyed rereading it. It also features fantastic watercolor and pen and ink drawings. Definitely a worthy bedtime story book for the kiddos.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read stories - great introduction to mythology.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up with Bullfinch and Hamilton.

[Madisyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book it tells great greek myths with pretty good detail it also catches the full experience of the gods and heros it was very good

[Barbara Lifland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good introduction for mid-elementary school and up

[Lib 5030 Group 5]

292.13

[Ashley]

Children's Nonfiction, Mythology

[Rhonda Soukup · Rating 3 out of 5]

A widow becomes an earl's secretary and they fall for each other. Based in the 1700's.