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DIOSES Y HEROES DE LA ANTIGUA GRECIA
Robert Graves el celebre autor de Yo Claudio o La hija de Homero pone al alcance de todos jovenes y mayores los mitos griegos imprescindibles para comprender no solo la civilizacion griega y aun la romana sino tambien para disfrutar en toda su riqueza del arte y la cultura occidentales. Las entretenidas historias protagonizadas por dioses como Zeus Hera Hermes o Poseidon o por heroes como Heracles y Perseo se trasforman gracias a la maestria de Graves en agiles relatos llenos de sabiduria en ocasiones hilarantes en una obra destinada a acercar a los lectores a seres tan fascinantes como el caballo alado Pegaso la hermosa Andromeda el cazador Orion o el centauro Quiron y deleitarse con narraciones como las de los Siete contra Tebas Leda y el cisne Orfeo y Euridice o las orejas del rey Midas.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1960
164 people are currently reading
1601 people want to read
About the author
Robert Graves
634 books2,056 followersRobert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. Born in Wimbledon, he received his early education at King's College School and Copthorne Prep School, Wimbledon & Charterhouse School and won a scholarship to St John's College, Oxford. While at Charterhouse in 1912, he fell in love with G.H. Johnstone, a boy of fourteen ("Dick" in Goodbye to All That) When challenged by the headmaster he defended himself by citing Plato, Greek poets, Michelangelo & Shakespeare, "who had felt as I did".
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
At the outbreak of WWI, Graves enlisted almost immediately, taking a commission in the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed an early reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about his experience of front line conflict. In later years he omitted war poems from his collections, on the grounds that they were too obviously "part of the war poetry boom". At the Battle of the Somme he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die, and indeed was officially reported as 'died of wounds'. He gradually recovered. Apart from a brief spell back in France, he spent the rest of the war in England.
One of Graves's closest friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, who was also an officer in the RWF. In 1917 Sassoon tried to rebel against the war by making a public anti-war statement. Graves, who feared Sassoon could face a court martial, intervened with the military authorities and persuaded them that he was suffering from shell shock, and to treat him accordingly. Graves also suffered from shell shock, or neurasthenia as it is sometimes called, although he was never hospitalised for it.
Biographers document the story well. It is fictionalised in Pat Barker's novel Regeneration. The intensity of their early relationship is nowhere demonstrated more clearly than in Graves's collection Fairies & Fusiliers (1917), which contains a plethora of poems celebrating their friendship. Through Sassoon, he also became friends with Wilfred Owen, whose talent he recognised. Owen attended Graves's wedding to Nancy Nicholson in 1918, presenting him with, as Graves recalled, "a set of 12 Apostle spoons".
Following his marriage and the end of the war, Graves belatedly took up his place at St John's College, Oxford. He later attempted to make a living by running a small shop, but the business failed. In 1926 he took up a post at Cairo University, accompanied by his wife, their children and the poet Laura Riding. He returned to London briefly, where he split with his wife under highly emotional circumstances before leaving to live with Riding in Deià, Majorca. There they continued to publish letterpress books under the rubric of the Seizin Press, founded and edited the literary journal Epilogue, and wrote two successful academic books together: A Survey of Modernist Poetry (1927) and A Pamphlet Against Anthologies (1928).
In 1927, he published Lawrence and the Arabs, a commercially successful biography of T.E. Lawrence. Good-bye to All That (1929, revised and republished in 1957) proved a success but cost him many of his friends, notably Sassoon. In 1934 he published his most commercially successful work, I, Claudius. Using classical sources he constructed a complexly compelling tale of the life of the Roman emperor Claudius, a tale extended in Claudius the God (1935). Another historical novel by Graves, Count Belisarius (1938), recounts the career of the Byzantine general Belisarius.
During the early 1970s Graves began to suffer from increasingly severe memory loss, and by his eightieth birthday in 1975 he had come to the end of his working life. By 1975 he had published more than 140 works. He survived for ten more years in an increasingly dependent condition until he died from heart
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
April 8, 2023
I happen to adore Greek Mythology. I read this as a kid and it helped fuel my interest in reading in general.
The stories are exciting and fun and never get old. Every now and again I read it even as an adult. It is a wildly fun book and it is a great way to catch up on your Mythology if that is a topic that interests you.
The stories are exciting and fun and never get old. Every now and again I read it even as an adult. It is a wildly fun book and it is a great way to catch up on your Mythology if that is a topic that interests you.
May 12, 2016
Esto, no solo es un libro de mitologia griega para dummys, esta escrito por uno.
Sin palabras, una imagen lo dice todo:
Sin palabras, una imagen lo dice todo:
January 23, 2021
Knjiga koja me je vratila u prošlost. U školske dane i period kada sam počela da istražujem i učim o grčkoj mitologiji. Do današnjeg dana se to znanje dosta proširilo i na antičku autorsku književnost, te zbog toga na mitove i legende gledam iz malo izmenjenijeg ugla. Svideo mi se način na koji Grevs u ovoj knjizi pristupa grčkim mitovima, njihovom razvitku i postanku. Ni u jednom trenutku se ne postavlja skeptično prema postojanju olimpskih božanstava, već ih sa određenom dozom poštovanja prikazuje čitaocima. U ovoj zbirci sastavljenoj od 27 kratkih priča na temu grčkih bogova i heroja na sasvim jednostavan i sažet način, lakim jezikom vrlo lako može dopreti i do mlađih čitaoca.
Od legendarnog postanka sveta, preko velike borbe za tron u olimpskoj palati, do uspona i pada velikih grčkih božanstava. Na zanimljiv (i često humorističan) način nam predočava mitove o Zevsu, Demetri i Persefoni (saznajte zbog čega se nar naziva voćem podzemlja), kako su Škorpija koja je ujela Herakla, kentaur Hiron (Strelac) i Orfejeva lira dobili svoje obličje na nebu, zbog čega postoji eho i kako je nastao prelepi cvet narcis.
Pored ove, volim da konsultujem Grejsove „Grčke mitove“ koji se vrlo detaljno i do pojedinosti bave tom tematikom. Po mom mišljenju, to je jedna od najboljih celovitih studija o ovom izuzetnom periodu ljudske civilizacije.
Od legendarnog postanka sveta, preko velike borbe za tron u olimpskoj palati, do uspona i pada velikih grčkih božanstava. Na zanimljiv (i često humorističan) način nam predočava mitove o Zevsu, Demetri i Persefoni (saznajte zbog čega se nar naziva voćem podzemlja), kako su Škorpija koja je ujela Herakla, kentaur Hiron (Strelac) i Orfejeva lira dobili svoje obličje na nebu, zbog čega postoji eho i kako je nastao prelepi cvet narcis.
Pored ove, volim da konsultujem Grejsove „Grčke mitove“ koji se vrlo detaljno i do pojedinosti bave tom tematikom. Po mom mišljenju, to je jedna od najboljih celovitih studija o ovom izuzetnom periodu ljudske civilizacije.
December 28, 2020
Este libro es una guía sencilla de relatos sobre las historias y hazañas de los Dioses y Héroes de la Antigua Grecia. Son bastante entretenidos, pero teniendo en cuenta que tanto los dioses como los mortales en la antigüedad eran tan complicados, muchas veces quedas esperando finales diferentes.
La mitología Griega siempre será fascinante.
“Por la noche, todavía puede verse el Escorpión que mordió a Heracles, y el propio Heracles, y el León de Nemea que él mató, y la Osa de Artemisa que amamantó a Atalanta, y el águila de Zeuz, y Perseo y Andrómeda, y La Corona de Ariadna, y los Gemelos Celestiales, y Quirón el Centauro conocido como el Arquero, y el Carnero de Frixo, y el Toro que se llevó a Europa, y Pegaso, el caballo alado, y el Cisne de Leda, y la Lita de Orfeo, y la Popa del Argos, y Orión, el Cazador, con su cinturón y su espada, y muchos otros recuerdos del reinado antiguo y salvaje de los dioses olímpicos.” Graves sobre las constelaciones.
La mitología Griega siempre será fascinante.
“Por la noche, todavía puede verse el Escorpión que mordió a Heracles, y el propio Heracles, y el León de Nemea que él mató, y la Osa de Artemisa que amamantó a Atalanta, y el águila de Zeuz, y Perseo y Andrómeda, y La Corona de Ariadna, y los Gemelos Celestiales, y Quirón el Centauro conocido como el Arquero, y el Carnero de Frixo, y el Toro que se llevó a Europa, y Pegaso, el caballo alado, y el Cisne de Leda, y la Lita de Orfeo, y la Popa del Argos, y Orión, el Cazador, con su cinturón y su espada, y muchos otros recuerdos del reinado antiguo y salvaje de los dioses olímpicos.” Graves sobre las constelaciones.
November 14, 2018
2'5
Si no conoces la mitología griega y quieres saber si te gusta, está muy bien. Pero si ya te suenan los principales mitos y personajes, es demasiado introductorio.
Si no conoces la mitología griega y quieres saber si te gusta, está muy bien. Pero si ya te suenan los principales mitos y personajes, es demasiado introductorio.
May 30, 2012
One thing that seems to have been missed by many of the previous reviewers is that this book was written to be accessible to children (as well as adults). Yes the tales are conscise, but they are meant to be an introduction, not an exhaustive retelling.
This is a retelling of many of the greatest myths and legends of the Ancient Greek gods. The stories are told in a simple, engaging style, well suited to a children's book, without ever being patronising - which is quite a feat for an historian of Graves' standing.
This could be read alone by children from about 8 years or be read by an adult to even younger children. For an adult, either wanting a very quick reminder of certain tales - to look up the bare bones of a certain myth, or one who has never heard certain Greek Myths before, it will also give a useful and very accessible introduction.
Some of the stories are (of necessity, for a children's book, given the sexual adventures of most of the Gods) bowdlerised - e.g. Zeus "marries" girls continually, rather than having the rather more impermanent relationships that the adult version of these myths would explain - but not to an extent that it affects the feel or the content.
This is a retelling of many of the greatest myths and legends of the Ancient Greek gods. The stories are told in a simple, engaging style, well suited to a children's book, without ever being patronising - which is quite a feat for an historian of Graves' standing.
This could be read alone by children from about 8 years or be read by an adult to even younger children. For an adult, either wanting a very quick reminder of certain tales - to look up the bare bones of a certain myth, or one who has never heard certain Greek Myths before, it will also give a useful and very accessible introduction.
Some of the stories are (of necessity, for a children's book, given the sexual adventures of most of the Gods) bowdlerised - e.g. Zeus "marries" girls continually, rather than having the rather more impermanent relationships that the adult version of these myths would explain - but not to an extent that it affects the feel or the content.
December 19, 2022
Otro clásico de mi infancia. Robert Graves logra que estos mitos sean atractivos, interesantes, breves, sin perder elementos narrativos. Gran libro.
August 14, 2024
Percy Jackson did it better
Read
September 15, 2025An open retelling of Bullfinch's Mythology, purged of academic references and streamlined to serve as an introduction to the subject for children. It wasn't my first book of Greek myths, but one of my earliest--perhaps second after the D'Aularies'. Graves emphasizes the gods of Olympus as a dysfunctional family. They're afflicted not merely with human flaws, but with the flaws of rather substandard humans, being petty, jealous, foolish, vengeful, and vain to the extreme, with Zeus, the king of the gods, setting the tone for all of the rest. (Wise Athena might be the honorable exception.) The mortal heroes of Greek myth come across a bit better, and the fitting image of Heracles battling the many-headed Hydra on the cover of this edition gives me a twinge of nostalgia. Still, D'Aularies Book of Greek Myths is superior.
August 16, 2020
What i learned from this book about the Greek Gods and Goddesses is that they are like humans ,they are flawed,seriously, they're childish,self-centered,arrogant, full of themselves and most importantly easily triggered like if you forget to mention one of them in a sacrifice you and your entire lineage will be doomed. In addition, everything would've been fine if Zeus just kept it in his pants.
March 29, 2019
Vrlo skraćeno i za početnike sasvim fino napisano
May 10, 2016
Como introducción muuuy introductoria a la mitología griega está requetebién. Te enteras un poco de todo pero no profundiza en nada, tocará investigar más sobre el tema porque había mil cosas que desconocía y me han sorprendido para bien.
May 24, 2019
My grandma got this for me foreverrrr ago and I just had the sudden urge to read it idk??? I mean it was fine--it's definitely written for children, but it was really fun to read because I love Greek Mythology. But also I don't really want to give it more than 3 stars because it was only a collection of some of the myths ya know? Either way, I'm glad I finally read it!
August 27, 2016
A Young Adult book by poet, novelist and historian Robert Graves, published in 1960. A fast read and a good review of the main stories of Greek mythology. Are you up on all the following stories?
1. Demeter's Lost Daughter
2. The Titans
3. Orpheus
4. Deucalion's Flood
5. Orion
6. Asclepius
7. King Midas
8. Melampus & Phylacus
9. Europa & Cadmus
10. Daedalus
11. Bellerophon
12. Theseus
13. Heracles
14. Jason
15. Alcestis
16. Perseus
17. Atalanta
18. The Seven Against Thebes
1. Demeter's Lost Daughter
2. The Titans
3. Orpheus
4. Deucalion's Flood
5. Orion
6. Asclepius
7. King Midas
8. Melampus & Phylacus
9. Europa & Cadmus
10. Daedalus
11. Bellerophon
12. Theseus
13. Heracles
14. Jason
15. Alcestis
16. Perseus
17. Atalanta
18. The Seven Against Thebes
May 13, 2018
La narración no era mala, en su mayoría. Sin embargo, es un libro muy pobre que, a duras penas, puede valer como introducción al mundo de la mitología griega. La labor de investigación no parece haber pasado más allá de la visita a Wikipedia.
Además, querer meter un número tan alto de historias en tan poco espacio las simplifica tanto que no hay absolutamente nada de profundidad en ninguna de ellas.
Además, querer meter un número tan alto de historias en tan poco espacio las simplifica tanto que no hay absolutamente nada de profundidad en ninguna de ellas.
October 1, 2023
Está bien como una lectura general de algunos mitos, aunque me hubiera gustado más profundidad en casi todos ellos
December 28, 2017
A really interesting read into ancient Greek culture and how their portrayal of the Olympians was far from our westernised ideal of a benevolent God. Zeus is portrayed as having a base character and epitomised by instincts such as spite, retribution, aggression, power, lust etc. He is not portrayed in a good light and neither are any of the Gods or Goddesses, except the one who gave up her seat to another. I wonder what the purpose of these myths were and if they were based on real characters as there is rarely a moral thread through any of them. If anything they act as a talisman for recurrent human abasement. The only story which resonated with me on a deeper level was when Theseus and Peirithous sat down on Hades’ bench and they became attached to it as it explained that they could never escape without tearing away part of themselves; attachment is like that. I found myself picturing some of the characters as I’d read and watched Percy Jackson and so I realised that what this book is missing is the emotional attachment to the stories; they are very descriptive and academic but lack heart and therefore I found myself drowning in a sea of foreign names like I was back in Middle Earth.
March 19, 2018
En esa búsqueda infinita del ser humano por entender lo desconocido y lo que lo atemoriza, por darle nombre y hallarle una explicación a las fuerzas vivas de la naturaleza aparece la mitología griega.
A mi me encanta, aunque como lectora común y silvestre, antes de leer un libro como Odisea quiero hacer un recorderis de los principales dioses y héroes que la conforman.
Este libro empezó bien, con un lenguaje cercano nos presenta los dioses más conocidos, sus “poderes”, sus intrigas y sus propias tragedias, sin embargo, sentí que pierde ritmo muy rápido y se desvía a dioses y héroes secundarios que no me interesaban tanto, entonces para mi se volvió un poco tedioso y sentí que la información no fue lo suficientemente completa.
A mi me encanta, aunque como lectora común y silvestre, antes de leer un libro como Odisea quiero hacer un recorderis de los principales dioses y héroes que la conforman.
Este libro empezó bien, con un lenguaje cercano nos presenta los dioses más conocidos, sus “poderes”, sus intrigas y sus propias tragedias, sin embargo, sentí que pierde ritmo muy rápido y se desvía a dioses y héroes secundarios que no me interesaban tanto, entonces para mi se volvió un poco tedioso y sentí que la información no fue lo suficientemente completa.
December 6, 2023
My comments in video: https://youtu.be/LjgC5Crl7lg
Robert Graves is an established author of historical novels for his work on the Emperor Claudius, and a scholar of antiquity. In this work he presents us with a compendium of Greek myths and legends, and although the work is an appetizer that is not very extensive or deep, I liked it enormously because of an image and interpretation of the gods that is unforgettable to me, and that generated a great reflection about the origin of thought and philosophy among the Greeks.
I await your comments
Robert Graves es un autor consagrado de novela histórica por su obra sobre el emperador Claudio, y erudito sobre la antigüedad. En esta obra nos presenta un compendio de mitos y leyendas griegos, y si bien la obra es un abrebocas no muy extenso ni profundo, me gustó enormemente por una imagen e interpretación sobre los dioses que se me hace inolvidable, y que me generó una gran reflexión sobre el origen del pensamiento y la filosofía entre los griegos.
Espero sus comentarios
Robert Graves is an established author of historical novels for his work on the Emperor Claudius, and a scholar of antiquity. In this work he presents us with a compendium of Greek myths and legends, and although the work is an appetizer that is not very extensive or deep, I liked it enormously because of an image and interpretation of the gods that is unforgettable to me, and that generated a great reflection about the origin of thought and philosophy among the Greeks.
I await your comments
Robert Graves es un autor consagrado de novela histórica por su obra sobre el emperador Claudio, y erudito sobre la antigüedad. En esta obra nos presenta un compendio de mitos y leyendas griegos, y si bien la obra es un abrebocas no muy extenso ni profundo, me gustó enormemente por una imagen e interpretación sobre los dioses que se me hace inolvidable, y que me generó una gran reflexión sobre el origen del pensamiento y la filosofía entre los griegos.
Espero sus comentarios
January 3, 2022
It is a good introduction to plenty of Greek mythological stories. It definitely piques my interest to read more.
However, the stories are a little rushed and there are too many characters coming in very quickly one after the other.
I understand it a short stories book but the change is too quick and chaotic at times.
However, the stories are a little rushed and there are too many characters coming in very quickly one after the other.
I understand it a short stories book but the change is too quick and chaotic at times.
October 6, 2022
Rápido de leer y muy divertido.
October 1, 2021
Hay que partir de que se trata de un libro escrito para jóvenes que desconocen de la mitología.
Si te encanta la mitología y no soportas el hecho de leer algo super relajado este libro no es para vos, aléjate lo vas a odiar.
Me gusta lo sencillo que está escrito y que poniéndome en lugar de alguien que no sabe mucho al menos lo deja enganchado sobre ciertos mitos y ya anima a investigar más.
Disfruté mucho de este libro, como siempre me quedo con las historias de Prometeo, Sisifo, Belerofonte.
Si te encanta la mitología y no soportas el hecho de leer algo super relajado este libro no es para vos, aléjate lo vas a odiar.
Me gusta lo sencillo que está escrito y que poniéndome en lugar de alguien que no sabe mucho al menos lo deja enganchado sobre ciertos mitos y ya anima a investigar más.
Disfruté mucho de este libro, como siempre me quedo con las historias de Prometeo, Sisifo, Belerofonte.
August 31, 2025
Vill man ha en frejdigt berättad sagosamling, så har man här samlade alla grekiska gudar och superstarka halvgudar, flytande snabbläst, med supergott humör, hur än grymma hjältarna är. Gudinnorna har inte mycket att hämta här. Annat än svartsjuka och grymhet. Men som sagobok är det lätt att sjunka in. Bra namnregister i slutet, så man kan hitta fram till alla karaktärer som vandrar ut och in i historierna, i samma värld. Och påverkats av grannfolkens berättelser och skaffat sig egna versioner.
Jag söker egentligen något djupare, om den äldre gudabilden, den som fanns hos Homeros och tidigare, här har vi snarast hamnat i den hellenistiska världen som för länge sedan lämnat det gudomliga bakom sig, och mer ser på gudavärlden som en standarduppsättning romanfigurer, rädda och hämndgiriga. Precis som Farao en gång var den gudomlige solguden själv, men därefter såg sig mer som Solens son, för att slutligen be till solguden ur en mänsklig synvinkel, tycks här de grekiska gudar ha detroniserats, till något lista hjältar kan överlista. Alltså långt från den Homeros andliga värden.
Och de äldre kvinnliga gudinnor, från jordbruk och naturvärlden, finns bara kvar som namn. Sedan ryttare och sjömän intagit deras lustgård.
Jag söker egentligen något djupare, om den äldre gudabilden, den som fanns hos Homeros och tidigare, här har vi snarast hamnat i den hellenistiska världen som för länge sedan lämnat det gudomliga bakom sig, och mer ser på gudavärlden som en standarduppsättning romanfigurer, rädda och hämndgiriga. Precis som Farao en gång var den gudomlige solguden själv, men därefter såg sig mer som Solens son, för att slutligen be till solguden ur en mänsklig synvinkel, tycks här de grekiska gudar ha detroniserats, till något lista hjältar kan överlista. Alltså långt från den Homeros andliga värden.
Och de äldre kvinnliga gudinnor, från jordbruk och naturvärlden, finns bara kvar som namn. Sedan ryttare och sjömän intagit deras lustgård.
November 29, 2020
Me ha gustado mucho poder completar en mi cabeza el puzzle de las historias de la mitología griega de las que conocía solo por algunas piezas sueltas procedentes de distintas referencias que me habían salido en algunos libros.
Hay varias anécdotas que me llaman la atención, por ejemplo, el hecho de que Hefesto, hijo de Zeus y Hera, es cojo porque al nacer su borrico padre lo lanzó por los aires por encima de los muros del Olimpo diciendo que un niño debilucho no era digno de ser hijo suyo (debió de nacer prematuro o con percentiles bajos) con tan mala suerte que al caer se rompió una pierna. Coincidiendo con este hecho, le pusieron al muchacho una codorniz por símbolo, un pájaro que en primavera baila a la pata coja🤷🏻♀️🤣.
Otra cosa que me ha llamado la atención es lo putareño que es Zeus, y que le tira el cañote a todo lo que se mueve, incluso transformándose en distintas criaturas para conseguirlo (en un pajarillo, en un toro blanco, en un cisne y hasta en lluvia dorada) y es que este tremendo bellaco se habría cepillado al propio óvulo que lo engendraró si fuese biológicamente posible.
Hay varias anécdotas que me llaman la atención, por ejemplo, el hecho de que Hefesto, hijo de Zeus y Hera, es cojo porque al nacer su borrico padre lo lanzó por los aires por encima de los muros del Olimpo diciendo que un niño debilucho no era digno de ser hijo suyo (debió de nacer prematuro o con percentiles bajos) con tan mala suerte que al caer se rompió una pierna. Coincidiendo con este hecho, le pusieron al muchacho una codorniz por símbolo, un pájaro que en primavera baila a la pata coja🤷🏻♀️🤣.
Otra cosa que me ha llamado la atención es lo putareño que es Zeus, y que le tira el cañote a todo lo que se mueve, incluso transformándose en distintas criaturas para conseguirlo (en un pajarillo, en un toro blanco, en un cisne y hasta en lluvia dorada) y es que este tremendo bellaco se habría cepillado al propio óvulo que lo engendraró si fuese biológicamente posible.
September 12, 2015
Tuve que buscar árboles genealógicos y usar mis mapas de la antigua Grecia, lo que me dio un buen ejercicio de búsqueda de información de fuentes, tengo una duda respecto a Promete, que tendré que investigar más a fondo y no me gusto mucho que omitiera a Aquiles.
May 24, 2020
No está mal si te gusta la mitología griega, pero me hubiese gustado que lo explicase de otra manera porque esta descrito de una manera muy sosa.
Aún así, si no conoces los mitos más conocidos, esta bien para hacerte una idea de como son.
Aún así, si no conoces los mitos más conocidos, esta bien para hacerte una idea de como son.
August 22, 2024
Está ok, libro normal, los dioses son unos desgraciaos que mala hostia tienen en fin
January 24, 2016
I liked it.
May 27, 2024
This is an older mythoi book that I have had sitting around for a while and one of the things that really attracted me with it was the fact that it was so detailed about the thrones of the Olympians although no other source that I know of has made mention of that before. Furthermore the reader gets a detailed layout of the palace of the Olympians as well as a brief Who's Who including some of the more minor deities that a bunch of other basic mythoi books don't really touch on.
Another part that impressed me when I first read this book was the fact that for the most part Graves chose to stick with the original Grecian spelling instead of using the Romanized portion nor replacing C's with K's. It gave the book almost a bit more authentic touch than most other books of the same ilk.
But otherwise the book upon a re-reading with some more information learned about the mythoi system of the Grecians comes up rather short and rather cleaned up, which is strange since at other times more graphic other elements are left in.
There were portions of the book where the personification or "being" wasn't even provided with a name such as Gaia who makes constant appearances just being called Mother Earth or Helios who is named a few times (but not until chapter six) before just being called the Sun throughout the rest of the book the fact that Thanatos never appeared in the book thus leading to a weird re-telling in which Hades isn't only mentioned as the god of death but also replaces him a in tale where Thanatos was locked up by Sisyphus. At the same time the author does a great job in overlooking the fact that Helios, Eos (there is no mention of Selene) and Leto were all Titans.
The book makes no mention of the facts of any of the rapes that were done, even when that part was an important element, such as Hera being overtaken by the cuckoo-disguised Zeus or the punishment of Poseidon on King Minos' poor queen while making Medusa once more not a victim of Poseidon's. Furthermore in many cases he just marries Zeus to his human lovers before using the excuse that since they were mortal it doesn't count as an actual binding marriage while ignoring the many "unions" that Zeus had with other non-mortals. And in some cases the latter part was also done for cleaning up such as trying to change the fathering of Persephone to some unknown country god or the fathering of Athene so there was no mention that Zeus also participated in cannibalism.
Another weird aspect of this tidying up also led to some of the strange changes to other stories such as the leaving out of the fact that the madness of Heracles' killing his whole family led to the Twelve Labors by replacing it with poppycock that he did the tasks to keep his human dad on the throne, the participation in the mothering of the Minotaur was changed to the fact that Daedalus took his son away from Crete with the wings just since he was denied a vacation or even that Theseus wouldn't have happily volunteered to go as part of a tribute but had to be sent as part of punishment by his father's people.
From there other portions of the book also hit the truth-or-fiction line with the author actually using a jar for Pandora instead of the infamous box, weirdly calls the Nereids as mermaids and overlooks the fact that the Olympians were tricked into not eating the sacrificial meat since of Prometheus thus leading to the weird concept they enjoyed the smell but not the taste). There is also mention that the bird gnawing on Prometheus' liver was a vulture instead of an eagle which last I knew neither species gnawed and that Phaëton lived with his father when that also wasn't the case.
And most of the tellings are done in brief entries providing the reader with quick stories if they want to break this up instead of reading the book from cover-to-cover, especially as the stories aren't even attempted to be put into chronological order.
For a children's start into the world of Grecian mythoi or anyone who may be needing a soft book to enter into the subject it will do but it shouldn't be considered a conclusive guide just like Edith Hamilton's. If intrigued by the subject there are most definitely better books of the subject out there if not websites.
Another part that impressed me when I first read this book was the fact that for the most part Graves chose to stick with the original Grecian spelling instead of using the Romanized portion nor replacing C's with K's. It gave the book almost a bit more authentic touch than most other books of the same ilk.
But otherwise the book upon a re-reading with some more information learned about the mythoi system of the Grecians comes up rather short and rather cleaned up, which is strange since at other times more graphic other elements are left in.
There were portions of the book where the personification or "being" wasn't even provided with a name such as Gaia who makes constant appearances just being called Mother Earth or Helios who is named a few times (but not until chapter six) before just being called the Sun throughout the rest of the book the fact that Thanatos never appeared in the book thus leading to a weird re-telling in which Hades isn't only mentioned as the god of death but also replaces him a in tale where Thanatos was locked up by Sisyphus. At the same time the author does a great job in overlooking the fact that Helios, Eos (there is no mention of Selene) and Leto were all Titans.
The book makes no mention of the facts of any of the rapes that were done, even when that part was an important element, such as Hera being overtaken by the cuckoo-disguised Zeus or the punishment of Poseidon on King Minos' poor queen while making Medusa once more not a victim of Poseidon's. Furthermore in many cases he just marries Zeus to his human lovers before using the excuse that since they were mortal it doesn't count as an actual binding marriage while ignoring the many "unions" that Zeus had with other non-mortals. And in some cases the latter part was also done for cleaning up such as trying to change the fathering of Persephone to some unknown country god or the fathering of Athene so there was no mention that Zeus also participated in cannibalism.
Another weird aspect of this tidying up also led to some of the strange changes to other stories such as the leaving out of the fact that the madness of Heracles' killing his whole family led to the Twelve Labors by replacing it with poppycock that he did the tasks to keep his human dad on the throne, the participation in the mothering of the Minotaur was changed to the fact that Daedalus took his son away from Crete with the wings just since he was denied a vacation or even that Theseus wouldn't have happily volunteered to go as part of a tribute but had to be sent as part of punishment by his father's people.
From there other portions of the book also hit the truth-or-fiction line with the author actually using a jar for Pandora instead of the infamous box, weirdly calls the Nereids as mermaids and overlooks the fact that the Olympians were tricked into not eating the sacrificial meat since of Prometheus thus leading to the weird concept they enjoyed the smell but not the taste). There is also mention that the bird gnawing on Prometheus' liver was a vulture instead of an eagle which last I knew neither species gnawed and that Phaëton lived with his father when that also wasn't the case.
And most of the tellings are done in brief entries providing the reader with quick stories if they want to break this up instead of reading the book from cover-to-cover, especially as the stories aren't even attempted to be put into chronological order.
For a children's start into the world of Grecian mythoi or anyone who may be needing a soft book to enter into the subject it will do but it shouldn't be considered a conclusive guide just like Edith Hamilton's. If intrigued by the subject there are most definitely better books of the subject out there if not websites.
July 25, 2021
Brillante y excepcional, Dioses y héroes de la antigua Grecia, aúna dos elementos que me apasionan: la mitología clásica y el autor Robert Graves. La unión de estas dos características consigue un libro maravilloso que devoras en muy poco tiempo y al que siempre vuelves para consultar algún dato.
Para mí, el nombre de Robert Graves, autor de esta pequeña recopilaci��n, siempre está unido al mundo clásico. Y es que las lecturas que he hecho de sus obras siempre han tenido que ver con Grecia o el imperio romano. Y poco puedo decir sobre la calidad literaria de este autor. Graves me parece un escritor magnífico, con un estilo depurado y sencillo. Cuenta con una prosa elegante y clara, un lenguaje pragmático, pero con sus florituras literarias y unas descripciones escuetas pero suficientes.
Dioses y héroes de la antigua Grecia es una antología de varios mitos griegos, descritos de forma fácil y resumida haciendo que resulten claros y sencillos. La mayoría de estas historias son muy conocidas, por salir en grandes tragedias griegas o por las numerosas adaptaciones de éstas en diversos medios: La Ilíada, la Odisea, Jasón y los argonautas, etc. Así que nos encontramos con relatos tan famosos como los trabajos de Hércules, el rapto de Perséfone, la leyenda del Rey Midas, la historia de Jasón y el vellocino de oro, etc. Personajes tan célebres como Orfeo, Orión, Teseo, Perseo, Belerofonte y, por supuesto, los dioses que regían el destino de todos los mortales y el resto de las razas. Como se puede apreciar lo novedoso no está en lo que cuenta el libro en sí mismo, si no en como lo hace. Cada narración ocupa unas pocas páginas, contándote lo esencial de forma novelada, ahorrándote mucho trabajo de lectura y proporcionándote unas nociones básicas que puedes decidir ampliar más tarde.
En conclusión, Dioses y héroes de la antigua Grecia, es una excelente introducción al fascinante mundo de la mitología griega. Bien hecho, explicado de forma simple, te permite navegar por el enorme mar conformado por monstruos, dioses, semidioses y mortales que han conseguido pasar a la historia popular.
Para mí, el nombre de Robert Graves, autor de esta pequeña recopilaci��n, siempre está unido al mundo clásico. Y es que las lecturas que he hecho de sus obras siempre han tenido que ver con Grecia o el imperio romano. Y poco puedo decir sobre la calidad literaria de este autor. Graves me parece un escritor magnífico, con un estilo depurado y sencillo. Cuenta con una prosa elegante y clara, un lenguaje pragmático, pero con sus florituras literarias y unas descripciones escuetas pero suficientes.
Dioses y héroes de la antigua Grecia es una antología de varios mitos griegos, descritos de forma fácil y resumida haciendo que resulten claros y sencillos. La mayoría de estas historias son muy conocidas, por salir en grandes tragedias griegas o por las numerosas adaptaciones de éstas en diversos medios: La Ilíada, la Odisea, Jasón y los argonautas, etc. Así que nos encontramos con relatos tan famosos como los trabajos de Hércules, el rapto de Perséfone, la leyenda del Rey Midas, la historia de Jasón y el vellocino de oro, etc. Personajes tan célebres como Orfeo, Orión, Teseo, Perseo, Belerofonte y, por supuesto, los dioses que regían el destino de todos los mortales y el resto de las razas. Como se puede apreciar lo novedoso no está en lo que cuenta el libro en sí mismo, si no en como lo hace. Cada narración ocupa unas pocas páginas, contándote lo esencial de forma novelada, ahorrándote mucho trabajo de lectura y proporcionándote unas nociones básicas que puedes decidir ampliar más tarde.
En conclusión, Dioses y héroes de la antigua Grecia, es una excelente introducción al fascinante mundo de la mitología griega. Bien hecho, explicado de forma simple, te permite navegar por el enorme mar conformado por monstruos, dioses, semidioses y mortales que han conseguido pasar a la historia popular.
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