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Pantheon: The True Story of the Egyptian Deities
The most important myth in Ancient Egypt is faithfully retold in glorious black and white! Horus, son of Isis, vows bloody revenge on his Uncle Set.
179 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 250 reviews
June 21, 2023
Very funny take on the Osiris myth that is also very adult (not for children). Hamish Steele manages to keep the major points of the myth in focus while presenting the story in an almost adult animation perspective; while I would not base my understanding of this important myth on this version only it is a very good introduction to further reading.
December 11, 2017
Lots of bickering gods who also chop each other to bits, or just chop off specific bits, stab each other, poison each other, sleep with each other (meaning sisters with brothers, nephews with uncles, sisters with their sisters' husbands, brothers with their brothers' wives, and I'm sure I'm missing quite a few configurations.) And they kill lots of humans and then regret it and then do it again.
I love ancient Egyptian mythology and this is a wonderful book and a great reference (there are many versions of these myths, but it's still nice to have one coherent narrative connecting many mythological figures together, and there's a wonderful family tree of all the gods in the beginning of the book.) it is a loving and hilarious and gruesome (though it's cartoonish enough that I didn't mind it, and I tend to be pretty squeamish) retelling that really brings to life the wicked sense of humor of the ancient tellers of these tales.
Basically, a great big inter-special and interstellar and supernatural and super human and oh so deeply human dysfunctional family soap opera and war story and f--kfest (often a little of each at once.) there is a lot of harming and healing and dying and coming back to life and traveling between worlds and loyalty and disloyalty and slyness and absurdity and learning lessons and failing over and over again to learn any lessons. (Stubbornly learning no things at all.)
I loved how the sisters Isis and Nephy remain loving to each other and have each others' backs though there are many reasons they could plot against each other.
I highly recommend this to people who like mythology and who like entertaining and educational graphic novels. the art is great, in some ways true to history but in other ways true to the Simpsons? the style really sets a tone and keeps it consistent. the pacing is a bit of non-stop movement and the slapstick humor also kind of unrelenting and I found I didn't really care about the characters much, but enough to stay engaged with the book. (i.e., this is not a character drivn story.)
Also, probably don't read this while eating a salad. (I mistakenly wrote don't eat this while eating a salad. Also don't eat this while reading a salad?...)
I love ancient Egyptian mythology and this is a wonderful book and a great reference (there are many versions of these myths, but it's still nice to have one coherent narrative connecting many mythological figures together, and there's a wonderful family tree of all the gods in the beginning of the book.) it is a loving and hilarious and gruesome (though it's cartoonish enough that I didn't mind it, and I tend to be pretty squeamish) retelling that really brings to life the wicked sense of humor of the ancient tellers of these tales.
Basically, a great big inter-special and interstellar and supernatural and super human and oh so deeply human dysfunctional family soap opera and war story and f--kfest (often a little of each at once.) there is a lot of harming and healing and dying and coming back to life and traveling between worlds and loyalty and disloyalty and slyness and absurdity and learning lessons and failing over and over again to learn any lessons. (Stubbornly learning no things at all.)
I loved how the sisters Isis and Nephy remain loving to each other and have each others' backs though there are many reasons they could plot against each other.
I highly recommend this to people who like mythology and who like entertaining and educational graphic novels. the art is great, in some ways true to history but in other ways true to the Simpsons? the style really sets a tone and keeps it consistent. the pacing is a bit of non-stop movement and the slapstick humor also kind of unrelenting and I found I didn't really care about the characters much, but enough to stay engaged with the book. (i.e., this is not a character drivn story.)
Also, probably don't read this while eating a salad. (I mistakenly wrote don't eat this while eating a salad. Also don't eat this while reading a salad?...)
November 16, 2017
I've always had a weird mental block re: Egyptian mythology, probably because the D'Aulaires never wrote a book about it that I could read until the covers fell off when I was nine. I've never been able to remember who's the god of what, or who's married to whom, or who cut off whose junk. That block is gone now, thanks to Hamish Steele's beyond-delightful book Pantheon. Using a simple, Simpsons-esque drawing style and a radiant color palette, Steele recreates the legend of the feud between Set and Horus with extraordinary humor and surprising wisdom, sparing no detail, no matter how gross and/or weird. It's definitely not for kids, but I wish I'd been able to read it years ago.
October 11, 2017
This thing is hilarious.
I almost gave this just four stars because it's pretty shallow and stupid, but that seemed unfair. Not every book has to be a literary classic. There's a time for that, but there's also a time for sex jokes. And these sex jokes are told really well. Steele accomplished exactly what he set out to do. Why should I give excellence in crude humor a lower rating than excellence in symbolism and allegory? Reading is supposed to be fun.
And this is definitely fun!
I almost gave this just four stars because it's pretty shallow and stupid, but that seemed unfair. Not every book has to be a literary classic. There's a time for that, but there's also a time for sex jokes. And these sex jokes are told really well. Steele accomplished exactly what he set out to do. Why should I give excellence in crude humor a lower rating than excellence in symbolism and allegory? Reading is supposed to be fun.
And this is definitely fun!
January 14, 2018
An entertaining intro to the story of the Egyptian deities—will serve me as an excellent primer and give me confidence when I eventually delve into more complex texts on the matter. I imagine it would share the same function for you!
January 18, 2018
The Gods are nuts. Don't take my word for it. All you'd have to do is read about any of them. Like I said, nuts.
This comic is about the Egyptian Pantheon and their shenanigans. Oh my word, but nutty doesn't begin to describe what's going on here. Incest, murder, poison, betrayal, lots of sex - yes, I guess it is rather like Game of Thrones with these cutely drawn, chubby gods. The art is fun and colorful and cutesy, and you'd be wrong to think it might be appropriate for kids. It is not. That sex scene between uncle and nephew gave me pause, and I'll never again look at salad dressing without thinking of this book. My favorite part though was not the boys and all their bromance/murder/war dynamics, but the lovely relationship between the sisters/wives.
Save this graphic novel for when you feel like your family dysfunction makes you want to pull your hair out. No matter what is going on, reading about these Egyptian Gods and their family dynamics will make you feel better about your situation.
This comic is about the Egyptian Pantheon and their shenanigans. Oh my word, but nutty doesn't begin to describe what's going on here. Incest, murder, poison, betrayal, lots of sex - yes, I guess it is rather like Game of Thrones with these cutely drawn, chubby gods. The art is fun and colorful and cutesy, and you'd be wrong to think it might be appropriate for kids. It is not. That sex scene between uncle and nephew gave me pause, and I'll never again look at salad dressing without thinking of this book. My favorite part though was not the boys and all their bromance/murder/war dynamics, but the lovely relationship between the sisters/wives.
Save this graphic novel for when you feel like your family dysfunction makes you want to pull your hair out. No matter what is going on, reading about these Egyptian Gods and their family dynamics will make you feel better about your situation.
August 18, 2017
Wonderful! Absolutely entertaining! I'm fond of all mythology and Egyptian is high up on my list of favourites. What Steele has done here is make these complicated characters and stories accessible to the lay reader bringing with them all the sex, violence and hilarity you could want. Absolutely not a book for children as it is very sexually graphic but a host of fun for adults. The art is a lot of fun, drawn in a Simpsons-ish style while using the profiles found in Egyptian art itself. This is the story of creation up to the time the gods left earth to the humans. Many foundational stories of the mythology are featured here including all the titillating incest, homosexuality and intrigue. I really enjoyed Hamish Steele's version of Egyptian mythology.
November 24, 2019
A fun read; most of my time spent reading this graphic novel was spent cackling.
July 24, 2018
I laughed so much when I read this. I must track down other work by Hamish Steele. It’s definitely not for kids—it’s sweary and explicit—but I highly recommend it to adult readers, whether or not you normally read graphic novels. It was great medium for Steele’s clever intro to Egyptian mythology.
June 6, 2018
I'm a girl who loves her mythology. Give me a book on Egyptian mythology and I'll eat it up in a week. Give me a graphic novel on Egyptian mythology that's illustrated by a talented artist that mixes subversive humor with interesting plots and you've got a hell of a book.
Hamish Steele's Pantheon is a very good read, and one you can easily do in a couple hours. I think what I appreciate the most about it is Pantheon's delight in the absolute absurdity that is Egyptian mythology. Brothers sleep with sisters out of revenge. Sisters cheat on each other's husbands (which happen to be their brothers) and vice-versa with other siblings. Male gods get pregnant with gods that are already existing and re-birth them (seriously...what). Uncles sleep with nephews. Sisters get impregnated with brothers and bear impetuous god-children. It's insane, and Hamish Steele both pokes fun at these myths while creating an endearing tribute to the mythology.
I think some people might be turned off by this graphic novel. We're so used to reading Greek and Egyptian mythology through such a stoic lens that we don't realize just how truly bizarre they are until we get a book like Pantheon, a rather post-modern take on the myths that yes, does stay true to the story. Even if you don't like that kind of thing and want to stick to the original translations, I still say give it a go. It actually helped give me a different perspective on the mythology and made me appreciate it's eccentricity even more so. Highly recommend.
Hamish Steele's Pantheon is a very good read, and one you can easily do in a couple hours. I think what I appreciate the most about it is Pantheon's delight in the absolute absurdity that is Egyptian mythology. Brothers sleep with sisters out of revenge. Sisters cheat on each other's husbands (which happen to be their brothers) and vice-versa with other siblings. Male gods get pregnant with gods that are already existing and re-birth them (seriously...what). Uncles sleep with nephews. Sisters get impregnated with brothers and bear impetuous god-children. It's insane, and Hamish Steele both pokes fun at these myths while creating an endearing tribute to the mythology.
I think some people might be turned off by this graphic novel. We're so used to reading Greek and Egyptian mythology through such a stoic lens that we don't realize just how truly bizarre they are until we get a book like Pantheon, a rather post-modern take on the myths that yes, does stay true to the story. Even if you don't like that kind of thing and want to stick to the original translations, I still say give it a go. It actually helped give me a different perspective on the mythology and made me appreciate it's eccentricity even more so. Highly recommend.
July 7, 2017
I was given this as a birthday present (approximately 4hrs ago at the time of writing this) and I read it in one sitting. This is a record for me with graphic novels because I find them difficult to read and often put them down for days at a time. (Yes I know that's the weird way round and most people work better with images included.) Pantheon is utterly stupendous, uproariously funny and slyer than Set in it's delivery. The style of the art work perfectly fits the storytelling which is always well balanced between the gruesomeness of Egyptian myth and the sheer silliness and humour of the same. It's easy to see that Ancient Egyptian mythology was meant to be funny and that's definitely delivered on here. I would recommend this to anyone who has even the slightest shadow of an inkling towards graphic novels or mythology. Pantheon is not to be missed.
July 25, 2017
'The Greatest Story ever told' is often a subtitle applied to the Bible or particularly the story of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately they will no longer be able to use this line now that Hamish Steele has published Pantheon, which is unequivocally the Greatest Story Ever Told.
Crass, bawdy and painfully human are how I like my deities and this is what Steele offers in his eloquent and explicit linear retelling of ancient Egyptian creation myths. With humour and a vibrant graphic style you'll be worshiping your cat by page 24 (or else!).
Crass, bawdy and painfully human are how I like my deities and this is what Steele offers in his eloquent and explicit linear retelling of ancient Egyptian creation myths. With humour and a vibrant graphic style you'll be worshiping your cat by page 24 (or else!).
January 31, 2021
Great art and fun story, made egyptian mythology easy to digest
Tho the egyptian gods really do be out there
Tho the egyptian gods really do be out there
Read
May 21, 2019"On the great sea of Nu, a pyramid named Benben rose from the water with silent purpose...
Benben flowered a lotus.
And the lotus flowered the Sun.
The Sun rose up, signalling the dawn of the first day.
And the Sun named itself Atum.
With only eternal darkness for company, Atum did what anybody would do when faced with endless loneliness.
He had a wank."
So begins a retelling of Egypt's myth of origin, from the creation of the world to the murder of Osiris by "notorious cock" Set, the birth and upbringing of the avenger Horus, and the transfer of power to human pharaohs. It is all gleefully and polymorphously perverse, horribly bloodthirsty, and for the most part entirely ridiculous – which is to say entirely faithful, in so far as you can be faithful to a story which existed in widely varied forms over many lands and more millennia than separate us from the Romans. The cute art style might not be an obvious match, but really helps to sell the story as fun rather than just plain horrible – in particular, I think this is the first time my reaction to Ammit the Devourer has ever been 'Awww, it's adorable!' And yet, that doesn't preclude moments of reflection and transcendence here and there, in among the zombie cock bird sex.
Benben flowered a lotus.
And the lotus flowered the Sun.
The Sun rose up, signalling the dawn of the first day.
And the Sun named itself Atum.
With only eternal darkness for company, Atum did what anybody would do when faced with endless loneliness.
He had a wank."
So begins a retelling of Egypt's myth of origin, from the creation of the world to the murder of Osiris by "notorious cock" Set, the birth and upbringing of the avenger Horus, and the transfer of power to human pharaohs. It is all gleefully and polymorphously perverse, horribly bloodthirsty, and for the most part entirely ridiculous – which is to say entirely faithful, in so far as you can be faithful to a story which existed in widely varied forms over many lands and more millennia than separate us from the Romans. The cute art style might not be an obvious match, but really helps to sell the story as fun rather than just plain horrible – in particular, I think this is the first time my reaction to Ammit the Devourer has ever been 'Awww, it's adorable!' And yet, that doesn't preclude moments of reflection and transcendence here and there, in among the zombie cock bird sex.
April 6, 2024
Entertaining comic telling of the Egyptian creation myth and the central Osiris-Isis-Set-Horus story. Translated from ancient Egyptian and Greek into modern dudebro.
An example of Pantheon 's tone: it includes the line "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe having bird sex with a golden zombie dick isn't the best start for a child" and that sentence makes perfect sense.
I assumed that the author was taking massive liberties with the plot on top of the style: juvenile dick jokes, double entendres, single entendres, the lowest of low-brow humor. So I paused to dig up some academic articles online, and nope...Steele is spot on. Virtually every naughty detail depicted in Pantheon is drawn directly from Egyptian mythology.
And it works: the Set/Horus narrative is going to stay with me til the day I die.
Learning is fun!
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SECOND READ
Still completely inappropriate, still hella fun.
An example of Pantheon 's tone: it includes the line "Oh, I'm sorry, maybe having bird sex with a golden zombie dick isn't the best start for a child" and that sentence makes perfect sense.
I assumed that the author was taking massive liberties with the plot on top of the style: juvenile dick jokes, double entendres, single entendres, the lowest of low-brow humor. So I paused to dig up some academic articles online, and nope...Steele is spot on. Virtually every naughty detail depicted in Pantheon is drawn directly from Egyptian mythology.
And it works: the Set/Horus narrative is going to stay with me til the day I die.
Learning is fun!
-----------------------
SECOND READ
Still completely inappropriate, still hella fun.
November 18, 2017
So funny! This book is in league with My Dirty Dumb Eyes as one you should maybe refrain from reading in public or on transit. Before I read this I had only a passing knowledge of the Egyptian pantheon, mostly what I remember from reading The Egypt Game as a kid. I don't think I have a spectacular understanding now, but it's better! I love the visual style and I love the funny, straightforward writing. Definitely recommended!
July 28, 2018
Retells the passage of kingship from Atum to Horus. Pretty and fun, with a lot more semen salad dressing than I was expecting. A bit too glib and too much of a "just so story" about human hegemony to be fully enjoyable.
December 29, 2014
Funny with stunning artwork. I learnt a lot of things here and was entertained the entire time.
*DISCLAIMER: So very not for children!*
*DISCLAIMER: So very not for children!*
October 12, 2018
Witty, charming, aptly lewd rendition of Egyptian mythos. I loved it. Art is fantastic.
November 17, 2020
Hilarious and adorable and bonkers wild.
December 15, 2021
Iconic retelling of the egyptian deities. Some parts were painfully and hilariously blunt and dark. Thoroughly loved the entirety of this book.
March 1, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. So funny and I also feel like I learnt a lot
May 11, 2019
Humorous telling of the central myth of the divine creation of the world and Egypt in particular. Steele writes that he hoped to convey some of the humor that would have been in every telling of these stories, and I think he succeeded. I could see this as the basis of a great animated series. I only wish we saw more of Medjed (maybe in the movie?).
April 29, 2019
I truly enjoyed this re-telling of Egyptian mythology through the crude, Simpson-esque humor and wit of author and artist Hamish Steele. A LOT happened in the pieced together annals of Egyptian lore that I did not know about and that you cannot get merely from an art museum visit OR the movie "Gods of Egypt". This book highlights the amount of incest, random animal transformations, needless violence and complicated relationships between the core group of Egyptian gods descended from Ra/Atum (are Atum and Ra the same?). While I was left with questions (and a couple of points such as the Ra vs. Atum conundrum were confusing) ultimately this book is a funny read and leaves one with the desire to learn more and do some research! While this is a good introduction to the gods and boils some stories down into soap opera/Futurama epsiode simplicity it is NOT FOR CHILDREN. The original stories DO contain this amount of sex, drugs and rock and roll, so to speak, but this book is very adult in its language and sexual encounters. I recommend this book to those who enjoy history and dry, dirty British humor and also to those who know parts of the story but not this entire, detailed account. This book also contains a mummification guide (told in this same witty weird tone the rest of the book is told in).
January 3, 2018
Banned Book Week 2017. This year I'm reading a few picture books that have been challenged for their content, and while this graphic novel is not a picture book nor has it been banned or challenged, I'm going to count it because it is only a matter of time before it makes the list. Pantheon is deliciously profane and foul! That's my favorite kind of humor when it is done well, and Hamish Steele does it very, very well.
Seriously, this is not to be confused with those staid, boring graphic novels telling the history of beer, the Constitution or the Torture Report. This is a bawdy, graphic take on Egyptian mythology and is not for children, the faint of heart, prudes or skittish horses.
If you can see the fun in blasphemy, incest, penises, loads of semen, gay sex, and bloody violence then this is the book for you. And me.
Here's hoping the Greek pantheon is in our future.
Seriously, this is not to be confused with those staid, boring graphic novels telling the history of beer, the Constitution or the Torture Report. This is a bawdy, graphic take on Egyptian mythology and is not for children, the faint of heart, prudes or skittish horses.
If you can see the fun in blasphemy, incest, penises, loads of semen, gay sex, and bloody violence then this is the book for you. And me.
Here's hoping the Greek pantheon is in our future.
September 25, 2017
Absolutely brilliant! I grabbed a copy of this book at Small Press Expo and got it signed, so I'm pretty thrilled about that.
Mr. Hamish gives us a comics-style retelling of the ancient Egyptian myth cycle. It's a riot! There's a cow goddess who turns into a lion who kills *everything* (Hathor-Sekmet, for you scholars out there), a real dumb falcon god (Horus) and his scheming and conniving uncle (Set). Some hippo-fighting. Some tainted lettuce. You're gonna have to read the book to find out about that one.
I really love it when people retell myths in a more colloquial, tongue-in-cheek style because myths weren't meant to be the stuffy stories of yore that we sometimes think of them as today. They were the ancient world's form of popular entertainment--like telling stories about your wacky relatives. These stories are weird and funny, and they're meant to be! They're also eminently human. People are people, and I can't imagine people told these stories in Egypt without giggling, either.
Highly recommend for anyone who likes mythology, comics, or both!
Mr. Hamish gives us a comics-style retelling of the ancient Egyptian myth cycle. It's a riot! There's a cow goddess who turns into a lion who kills *everything* (Hathor-Sekmet, for you scholars out there), a real dumb falcon god (Horus) and his scheming and conniving uncle (Set). Some hippo-fighting. Some tainted lettuce. You're gonna have to read the book to find out about that one.
I really love it when people retell myths in a more colloquial, tongue-in-cheek style because myths weren't meant to be the stuffy stories of yore that we sometimes think of them as today. They were the ancient world's form of popular entertainment--like telling stories about your wacky relatives. These stories are weird and funny, and they're meant to be! They're also eminently human. People are people, and I can't imagine people told these stories in Egypt without giggling, either.
Highly recommend for anyone who likes mythology, comics, or both!
December 31, 2022
While I would not consider this child-friendly and there are definitely people in my life I would not feel comfortable recommending this to - - I really enjoyed this book. I love the style of the artwork. I love the humour. Steele does a fabulous job of joining a messy complicated confusing series of stories together into a cohesive whole. I love that he has done his homework. I love that he captures that Egyptian sense of humour. I also really appreciated how he ended the book. Beginning to end it was incredibly enjoyable. If you are not comfortable with coarse language and awkward content, don't read this book, but if those things won't bother you, then yes. Read this book. It's one I will want to own one day. ---- annnnnd, now I do. Yusssss.
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I love this one so much. I would love to see this turned into a Netflix Original. So. Much.
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I, like, comfort read this every year <3
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I forgot I already read this this year, haha. But I just moved and it really is a comfort read for me.
___
I love this one so much. I would love to see this turned into a Netflix Original. So. Much.
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I, like, comfort read this every year <3
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I forgot I already read this this year, haha. But I just moved and it really is a comfort read for me.
April 18, 2018
Nearly all the other reviews here have this right. It is delightful and hilarious, and makes the often confusing Egyptian mythology more clear. The family of the gods are mean and snarky to each other, but it all reads like a very strange dysfunctional family with, well, godlike powers. Amazing how the author puts so much humor in these very violent tales. The graphics are perfect, with a touch of ancient Egyptian art. Even though I have hundreds more graphic novels than any human being needs, I am still tempted to buy a copy of this book for my collection. I hope Hamish Steele treats other mythologies in the future. I'd especially like to see him narrate Quiche Mayan mythology from the Popol Vuh.
July 10, 2017
Hahaha! Oh my word, this had me giggling like me four year old!
This is the story of how the God's of Egypt created the world, tried to rule it, got bored, tried again, tried to kill eachother and then left to let us humans get on with it. It was bloody brilliant!
The story had humour pumped into it by the bucket load. Some fantastic puns (Oh my Ra! I love a good pun), some cock jokes, and some over the top comic dismemberment. The illustration is plumped up, cutesy, Egyptian style hieroglyphics, which made for some good fun reading (and a couple more jokes).
Overall a fab and fun telling for fans of mythology, god's, gore and graphic novels.
This is the story of how the God's of Egypt created the world, tried to rule it, got bored, tried again, tried to kill eachother and then left to let us humans get on with it. It was bloody brilliant!
The story had humour pumped into it by the bucket load. Some fantastic puns (Oh my Ra! I love a good pun), some cock jokes, and some over the top comic dismemberment. The illustration is plumped up, cutesy, Egyptian style hieroglyphics, which made for some good fun reading (and a couple more jokes).
Overall a fab and fun telling for fans of mythology, god's, gore and graphic novels.
August 20, 2018
Bought at FlameCon 2018 from the author. Absolutely wonderful! Beautiful colors, a fun and engaging read, and a fairly comprehensive look at the Set-Horus feud. It reminded me of reading Marcia Williams’ Greek Myths for Young Children (which I was obsessed with as a kid) in the side comments and jokes and the way it took it seriously but also made it a little silly. This one’s not for young children though, with the explicit sex and incest jokes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 250 reviews