Before You Read Homer: The Gods, Heroes, and Myths You Need to Know

by Brett Robbins

This book takes you on a short journey—a weekend cruise, if you will—through ancient Greek myth, leading you up to Homer’s doorstep. It proceeds chronologically but it’s not dominated by chronology. It’s important to know when events occur but mainly in relation to one another, not because the numbers are themselves important. We’ll be stopping off at the ports I find most intriguing, primarily from the standpoint of how myth informs various aspects of Greek culture. Many more trips remain to be taken, however, and this book is intended to be a launch-pad for your own. The ancient Greeks lived in a world before the Internet, before airplanes, before trains, before the telegraph. They had only myths to transmit through writing and images on vases and sculptures and buildings. Myths were their only mode of transportation and communication combined. There were no TVs, no newspapers. Just traveling bards singing songs so enthralling that their myths were absorbed by the bloodstream unconsciously, as the collective assumptions of society. Sometimes words and images were used to try to explain things, sometimes they served the interests of those who commissioned them to be propagated. How did everyone in Greece know to worship Zeus and Heracles? Myths. Myth linked otherwise disparate communities through the shared currency of the Greek language. Myth is a fungible cultural its ability to be disseminated via various artistic media made it the most feasible way for distant poleis to communicate with each other in something like the way we do more efficiently today via the mass media. The myths, then, had to captivate their audiences as quickly and powerfully as possible. Hence the sensationalistic imagery they inspired, the outrageous actions perpetrated by larger-than-life characters. It all seemed so outlandish, so unrealistic, so overtly fictional. And yet, Theseus was both a king and a hero, Zeus was both a god and a king. There was overlap between these worlds. And there still is today.

Genres: Greek Mythology, Nonfiction

131 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2015

Reviews

[Melissa Mokhtari · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick and approachable and modern introduction to some of the main Greek gods, myths, and heroes - it was written to give context before further reading into the classics but I enjoyed it without the intention of reading Homer :-)
- usually writing about the classics is intimidating, but the authors style is so conversational, which was the reason why I felt I motivated to keep reading
- I enjoyed the authors thoughts on how translation from the classic language loses so much meaning even in the first two sentences of the Iliad. His connection to the moment-by-moment experience of listening to music changed my appreciation for classic languages, and i imagine it can also apply to other classics written in “dead” languages like shahnameh in old Persian
- I can’t say I fully comprehend why certain heroes were chosen or left out of this review, I suppose I’m not a master of classics nor do I plan to read them, so this is to be expected.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great summary of the relevant myths and legends (that we know of) that would have been contemporary to Greeks of Homer's time and what's needed for background info for the Trojan epic. I love Greco-Roman mythology but sometimes it is overwhelming (not to mention confusing) with how much of it comes from later adaptations, prequels, reboots, sequels etc. from sometimes hundreds of years after the "original" versions. It's a lot like keeping track of Star Wars lore and about a million times cooler than anything any comic book company ever did because I believe the non-fantastical core of it is rooted in the history of the Bronze Age Aegean.

[Guyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very approachable primer to the mythological world that Homer's audience would have been well-acquainted with. Robbins is an excellent teacher and I found his explanation of the repeating patterns and evolution of Greek myth very helpful. He is one of those natural explicators that makes one excited TO read the classics he's lecturing on.

[Zoe Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful and interesting to read. Written by a great and understanding professor.

[Michelle Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it!

[Kelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, short book to get to know the basics of Greek Mythology if you are unfamiliar with the stories. Help explains the concepts in books like the Odyssey and the Iliad.