Apollo, Zeus, Athena, Pandora, Midas, Pygmalion, Daedalus and Icarus, and many more are contained within Mythology and You . These tales reveal many universal truths about historical human behavior and have great relevance in today's world.
What I Enjoyed: The background information in each chapter was really interesting and well thought out. I enjoyed reading Rosenberg's descriptions of how ideas in each myth reflect what societal structures/beliefs/norms were like at the time, and how those ideas relate to our modern-day society. I certainly learned tons about the formation and ideals of ancient Greek society from this book.
The Issue: Background information aside, I almost wish the storytelling itself was a little more effective. Every story felt a bit oddly vague with specific details sprinkled in at random. I definitely enjoyed reading the book as a whole, but admittedly I've read more engaging retellings of some of these myths. (I kinda wish I had a copy of the book on hand so I could actually include some quotes to illustrate my point. Oh well.)
All in all, this book is fantastic if you're looking to see how ancient Greek myths were, and are still, relevant. Although the storytelling itself leaves something to be desired, I would recommend this book for anyone who wishes to familiarize themselves with the study of Greek mythology.
I read this a long time ago--freshman year of high school, and all I remember was that it was incredibly dry. These are some of the juiciest, raciest stories out there, and this book zapped all the fun out of it. Although the Catholic high school might have had something to do with it, too.
A great introduction to Greek culture and literature. Would suggest to anyone who has yet to experience some of the best Greek heroes' stories, such as Hercules and Bellerphon.