Olympus: An Indian Retelling of the Greek Myths

by Devdutt Pattanaik

• Olympus is the home of the Greek gods, much like Amravati of the Hindu devas.
• Zeus, leader of Olympians, wields a thunderbolt like Indra, and rides an eagle like Vishnu.
• The feats of the Greek hero Heracles, known to Romans as Hercules, reminded many of Krishna, as did his name, ‘Hari-kula-esha’ or lord of the Hari clan.
• The Greek epic of a husband sailing across the sea with a thousand ships to bring his wife, Helen, back from Troy seems strikingly similar to the story of Ram rescuing Sita from Lanka.
Is there a connection between Greek and Hindu mythology then? Does it have something to do with a common Indo-European root? Or maybe an exchange of ideas in the centuries that followed the arrival of Alexander the Great, when Greek emissaries travelled to the kingdoms of Mathura and Magadha?
In this book, mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik turns his attention to ancient Greek tales, and explores a new world of stories. Long have Europeans and Americans retold Indic mythologies. It is time for Indians to reverse the gaze.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Greek Mythology, Indian Literature, Religion, Spirituality, Audiobook

296 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 17, 2016

About the author

Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik (born December 11, 1970) is an Indian physician turned leadership consultant, mythologist and author whose works focus largely on the areas of myth, mythology, and also management. He has written a number of books related to Hindu mythology, including Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology, a novel, The Pregnant King, and Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata (2010).
He is the Chief Belief Officer of Future Group, one of India’s largest retailers, bringing the wisdom of Indian mythology into Indian business, especifically in human resource management. He also writes a column for the newspaper MID DAY.
He has also written a novel based on a tale from the Mahabharata titled 'The Pregnant King' published by Penguin Books India

Reviews

[Gorab · Rating 3 out of 5]

With over 200 illustrations, the author has put his heart and soul into creativity.
But i couldn't agree or associate the linkage between the Greek and Indian mythology.
Felt forced.

For instance, Hercules = Hari-kul-esha = Krishna!!!
Full marks for creativity😂

Loved the first and last chapter, the premise around which Alexander met the Indian scholar and exchanged these stories.

Would recommend to skip this, and rather pick Mythos by Fry, and any other mythological take on India - and let them be - why create unnecessary cocktail!

[Vanathi Parthasarathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing two and a half star, mainly because the stories are impersonal and seem like answers a kid would write in his exam paper.

Nevertheless a beginning for someone who is totally ignorant of Greek mythology.

[Samrat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Olympus is a good read, but it suffers for the annoying introduction. Pattanaik either willfully or ignorantly misunderstands the meaning of the allegory of the cave. His introduction reeks of oversimplification and the arbitrary reframing of all thought into a dichotomy between two forces of sunlight/shadow. His introduction is kind of rubbish that way.

However, the rest of the book does make up for the bad start. He presents the myths of the Greek in an engaging and accessible way, with frequent asides to draw possible parallels with Hindu myths and provide alternate versions of the myths. The maps and family trees given at the end of the chapters help remind you of what you just read and how each character connects to the others.

The conclusion shows a certain amount of Indian bias, but that's easily forgiven, given the author's restraint in postulating his own reductive theories within them.

Overall, a good read.

[Sakshi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh! That is literally how I am feeling while writing this review. I like Devdutt Pattanaik's book because of the kind of research he puts in his work, but this one was something incomprehensible. Too many characters, too many stories. I really wanted to read this book because it was one of the few I had seen on other mythologies by Indian authors which was aimed at common folks like me. But the attempt to connect the Greek with Indian really took it down for me. The connections seemed forced and completely irrelevant at times. I wish it was just a standalone Greek mythology book with maybe lesser stories or in parts to make more sense. The only thing I learned after reading this one was that Greek Gods and humans were mostly lustful beings who thought raping men and women was okay.

[Kishan Mittal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a serious mytho buff , not caring much about if it is Hindu, Christian, Norse or in this case, Greek . Though I will admit that I do have certain inclination towards Hindu, Greek and Jewish ones, majorly due to meddling by the rational/logical part of my mind which tries to make sense of the origin and veracity of such stories and pits the logic of these being the oldest and thereby inspiring other lines of mythologies. This along with the curiosity of understanding influence of ancient Greek stories which dominate the western media and culture served as a major motivation for me in picking this book . And I was left more satisfied than impressed.

For cons , the book lacked coherence and structure in mapping the Greek history from its origins till the founding of Rome. Stories and characters were found to be linked rather effortlessly which confused me as a reader . I at times felt like going through the first para of the wikipedia pages for the associated characters. Although , I am aware of the fact that Greek mytho is sufficiently vast and intricately linked , still I felt the author could improve on this part . The Indian-retelling part was minimal at best and I wouldn't even have noticed it had it not been mentioned in the title.

For pros , the book does familiarise you with all the major heroes and popular stories from the Greek history - ranging from Titans and Olympians through Heracles and Trojan War till the founding of Rome by Aeanus . The sections are short and succinct , serving as good stories while being part of the bigger narrative. I was pretty much hooked for the entire length of the book , with my side wish also being fulfilled when I was able to grasp the references made in a recent article that I read.

[Preethi · Rating 2 out of 5]

An average book which goes on and on about the various characters in Greek mythology in a very droning tone, with no story telling. I didn't really enjoy the parallels drawn to the Hindu mythology from that of the Greeks, the non-obvious ones felt very forced.

[radhika ♡]

its interesting the vast differences b/w this and percy jackson's greek gods ... mostly the fact that i actually cared ab the latter LMAO
too much fact not enough feeling, really underwhelmed by the parallels to indian myths as well.

[Hrishikesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Not worth the time invested.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before reading this book, I read Troy by Stephen Fry which has the story of the Trojan War. This book gives more details on the different characters of the story. Without that background on the story, this book would be meaningless. But the stories are as fantastic and as vivid it can be. It can be read only if you have some background on the Illiad by Homer.

[Ankita Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always believed that at their core, all mythologies are pretty similar. But after reading this book I could not take my mind off the glaring differences between Greek and Hindu mythology; truly an eye-opener. It was insightful and a great entry-level summary of Greek mythology for a noob like myself. :)

[Gaurav · Rating 3 out of 5]

"So it has been before. So it will be again."

Even though the book is a great source of short stories describing the Greek mythology (sort of like a crash course), the attempt to connect it with Indian mythology feels not so great. A good read for astronomy nerds to understand some of the stories behind their favourite constellations.

[Dhananjay Dileep · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is an interesting mosaic of ideas !!
It touches Greek mythology not in its entirety but manages to make one understand what themes were prevalent in them during those times..
And there are various interesting Indian equivalents drawn which can be substantiated and are left in an open ended state which allows a reader like me to understand it better..
in toto I love it..

[Karishma Sahai · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work on Greek mythology helps you get comfortable with the 'absurdity' of the stories and understand its significance in shaping up of a particular civilization - Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian or Indian. The author has drawn out comparisons with the Indian mythology, wherever possible, thereby, making it relatable to the Indian reader. He has made available just the right amount of information that an average reader can handle and absorb, comprehend the concept of 'chaos and order', rid one off one's misconceptions. However, this is only to satiate your curiosity in this field, not as a tool to lay claims to mastery.

[Sakshi · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘The Fates make fools of men, display our helplessness, and turn us into tragic heroes, like Oedipus.’

This insight from Greek Mythology comes too late in the book. So as I understand Greek Mythology is about conquests and possessions, heroic deeds and human flaws. Restoring order in chaos, doing your bidding but submitting before what's been prophesized. Finally, fate is a measure of restoring the balance of the universe. This only conclusion is where Indian and Greek mythology perhaps intersect. What is action? What are the ways in which people choose roles? Why do we all come to this world's stage and what is the end to our performance? How does that influence what decisions individuals have made? How is that different from what decision Indian mythological characters make? I felt all of these questions remained unanswered or only slightly touched upon in this book. A smaller segment with stories told with dialogues would give an interesting analysis of Western mythology. The answer I sought above is answered as a simple side note which leaves much desired.

"On what basis is fate decided? By keeping order of the cosmos, and avoiding chaos. This is very distinct from the idea of karma found in Indic mythologies, where fate is a reaction to previous known and unknown actions."

I felt that making sense of the smaller stories and their link to smaller Indian tales left the big picture of Olympians out.

[Shireen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is disappointing and the title is misleading. It's not really a retelling of myths, more like one page summaries of various stories with a two line comparison to similar tales in Indian mythology.

[Nethra Ram · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book with many expectations and came away disappointed. I expected to learn about Greek Mythology. I got a glossary of Greek characters with CliffNotes instead. The dialogue between Alexander and the sage felt gimmicky, and the speed with which Alexendar reached enlightenment in the end felt like a joke. Gosh, if only I could download enlightenment like Neo downloaded martial art modules!

I have never understood (or accepted) why the metaphor is praised even in this century when we have evidence to the contrary - why natural phenomenon need to be anthropomorphised when science has advanced enough to give us the courage to understand ourselves. I couldn't stomach the atrocities attributed to the slew of characters in this book, much less the requirement that the reader take them for granted. Why rape? Because he is a god and he is jealous. Er...if he is a god shouldn't he have overcome jealousy? Nope, not allowed to ask questions, because this is mythos, see. It doesn't have to make sense. It's not logos, that's the philosophy department.

I'm just tired of running around for understanding and explanations, and instead getting more fiction in return. Disappointed. Sorely disappointed.

[Suman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A God (mostly Zeus) sleeps with a mortal who's turned into a beast/tree by his angry wife and the mortal's children are cursed to kill the father - you can plug in different characters for the God, the mortal and the angry wife. And you have a vapid and confusing account of Greek myths with names don't even bother to pronounce or remember. The additional notes in boxes - in all Devdutt books - always distracts me from the main story. Although this one doesn't even have a story. And the additional information in the book includes references from all kinds of cultures across the world. This might work as an academic paper which requires one to display one's knowledge of mythology.

If Pattnaik wants to share the knowledge of myths with ordinary mortals like us, he should make it interesting with stories. I don't feel any better enlightened after reading the book. I expected a great story weaving the Indian and the Greek Gods to help us understand how the two cultural myths go together. Disappointed!

[Anushree · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't actually finish this book. It started out incredibly interesting and I was really excited to see where it went, but it wasn't what I had hoped it would be. I was truly hoping for an Indian retelling of the Greek myths. Instead, it felt more like a compare and contrast, or a timeline of sorts. It tells the story of the Greek gods and goddesses and other vital characters, but it tells those stories one at a time. And there is no "retelling," there is simply a "and this is what Hindu mythology says."

I can tell that the author has done his research, and I definitely learned something new in the few chapters that I read. But what would have made this book even better is if he had focused just on Greek mythology and if he had told it like he told his stories of Hindu mythology in other books.

Despite my disappointment, I still love the author too much. On to the next book!

[Prashanth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Am so happy that I actually completed this book . What a disappointment Devdutt . Was a very tough laborious read . Each chapter had a Greek name and it was becoming tougher and tougher to remember names and stories . After 50 pages it became almost impossible to read through the 100s of names across each chapter .
Except for the Helen chapters , nothing else had any interesting anecdotes. As always well researched but the author failed as he tried to compare Greek and Indian myth .
Overall it was just a prose about Greek myth and didn't quite deserve to be called a 'book' !!! Waste of time!

[Rama Ramaswamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoy everything this man has written. Currently listening to his talk on The Seen and the Unseen - such a wonderful storyteller!

This was my read for our trip to Turkey, especially to the Lycian region where a lot of the myths in this book are said to take place. Fascinating!

[Ganesh Satpute · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tried to read this book. Read almost 40 odd pages. I had high hopes from this book. There's no flow to the stories. Devdutt just gives random information regarding the gods. Feels like reading lots of wiki pages regarding Greek gods. Then he tries to point out similar gods in Hindu mythology. Sometimes the observation made are obvious, and most of the time they are just forced to look similar. Sometimes, he goes beyond common sense to do so.

Even if the book had some flow would've loved to complete reading it.

[Rakhi Saxena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greek mythology really interests me and that’s why I picked up the book the minute I saw the cover. The author’s research is thorough, but the highly abridged tales do not captivate. The attempt to draw parallels with Indian mythology is sometimes interesting and sometimes far-fetched and unimpressive. The illustrations though are quite good. The book can serve as a good introduction to Greek myths.

[Amitha Pothukuchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read the Iliad and Odyssey, I understood the second half of the stories and characters of the book thoroughly. This book felt like a dictionary of every god and hero, something we could refer to while reading other books on Greek mythology. Though, the introductions of certain characters has inspired me to look up specific books pertaining to them. But overall, I cannot say this is a "retelling" of Greek myths.

[Anurag Shrivastava · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the books from Devdutt whicj somehow failed to connect...though thoroughly detailed in its research.. The attempt to connect one very piece to Indian mythology seemed to dilute the essence of the original a little for me...

[Hemant Jain · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was interesting but somehow i lost interest soon.

The different mythological characters and stories of their origin, life, death are pretty wierd.
But then, so are stories of Indian mytho characters. Mahabharata is so full of wierd births and deaths.

[Ananya Mandal · Rating 2 out of 5]

not my fave pattnaik...

[Sonam Puri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think there was need to connect Greek mythology with Indian mythology. Not impressed.

[Siddarth Gore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Left this midway. It was very interesting to begin with but the shear number of characters, their backstories and relationships overwhelmed me.

[Shashank · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pedestrian collections of poorly written stories.