Greek Myths: From the Titans to Icarus and Odysseus

by Martin J. Dougherty

Plato dismissed Greek mythology as `old wives' chatter' but such chatter, from the Minotaur to the Trojan Horse, from Zeus to Prometheus, Heracles to the Argonauts, has been of immense influence for thousands of years. Those tales of deities and beasts, and of heroes and villains, must have possessed some quality to have lasted so long. Thousands of years on, we still refer in our every day lives to Achilles, Pandora and Narcissus. From Hades in the Underworld to Pegasus in flight, Greek Myths & Legends is an accessible introduction to the world of such characters as the Titans, Aphrodite and Poseidon. The book tells the story of Greek mythology from its creation myths and gods to its tales of mortals. Along the way we see the development of the pantheon of the major Greek deities, the dynastic struggles among the early gods, the creation of the Underworld and we learn how Ariadne, Medea and Perseus, among many others, fit into the mythic universe. The book also examines how Greek myths have survived in written texts, ceramics, art and architecture, and the legacy of Greek mythology in Roman culture and the Middle Ages, as well as its revival in the Renaissance and its enduring appeal today. Illustrated with 180 colour and black-&-white photographs, artworks and maps, Greek Myths & Legends is an engaging, highly informative exploration of a fascinating world and will appeal to anyone interested in legends and ancient cultures.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, History, Greece, Reference, Greek Mythology, Folklore

224 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2019

About the author

Hailing from northeast England, Martin J Dougherty is a professional writer specialising in military history. He has been at times a games designer, an engineer, a self-protection instructor, a teacher and a defence analyst. Martin has published a range of books covering topics as diverse as self-protection, medieval warfare and space flight, and has addressed international conferences on anti-shipping missiles and homeland security issues.

Martin's interests include martial arts and fencing. He has coached Fencing, Ju-Jitsu, Self-Defence and Kickboxing for many years at the University of Sunderland, and has competed to national level as a fencer. As a martial artist he holds black belts in Combat Ju-Jitsu, Nihon Tai-Jitsu and Self-Defence. Martin is a Senior Assessor with the Self-Defence Federation and an IL1 instructor/assessor with the Britsh Federation for Historical Swordplay, specialising in the Military Sabre and the Smallsword.

Reviews

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicely researched and written overview of Greek mythology packed with illustrations, either contemporary Greek and Roman art or later famous paintings. Though I have read several books on Greek and Roman mythology, I nevertheless learned a number of things.

The book is divided into an introduction and six chapters. The introduction gave an overview of Greek history, starting with Paleolithic times, going into the Helladic Era, the time of the Minoans, the Greek Dark Age, the Classical Era, the Hellenistic Era, and the final eclipse by Rome. Chapter one, “Cosmology and Creation,” discussed the physical cosmos, creation myths, the primordial gods, introduced the reader to aspects of the geography of Greek mythology (particularly the Underworld), quite a bit on the Titans including various famous Titans, the overthrow of the Titans in the Titanomachy, the rise of the Olympians, and the creation of animals and mortals. Chapter two was on the Olympian gods, discussing what is meant by an Olympian god, the war between the Gigantes and the Olympians (the Gigantomachy, often conflated with the Titanomachy), and has sections on each of the Olympian gods. Chapter three is on “Other Gods and Spirits” and covers among other topics the Erinyes, Horae, Moirae, rustic gods like Pan, Kheiron, other sea gods like Amphitrite and Phorcys, sky and wind gods like Iris and Chione, nymphs, satyrs, naiads, nereids, dryads, misfit gods like Nemesis, Tyche, and Asclepius, minor gods and other beings that were part of the retinue of other gods such as Kratos and Bia with Zeus and Ariadne and the Maenads with Dionysus, and famous giants like Tityos and Argus Panoptes. Chapter four was “The World of Gods and Mortals” and discussed the Greek’s understanding of the mythical world, the Amazons, sea monsters like Hippokampoi and Kharybdis, creatures of the Underworld like Kerberos and the less-well known Orthrus, gorgons, the medusa, bird monsters like the Harpyai and the Stymphalian Birds, the hydra, the Minotaur and the Cretan Bull, more obscure monsters like the giant crab Karkinos, and mythical lands and people that seemed to post-date the creation of Greek mythology, some from Plato’s time, others I thought medieval, things like the Sciapods, humans with a single giant foot on their single leg which they could use to shelter from the sun by lying in its shade. Also, quite a bit on astronomy as a topic and on Atlantis. Chapter five, “Heroes and War,” discussed Perseus, Cadmus, Heracles, Jason and the Argonauts, Theseus, the Trojan War, the Odyssey, Bellerophon, Sisyphus, Tantalos, and Daedalus. Chapter six, “The Legacy of Greek Mythology,” was on its legacy from Roman times onward, covering among other things the _Aeneid_, cultural influences on Geoffrey of Monmouth (who linked the story of Arthur to the events of the _Iliad_), a bit on the Olympic Games, Dante’s _Inferno_ with its influences from Greek mythology, an all too brief section on parallels with Norse mythology and Christianity, and Greek mythological influences on everything from James Joyce’s _Ulysses_ to the rock band Rush to Conan the Barbarian.

Positives, lots of gorgeous art, loved how the author discussed many obscure aspects of Greek mythology, and I learned or was reminded of things I had forgotten such as Daedalus did things beside fly to the existence of the crab monster Karkinos to the fact Kerberos might not have actually been a dog (though most commonly depicted as a three-headed dog) to the fact that the Sirens were originally the handmaidens of Persephone. The discussion of the different titans and giants is excellent, and I appreciated the author giving differing accounts of some aspects of mythology such as whether Amphitrite was a god or the origins of Athena (recounting one involving Zeus having swallowed Athena’s mother, Metis). There is also an index, bibliography, and picture credits.

Negatives, some sections could be all to brief, maybe just a short paragraph. Major topics like the Trojan War or the Labors of Hercules would get multiple pages, but other topics like the Erinyes or the Muses might not even get a whole page. I wish the famous artists behind the many paintings were identified in the text, as any book on Greek mythology is also a fantastic opportunity to also be a book on art history.

[lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

yayayayy i love mythology so much

[FrDrStel Muksuris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fine overview of the major stories that constitute the corpus of Ἑλληνική Μυθολογία. The content draws from a variety of authoritative sources, most notably from the seminal work of Edith Hamilton in this vast field. Written in an easy-to-understand style, the work features color photos and black-and-white sketches, diagrams, and other forms of art to complement the written text. Dougherty makes the point of drawing parallels between the mythological genre and various other areas of modern life, such as literature, astronomy, astrology, law, and science. The myths, as stories told by the Ancient Greeks and other peoples, serve as human interpretations for the phenomena and the cosmos in which we live. I share the opinion of countless other scholars that indeed the Hellenic and Roman deities were perhaps over-personifications, thus rendering them incredible (i.e., not believable). Whether you use this book on your coffee table to impress or in your library to be, um, entertained, it is a good read. Enjoy!

[Tristan Searle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few things are more violent or dramatic than a proper Greek myth.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content 4*
Slovak edition 0-1*
I would enjoy reading this book if I picked up original edition instead of the screwed up slovak edition I have had the misfortune to read.

The content was great. I learned a lot.
But editors of the slovak edition did a poor job (or none at all) when editing this book.

I started to read this book yesterday. When I reached page nr. 118, I was so frustrated with the number of the typos and grammar errors, that I started to count them. I counted 41 in the second half of the book!

[DeWayne Dorsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Lots of things that we currently have are based on Greek mythology. To see the stories behind the names that we've assigned to things is pretty cool. Space missions, daily products, all have names from these characters. I recommend.

[Nathalia °❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ · Rating 5 out of 5]

So we’ll written with so many fun stories, i always come back to this book to flip though the art

[Duru Çetrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fazla resimli, kolay biter lakin zeus çok çapkın olduğundan soy ağacına önden bakınız 🙏

[Ekim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Çok uzun olmamakla beraber dolu dolu bir kitaptı. Ama bazı mitler çok yüzeysel geçilmiş.

[Isabella Ferree · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful learning source for Greek myths.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am new to Greek mythology so this was decent introduction. I chose this book for its pictures which offered an good visual companion to see how Greek myths are depicted in ancient and classical art. The cover art is terrible but otherwise a decent book.