The Greek Myths that Shape the Way We Think

The Myths That Shape the Way We Think

by Richard Buxton

A fresh and revealing look at the stories at the heart of Greek mythology, exploring their cultural impact throughout history up to the present day. How do ancient Greek myths find themselves retold and reinterpreted in cultures across the world, several millennia later? In this volume, bestselling author Richard Buxton explores the power that eight iconic Greek myths hold in the modern world. Buxton traces these stories and archetypes from their ancient forms through their transformations over time in literature, art, cinema, psychology, and politics. Over their long lives, Greek myths have expressed a myriad of from aesthetic refinement to erotic fantasy to political power. Greek myths are an integral part of a broader cultural history, their changes in meaning signifying major shifts in art and society; myths that strike a resonant cultural chord in one period may fall out of fashion the next. This erudite yet accessible exploration examines how the world’s most influential myths have survived to the present, and how they have shaped our ideas on everything from family and society to sexuality and culture. As Buxton explains, each of the eight featured myths is fundamental to the way we think about ourselves and the world. The figure of Prometheus has inspired science fiction icons from Mary Shelley to Ridley Scott. The tragedy of Medea has had a profound impact on theater, feminism, and even criminology. Oedipus’s influence stretches far beyond Freud. The rich visual tradition inspired by Greek myths―from pottery to paintings to popular culture ―illustrates this wide-ranging, sometimes surprising study, making this book a beautiful object to own as well as a thought-provoking read. 100 illustrations

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, History, Greek Mythology, Religion, Greece, Philosophy

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2022

About the author

Richard Buxton works on ancient Greek literature (especially tragedy), and ancient mythology and religion. One of his main aims is to explore the contexts – for example, social life and the landscape – which can help us to recover the meanings which myths had for their tellers and hearers/readers (see his Imaginary Greece, 1994, and The Complete World of Greek Mythology, 2004).

In 1996 he organized a major international conference at Bristol, whose proceedings appeared as From Myth to Reason? (1999) Since 2003 he has been one of the editors of Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum and since 2006 he has been President of the LIMC Foundation. His book 'Forms of Astonishment: Greek Myths of Metamorphosis' was published in 2009. He will next be revising for publication a selection of his papers on Greek myth and tragedy.

He has taken part in a number of radio programs about myth. His work has been translated into nine languages.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting and well researched book about various Greek myths and their retellings/reimagining through time. I, however, do not think the connection them and how humans think today was made. But, as long as you ignore the title itself, this was a very enjoyable read if you want to learn about myths or know about myths and want to learn how their presentation has changed overtime.

[Bradford Dudley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up in the Athens Airport during my honeymoon. I had to choose between this or yet another translation of the Iliad, so here we are.

Buxton straightforwardly analyzes popular Greek myths and guides the reader through their subsequent retellings and adoptions.

As someone who studied the Classics in undergrad, Buxton's breadth rather than depth approach leaves a lot to be desired (for instance, he addresses Plato's use of the Prometheus myth to further his political theory in less than a paragraph). However, what more should I expect from a book designed to introduce such topics to a new audience.

I was, however, happily surprised by the art history sections. Pictures included.

I enjoyed Medea and Oedipus chapters in particular.

Overall, not a bad airport read.

[Nídia Macedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is somewhat of an unfair rating because I bet the problem was not in the book itself but in the audiobook. I just found the narrator's voice incredibly dull and could not keep my attention. I felt like I was in class thinking of what I should be doing outside. And I LOVE Greek mythology so this should be right up my alley. 🥲
So forgive me, Richard Buxton, but this was just my (poor) experience. Maybe I'll reread in the future and hopefully edit this rating.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly compelling and lively analysis of foundational myths and what relevance they have.

[Kyle Dodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely introduction into greek myths and legends. After retelling a handful of the most memorable of greek tales, the author creatively dissects the implications of these stories throughout history and on the way we think today. Thought provoking and quite captivating. Would recommend.

[hannah rosenman · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really liked this retelling. it was easy to follow, not too bogged down in the excerpts and pictures, and i enjoyed the accompanying narration

[Ingeborg Reinholdt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spændende roman om de græske myters mange betydninger igennem litteraturhistorien

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good chapters in this book. The author sometimes writes in a convoluted way and uses some very unusual adjectives! My fave chapters were on Prometheus, Paris and Orpheus.

[Ellen Osborn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was considerably easier to read than I expected, which leaves me with mixed feelings. While I found the writing enjoyable, much more time was spent describing myths and their reimaginings than exploring *why* these specific myths “shape the way we think.” The author makes abundantly clear that myths are still important today, but I already knew that in many respects. I was hoping to learn more about the social, historical, and political motivations behind mythical retellings. This book felt like a popular-science-esk approach to Greek myths, and I enjoyed it for what it is.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great study that shows the multi-faceted nature of myths and how several have influenced the West from antiquity to the present.

I'm interested in the Celtic volume as I know much less about that tradition.

[Carol Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.2/10

An introductory yet ambitious work by Professor Buxton of @universityofbristol , this book analyzes the cultural transformations of several representative Greek myths over time to elucidate their variance as well as impact on modern society. ⁣⁣
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The chapters that impressed me the most were those on Prometheus, the judgment of Paris, and Orpheus and Eurydice. ⁣
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Our lives are peppered with Greek mythology references. Take Prometheus, who not only titled a 2012 sci-fi movie I adore and foregrounded Prometheus Bound, an artwork with which I had a serendipitous encounter at the @philamuseum the very day after I saw a replica in the book, he is even emulated by Boris Johnson, who explicitly portrayed himself as the Titan’s modern equivalent. As the book points out, Johnson is lucky that the public nowadays remembers Prometheus for his foresight and heroism rather than trickery and humiliation. ⁣⁣
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The judgment of Paris and Orpheus and Eurydice were insightful in other ways. The former provoked a discussion on the prevalence of the triad, from Christianity to folklore and from King Lear’s three daughters to the Three Little Pigs. In contrast, my interest in Orpheus and Eurydice lay more in the nebula around the latter’s pixilated identity. As the author notes, Eurydice is the epitome of a character whose name oscillated as freely as her function in the myth remained consistent. Unfortunately, the majority of such figures were women whose story arcs only served those of the male heroes. ⁣⁣
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In short, this book should be a pleasure to read for both mythology aficionados and beginners just dipping into the ripples of its varied plot. Along with the gems, there were chapters less captivating such as the Labors of Hercules, in which the book was too busy relating the hero’s accomplishments at the sacrifice of cultural analysis. But maybe Hercules is too familiar an icon for dissection; maybe disseminating the myths will prove more contributive towards understanding this heritage. ⁣⁣
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Thank you @thamesandhudsonusa for the gifted copy.

Visit me on Instagram @ RandomStuffIRead for more reviews.

[Edward Woeful · Rating 3 out of 5]

Довольно странная книга, которая представляет собой некоторый, почти произвольно выбранный набор вариантов некоторых древнегреческих мифов, а также попытку увязать сюжеты этих мифов с немногочисленными отсылками к современное искусство — к фильмам, книгам, картинам и театральным постановкам, где встречаются те же мотивы.
Ни о каком системном изложении древнегреческой мифологии здесь речь не идёт.
Тем, кто хочет более внятного и более детального изложения, а также более полного погружения в древнегреческую мифологию, могу порекомендовать знаменитую работу «Мифы Древней Греции» Роберта Грейвса, а также несколько более простую, но даже более яркую книгу Михаила Гаспарова «Занимательная Греция».
3/5 — только за выбор темы, просто потому, что, возможно, эта книга подтолкнёт кого-то к дальнейшему изучению этой интересной и всегда актуальной темы.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book opens better than it finishes.

The title is not a great indicator of what lies within - the book takes numerous myths, and after a short retelling (not the case for Heracles, which gets treated for too many pages), then proceeds into a historical discussion of how the myth gets treated by various cultures. The chapters that were of greatest value to me were those on Prometheus, Oedipus, and Paris, and to a lesser extent, Daedalus and Icarus. These myths were elaborated on in a way that made sense to me. Other chapters (Medea, Amazons, Heracles, Orpheus) were treated in a similar fashion, but for some reason the text seemed too discursive with a fair amount of information, but not enough direction.

[Valentín Serrano García · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the one hand, this book is a good example of well-aimed divulgation. Even if you are fond of greek myths, Buxton offers enriched data and interpretations. Thus, this book worths reading because although lacking depth (Buxton is neither Calasso, nor Buckert, Vernant or Freud) it avoids the typical distortions and misunderstandings about what myths are.

On the other hand, this is not an essay about "How greek myths shape the way we think". The contents are not as profound as they should be as to reach that goal. Anyway, it is entertaining and, what is the best, points out at the right direction, stressing how myths shouldn't be understood.

[🌸 m a r i a 🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book set out to do something pretty challenging and falls short of the mark. I think perhaps this ought to be a multi-volume work, because there were some pretty significant cases left out, ones I’d argue are far more influential than some of the cases selected for the book.

Side note - the audiobook for this is really terrible. I’ve never heard so many mistakes and mispronunciations in an audiobook before (e.g., calling Orpheus Oedipus at one point, saying “Italiantay” instead of Italianate). It’s a disaster. The guy’s voice is also really difficult to listen to so I would not recommend the audio version.

[mirror · Rating 3 out of 5]

straight forward, prosaic
i like learning about history and its influence on our modern culture so was interested in this
i read stephen fry’s greek mythology but of course theres so many myths that theres stuff he didnt cover, some was in this book so learned details on some new ones
overall was a good retelling i think

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While it was generally interesting and provided a good base of some of the classic myths, I feel like it missed the mark in actually connecting and explaining how the myths shape the way we think. In some ways it was more about myths and how various art forms have used them as inspiration since ancient times, but then didn't really connect those art forms to our thinking.

[Taylor B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a blend of things I nerd out on: mythology and art history, so I really enjoyed that aspect of it. In some chapters it dragged, hence the three star rating, but overall I enjoyed it and am happy to have read my souvenir from the British Museum!

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating! I came away with a deeper appreciation for Greek mythology.

[Reagan Kvicala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you kidding?? This book was incredible. I felt like I was learning something without it being dumbed down. Very interesting front to back. Love love love.

[Elizabeth Mckernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book.

[Sharla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minus 1 star for the narrator. His nasal voice and condescending tone in some passages made this a difficult listen. The book itself was fine, but not great.

[Thomas Mellor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book! Author is well qualified to write about Greek myths and is also entertaining and thought provoking. Highly recommend this book to everyone. Five Stars!

[Andrew Edgecomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read and a nice stroll down memory lane of all the Greek myths I loved as a child