What do you think?
Rate this book
Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses
The stories of the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece are sprawling, dramatic and strange; lives intertwine and behaviours fluctuate wildly from benevolent to violent, from didactic to fickle, from loving to enraged.
Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.
In Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses Jean Menzies sets out to capture the magic of these stories and to make sense of the mythological world. Drawing on a wide variety of retellings, and with an entertaining commentary to guide the reader through them, Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses is the perfect book for learning about the world of the Greek deities and a treat for all fans of Greek Mythology.
Greek Myths have been part of Western culture since they were first set down by the ancients. The fact that there is no one definitive account means that through the centuries the stories have been ripe for reinterpretation according to the politics and fashions of the time. Classicist Jean Menzies has carefully chosen each retelling from 19th and 20th century published tales by writers, scholars and teachers to bring to life the stories of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Pandora and many more.
Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.
In Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses Jean Menzies sets out to capture the magic of these stories and to make sense of the mythological world. Drawing on a wide variety of retellings, and with an entertaining commentary to guide the reader through them, Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses is the perfect book for learning about the world of the Greek deities and a treat for all fans of Greek Mythology.
Greek Myths have been part of Western culture since they were first set down by the ancients. The fact that there is no one definitive account means that through the centuries the stories have been ripe for reinterpretation according to the politics and fashions of the time. Classicist Jean Menzies has carefully chosen each retelling from 19th and 20th century published tales by writers, scholars and teachers to bring to life the stories of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Pandora and many more.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published May 25, 2023
49 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 26, 2023
Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses written by various authors and edited by Jean Menzies is a collection of Gods and Goddesses' stories of their rages, loves, and rewards.
Stories about the creation of all things, Prometheus and the tale of Apollo and Coronis which was new for me, do you know why crows are black and say cor-cor...
Stories about the lives and anger of the Gods and Goddesses, the children of Zeus and Hera, Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus as well as Apollo and Artemis; Poseidon; Dionysus; Persephone and Demeter.
In another tale that was new for me, I met Arachne, a nymph who prided herself on being a better weaver than the goddess Athena. For that, she was punished by the goddess and turned into an animal form. Guess what?
There are stories of Leto the goddess of the dark night who couldn't flee Hera's rage; and Niobe, the queen of Thebes with seven sons and seven daughters who challenge the Gods.
In stories we find love from the Gods, which is not always a stroke of luck; beautiful Endymion and the moon goddess; Eros the god of love, and Psyche's journey to gain it; Artemis and Orion for whom she broke her vow.
I love the stories about flowers in myths and find them quite captivating (any suggestion in the novels?). Among them in this collection were tales of the windflower, which is believed to be the flower of death, an intriguing story of Aphrodite and Adonis. Additionally, there was the story of Apollo's love for the beautiful Hyacinthus and the blue sky flower. Finally, Also the tale of Philemon and Baucis, who were rewarded by Zeus and Hermes and allowed to grow old together like an oak and a linden tree.
Overall, this was a collection of brief and interesting tales of Greek myths with a variety of good and moderate stories.
My huge thanks to Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for ARC, I have given my honest review.
Stories about the creation of all things, Prometheus and the tale of Apollo and Coronis which was new for me, do you know why crows are black and say cor-cor...
Stories about the lives and anger of the Gods and Goddesses, the children of Zeus and Hera, Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus as well as Apollo and Artemis; Poseidon; Dionysus; Persephone and Demeter.
In another tale that was new for me, I met Arachne, a nymph who prided herself on being a better weaver than the goddess Athena. For that, she was punished by the goddess and turned into an animal form. Guess what?
There are stories of Leto the goddess of the dark night who couldn't flee Hera's rage; and Niobe, the queen of Thebes with seven sons and seven daughters who challenge the Gods.
In stories we find love from the Gods, which is not always a stroke of luck; beautiful Endymion and the moon goddess; Eros the god of love, and Psyche's journey to gain it; Artemis and Orion for whom she broke her vow.
I love the stories about flowers in myths and find them quite captivating (any suggestion in the novels?). Among them in this collection were tales of the windflower, which is believed to be the flower of death, an intriguing story of Aphrodite and Adonis. Additionally, there was the story of Apollo's love for the beautiful Hyacinthus and the blue sky flower. Finally, Also the tale of Philemon and Baucis, who were rewarded by Zeus and Hermes and allowed to grow old together like an oak and a linden tree.
Overall, this was a collection of brief and interesting tales of Greek myths with a variety of good and moderate stories.
My huge thanks to Pan Macmillan via NetGalley for ARC, I have given my honest review.
February 21, 2023
A collection of Greek myths as told by Victorian and Edwardian writers. Many of the stories were familiar to me, some were not. They are arranged into groups, so we have the creation myths, then lives of the Gods and Godesses, and takes of people who have angered or been loved by them, and been rewarded by them. Writers include Thomas Bullfinch, Lilian Stoughton Hyde, James Baldwin and Emilie Kip Baker, with some poetry thrown in by Keats, Shakespeare and Byron among others.
A nice collection for anyone interested.
*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
A nice collection for anyone interested.
*Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a review copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
August 13, 2024
Was perfect, the only way it needed to improve was by being bigger
June 22, 2023
First half is captivating and really interesting but loses its way after that.
March 27, 2025
Brilliant!
May 17, 2023
This book is perfect as an introduction to Greek myths for people of all ages, especially for children. It was nice to see a mixture of stories included some stories I had not heard before, and others which were more well known. My all-time favourite myth is the story of Persephone, so I was glad to read it again.
The author has included quotes from other authors such as Byron and Shakespeare which are related to each story. If you are reading these stories to children, you can just skip these bits, but as an adult, I liked reading them and seeing how ancient myth and legend is used in works by later writers.
*Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of #GreekMythsGodsandGoddesses
The author has included quotes from other authors such as Byron and Shakespeare which are related to each story. If you are reading these stories to children, you can just skip these bits, but as an adult, I liked reading them and seeing how ancient myth and legend is used in works by later writers.
*Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of #GreekMythsGodsandGoddesses
June 29, 2023
Thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
As the title suggests, this book deals with various tales from Greek mythology, focusing on those dealing with multiple prominent gods and goddesses. As someone who loves mythology retellings but hasn’t read many books dealing with the original tales, I was excited to dive into this one.
The book consists of various short stories by multiple authors, and while I understand that different authors have different writing styles, the differences in this book sometimes jarred me a bit. Some authors used mostly modern language, while others seemed to stick to more old-fashioned, traditional English. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the stories.
I don’t have much to say about this book, as it sets out to do what it’s promised to: it condenses and retells some of the original Greek myths. The structure of the book wasn’t my favourite, though. The book is divided into different categories, but the stories within those categories didn’t feel very cohesive to me. I also found it strange that some stories were only a page or two, despite dealing with big events, whereas other stories were so long that they had to be broken up into chapters, even though they could easily have been made shorter. While found these choices odd, they didn’t hinder my reading experience.
Overall, if you’re looking to expand your knowledge about Greek mythology and want something easily digestible, I think this book would be a great option! I certainly enjoyed getting to learn more about these myths, and I appreciated the combination of popular and lesser-known myths.
As the title suggests, this book deals with various tales from Greek mythology, focusing on those dealing with multiple prominent gods and goddesses. As someone who loves mythology retellings but hasn’t read many books dealing with the original tales, I was excited to dive into this one.
The book consists of various short stories by multiple authors, and while I understand that different authors have different writing styles, the differences in this book sometimes jarred me a bit. Some authors used mostly modern language, while others seemed to stick to more old-fashioned, traditional English. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the stories.
I don’t have much to say about this book, as it sets out to do what it’s promised to: it condenses and retells some of the original Greek myths. The structure of the book wasn’t my favourite, though. The book is divided into different categories, but the stories within those categories didn’t feel very cohesive to me. I also found it strange that some stories were only a page or two, despite dealing with big events, whereas other stories were so long that they had to be broken up into chapters, even though they could easily have been made shorter. While found these choices odd, they didn’t hinder my reading experience.
Overall, if you’re looking to expand your knowledge about Greek mythology and want something easily digestible, I think this book would be a great option! I certainly enjoyed getting to learn more about these myths, and I appreciated the combination of popular and lesser-known myths.
September 10, 2023
The Mythologist
When I was a small boy, I recall visiting the house of my Great-aunt Annie, a retired schoolmistress. To keep me and my brothers quiet and calm she gave us some old books to read, Tanglewood Tales, Myths and legends of Ancient Greece and others on the theme of Greek and Roman myth. These books may have been one of the sparks which ignited my lifelong love of Classical Greece and Rome. I moved on from Lang, Bullfinch and Hawthorne to Roger Lancelyn Green, Rosemary Sutcliff and Henry Treece, then to Mary Renault and others. I told my grandmother I wanted to study mythology at university and become a ‘mythologist’. To date, I have spent around 55 years studying and teaching Classics. I currently teach a university module on Greek and Roman Myth. I am established as a Mythologist.
That’s how influential those old books were to me. Reading them again in this anthology, I realise how timeless the tales are, how well told, in a simple narrative without prejudice. Not here the woke re-edits of today, nor the jokey facetiousness of Stephen Fry. The narratives are old-fashioned, yes, Victorian or Edwardian, but in every case, they set out to focus on the tales, showing respect to the original tales. In the extracts from Hawthorne there are some liberties taken which often enhance the storytelling. All the old favourites are here: Zeus and the Olympians, Apollo, Prometheus and the other Titans, Pandora. The editor, Jean Menzies, writes short introductions to each story and author, occasionally including a subtle ‘trigger warning’.
This is a worthy text in the Macmillan Collectors’ Library and a pleasant journey down memory lane for me.
When I was a small boy, I recall visiting the house of my Great-aunt Annie, a retired schoolmistress. To keep me and my brothers quiet and calm she gave us some old books to read, Tanglewood Tales, Myths and legends of Ancient Greece and others on the theme of Greek and Roman myth. These books may have been one of the sparks which ignited my lifelong love of Classical Greece and Rome. I moved on from Lang, Bullfinch and Hawthorne to Roger Lancelyn Green, Rosemary Sutcliff and Henry Treece, then to Mary Renault and others. I told my grandmother I wanted to study mythology at university and become a ‘mythologist’. To date, I have spent around 55 years studying and teaching Classics. I currently teach a university module on Greek and Roman Myth. I am established as a Mythologist.
That’s how influential those old books were to me. Reading them again in this anthology, I realise how timeless the tales are, how well told, in a simple narrative without prejudice. Not here the woke re-edits of today, nor the jokey facetiousness of Stephen Fry. The narratives are old-fashioned, yes, Victorian or Edwardian, but in every case, they set out to focus on the tales, showing respect to the original tales. In the extracts from Hawthorne there are some liberties taken which often enhance the storytelling. All the old favourites are here: Zeus and the Olympians, Apollo, Prometheus and the other Titans, Pandora. The editor, Jean Menzies, writes short introductions to each story and author, occasionally including a subtle ‘trigger warning’.
This is a worthy text in the Macmillan Collectors’ Library and a pleasant journey down memory lane for me.
May 23, 2023
Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses, edited by Jean Menzies
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
~~~~~
Greek Myths have been part of Western culture since they were first set down by the ancients. Classicist Jean Menzies has carefully chosen each retelling from 19th and 20th century published tales by writers, scholars and teachers to bring to life the stories of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Pandora and many more.
~~~~~
I have been enjoying Greek myths retellings lately (Ithaca and Stone Blind being two recent successes for me) and I really enjoy learning more about the myths those books are based on.
I really appreciated the set-up of this book into clear sections: the Creation, the lives, anger and love of the Gods; some of the stories were familiar to me and others not. I particularly enjoyed the story of Eros and Psyche, which was new to me. It was a gripping story of love, resilience, bravery and selflessness.
I think this book is equally great as an introduction to Greek myths as for people more knowledgeable on that topic.
I think I'd love to read more about Eris, the Goddess of Discord; she appears very briefly in The Apple of Discord, stirs bad feelings and rivalry up during a wedding feast by throwing a golden apple in the middle of the table and then flounces off. I loved her style, and this introduction to her will certainly encourage me to find out more about her.
~~~~~
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
~~~~~
Greek Myths have been part of Western culture since they were first set down by the ancients. Classicist Jean Menzies has carefully chosen each retelling from 19th and 20th century published tales by writers, scholars and teachers to bring to life the stories of Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hermes, Pandora and many more.
~~~~~
I have been enjoying Greek myths retellings lately (Ithaca and Stone Blind being two recent successes for me) and I really enjoy learning more about the myths those books are based on.
I really appreciated the set-up of this book into clear sections: the Creation, the lives, anger and love of the Gods; some of the stories were familiar to me and others not. I particularly enjoyed the story of Eros and Psyche, which was new to me. It was a gripping story of love, resilience, bravery and selflessness.
I think this book is equally great as an introduction to Greek myths as for people more knowledgeable on that topic.
I think I'd love to read more about Eris, the Goddess of Discord; she appears very briefly in The Apple of Discord, stirs bad feelings and rivalry up during a wedding feast by throwing a golden apple in the middle of the table and then flounces off. I loved her style, and this introduction to her will certainly encourage me to find out more about her.
~~~~~
March 16, 2023
Complete disclosure here - I wanted to read both of these collections of Greek Myths to help with my desire to read more historical retellings. A few years ago I started to read Circe and despite three or four attempts I just couldn't get my head around it. I have never studied Greek Myths or any other classics at school so the characters, the names and the background were lost on me. I am still really determined to get back to it (and several others) so I thought these short stories would give me a better grounding.
This collection is based on Gods and Goddesses and from this selection my favourite story was 'The Story of Persephone'. I especially loved the way this book seemed to paint a picture of the whole world surrounding the myths and tales. It was really immersive and helped to set the scene for a reader who wasn't so familiar with these characters and settings.
Both of these books together - Gods and Goddesses and Heroes and Heroines would be a lovely gift for anyone who loves this genre. A comprehensive and interesting collection of stories.
This collection is based on Gods and Goddesses and from this selection my favourite story was 'The Story of Persephone'. I especially loved the way this book seemed to paint a picture of the whole world surrounding the myths and tales. It was really immersive and helped to set the scene for a reader who wasn't so familiar with these characters and settings.
Both of these books together - Gods and Goddesses and Heroes and Heroines would be a lovely gift for anyone who loves this genre. A comprehensive and interesting collection of stories.
December 30, 2023
The book was an okay compilation of the myths, of different perspectives, but from the younger generation (if i understood correctly, from Victorian and Edwardian writers), not from the classic authors. So, as the author says, there is some influence from the recent eras in the myths. And since I’ve read books from the old plays, I noticed that some details were different or missing, but that is part of the mythology’s magic. Sometimes things were repeated over and over again, unnecessarily, e.g. Leto’s myth. And the way it was written seemed weird to me.
All in all, is a good book of introduction to the Greek myths and it’s small, if you don’t want to dive in completely.
All in all, is a good book of introduction to the Greek myths and it’s small, if you don’t want to dive in completely.
May 1, 2024
Lovely little guide.
It was smaller than expected, but that's on me for never checking the dimensions. There was still a good amount of info in it though.
I was hoping for more stories of certain gods (like Hermes, Ares) and fewer descriptions of others (Eros and Psyche's myth was very long and detailed - also Leto's story was mentioned numerous times).
As it was described at the beginning, you have a lot of passages from the 19th and 20th centuries - which offered a nice addition to the retellings. All in all, I'm happy it's part of my mythology collection.
It was smaller than expected, but that's on me for never checking the dimensions. There was still a good amount of info in it though.
I was hoping for more stories of certain gods (like Hermes, Ares) and fewer descriptions of others (Eros and Psyche's myth was very long and detailed - also Leto's story was mentioned numerous times).
As it was described at the beginning, you have a lot of passages from the 19th and 20th centuries - which offered a nice addition to the retellings. All in all, I'm happy it's part of my mythology collection.
July 19, 2023
My own personal little bible of Greek mythology that I already know will be well-worn by fervent fingers. Of course there could have been many many more tales condensed into this edition, but I think the most appreciated are set into these pages. Eros and Psyche shamelessly takes precedence, but I don't hate that. I also love the inserts of celebrated verses alongside the stories.
🥇📖
🥇📖
December 25, 2023
A solid, albeit brief, look at the Greek Gods and Goddesses with most of the main stories you'd expect. The only issue comes from the shortness of the tales and the different styles they are told in.
September 20, 2025
A delightful book of selected accounts of Greek myths written by various authors over the years. Ms Menzies has chosen well, linked them by theme with each section opened by a short introduction.
November 30, 2025
Cute and short retellings of the classic myths. Fun, short, and mindless read to finish stressful days with.
August 22, 2023
I never tire of reading these stories and even though they are familiar, their re-telling by different authors gives them a unique voice and freshness. I particularly enjoyed reading these aloud.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of the book for review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-copy of the book for review.
May 9, 2024
To my own surprise, I was actually a huge fan of this. I am not particularly into mythology, but this collection was composed of different accounts written by many 18th and 19th century writers, inspecting the concept of the Greek myth as they evolved through a more modern lens. The story of Pandora is always my favorite for all the imagery it entails, so it was a lovely read.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews