The Greek Gods

by Bernard Evslin, Dorothy Evslin, Ned Hoopes

The Greek gods had more powers than mortals could even imagine. They could change day to night, turn people into animals, and punish men with eternal torture. Their whims and desires changed the course of human destiny. No legends are more fabulous than those of the Greek gods. This classic collection tells their stories.

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Fiction, Greek Mythology, Reference, Classics, Young Adult

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Bernard Evslin was an author best known for his adaptations of Greek mythology. With over seventy titles, which include both novel-length retellings and short stories, Evslin is one of the most widely published authors of classical mythology in the world. His best-known work is Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths, which has sold more than ten million copies worldwide and has been translated into ten different languages. An estimated 30 million students have come into contact with Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths due to its repeated use in high school and college classrooms over the years. This bestselling anthology includes such well-known stories as "Theseus and the Minotaur" and "Perseus and Medusa." He also published non-Hellenic titles such as The Green Hero, based on the Irish mythological character Finn McCool. He also was involved in an audio book called: "Children of the Corn." It included "Whistling Boy" a Native American tale; "Pancho's Puppets," a story about a boy in Mexico, and other stories.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love anything and everything having to do with Greek Mythology.

And this is such a great book. For anyone with an interest in Greek Mythology, this is the book to read.

The stories featured are colorful and fun.

You learn about all the various Gods and Goddesses. Artemis, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite..they are all in here. It's a quick read but such a fun one.

The stories are ones you may know about or have heard about but they come alive here in bright and colorfully sparkling prose that you will love if you have an interest in the subject.

I grew up with a craving for this type of book..I have read several but this one, though it's short, is easily one of the most fun. The stories are rich in detail and history and none are boring.

It is not a textbook style. This reads as a compilation of imaginative fun stories, while also giving the reader lots of informative detail and as much adventure as one can handle!

This would not suit someone who has no interest in the topic at hand obviously. But I adored it. I am sure if you like Mythology, you will as well.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's funny because this book was a gift and I found it sort of weak (before I read it) because it was so thin and looked like something an elementary kid would read. I was used to the thick college level books regarding Greek mythology and I didn't think this was it. Would you believe that in none of those books could I find a myth that would explain to me why Aphrodite chose to marry Hephaestus? This little tiny book did! After that, I realized, sometimes the best gems come in small sizes, they may not give you all the details, but they do give you the ones you're looking for.

Some important notes that bear mentioning: reviews are highly subjective, including mine. My opinion is meant to give an overview of what I saw/felt when I read it. What I see might not be what you see, and what I like might not be what you enjoy, which is fine. My advice to anyone looking into a book? Read the premise; if it interests you enough, give it a chance, and it may surprise you—or not, but at least then, you'll know.

[abthebooknerd · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, I loved this so much! It was a short, yet comprehensive look at some of the basic Greek Myths.

The language and the prose in which the stories are told is poetically simple, and yet complex. It read like a fairytale, and so many times I found myself laughing out loud, and clenching my jaw in anticipation.

Of course, if you know me, you know that I would have been obsessed and loved every story that involved Persephone + Hades, or Aphrodite. But I was pleasantly surprised at my newfound love for characters like Hermes, Eros, and Psyche.

Overall, it was a lovely, short collective that was inspiring, and made me fall in love with Greek Mythology even more.

[Megan]

The book that introduced me to Greek mythology. I was only about nine or ten years old when this was given to me in a box of hand-me-downs from a family friend, and from the very first page I was in love. I read it over and over, and to this day I cite this as being my inspiration for my love of Greek mythology.

[Madi Johnson]

My students absolutely loved this book! They were so excited to read about another Greek god or goddess. It was a little hard to understand at times for 6th grade but they understood the main ideas.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been wanting to learn something about Greek mythology for a while, so when I found this book for a buck at a used bookstore, I got it. Not knowing anything about Greek mythology, I needed a basic introduction to the stories, and this book was just right. One thing I quickly realized when reading this book is that the stories are often as tangled and interwoven as the gods incestuous & inbred genealogies. I admire how well the authors were able to work their way backwards to unravel the stories in ways that makes sense, yet don't contain spoilers or don't involve characters that haven't been introduced yet. From there, the stories build upon one another.
Some thoughts:

Through reading the Greek myths, you gain a window into ancient Greek culture. What kind of people were the ancient Greeks? Their myths betray a lot of information about them & their characteristics. It was fun & interesting having that view into a different culture.

A lot of the stories were mostly about the immature things that the gods did - if you changed the names, the stories bear remarkable resemblance to a lot of celebrity gossip, or the feuds people have with one another at work. The stories display incredible jealousy, suffering, creativity, awe, and immaturity. Though they are the stories of the Greek gods, they display aspects of the brokenness of the human condition.

The story behind the marriage of Aphrodite & Hephaestus is tragic.

Overall, I enjoyed the nature myths more than the stories of the Pantheon.

The story of Prometheus was fun.

I particularly enjoyed the story of Pandora & her box. What struck me most was the creature that remained in Pandora's box - foreboding - and the authors' interpretation of the significance of that. Raises a lot of potential questions that would be good for a deep philosophical discussion at a book club.

Though simple enough, I liked the twists in the story of Narcissus & Echo.

I also really enjoyed the story of Eros & Psyche. True love is manifest when one believes in it, and when it comes to being in love, believing is seeing. Maybe it sounds a little cheesy, but the way the story tells it & demonstrates that idea has touches of literary greatness.

So I guess the funnest stories to read are the story of Pandora and the story of Eros & Psyche.

[han⚢ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was mindlessly searching my family's massive shelf when I stumbled across this tiny book; the title caught my eye. I stole borrowed the book from the shelf and with nothing better to do, spent the rest of the afternoon indulging in the legends and myths this book bestowed upon me. Best afternoon ever!
So many different myths were explained, and in detail, which I greatly appreciated! I'm so glad my family owns this book, because if I saw it at the library, I most likely wouldn't borrow it out! It is truly a gem, hidden between thick books!

[Helene : ) A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the Book. It is so interesting, I alwas wanted to learn a bout greek, their believe and their Golds. I think it is dritten nice and explain you Things better than a Textbook.
Even if you have some Adventure it is not really like a Fantasy book, Probebly because the storys are True.
I don't really like the Cover but you shoud Not Affect you.
But all togeter it is very nice to read.

Enjoy

Helene

[Negar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great introduction to mythology, I found it more interesting than Edith Hamilton's Mythology and I believe it's a great start for anyone who wants to start reading about myths and the old gods.

[Tonie Greece · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book two years ago on my class room book shelf. I had been board because I had not found anything I wanted to read, so I was going along the shelf, looking for some thing interesting. That's when I found it, a little blue book, fairly small, but rather interesting. Little did I know that that little blue book would forever change my life. From the fist story on, I couldn't put it down, and I marveled at these "myths", spun tightly together, like Arachne's weaving, the tales so wonderful and spell binding, I just couldn't get away. When I was done, I was sad. No. That can't be the end. I just had to have more. The next day I went back to the bookshelf, and sure enough I found it. Another book by the same authors, also about Greek "mythology". I couldn't find any other books by those authors at my school, but I found other books about Greek "myths". I now know quite A LOT about ancient Greek mythology, and I know what I job I am going to have. When I leave high school, I will be going to University to become an archiologist. I owe so much that I do now to this book and I would recommend this book to EVERYONE!

[Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about Greek Gods . It talks about there life and how they lived,It also tells you about what happened to them. There once was a God named Cronos. He had five kids named Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon. Time went on and all five kids got married and had kids themselves which now meant Cronos was a grandfather. Cronos kids,kids had become old and smart. It was then done with the kids for now,but soon there will be more.They lived forever.

[Carolina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little book very much. Little stories of the different Gods. I'm glad I picked it out to read before it was to be given to the Public Library. Learned close up of different stories of the Greek Gods. Read a story every night with sibling.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

i learned a lot from this book! love it!

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of those mythoi books that has been floating around my bookshelves and my eye keeps getting caught by it but fear holds me back from actually reading it. It's the type where the publisher was known for being one of the best companies but as a result there may be some changes that just won't be right. Well you book have been conquered.

Although I know that the book was made for a younger audience it agitates me that as soon as you open the book and you find an error. Really you couldn't take the time to get me caught up in the reading before throwing the mistake at me? But the gauntlet had been thrown down so to me it had to be read. But seeing the fact that no care was taken in the factual presentation of the information it wasn't surprised to come upon the fact that Helios and Selene had been replaced by Leto's children. Why do people do that?

The other main thing that annoyed me was the weird off-balance way of this book for it seemed like the authors didn't know which way to take the book. At first it read like a fictionalized storybook style of mythoi but then it would do a 180 and get formal nonfiction then reversed. As a result the writing was quite dull and boring while there were a lot of repetitive spots or areas where the information would have been better revised such as a small mention of the Olympian deities instead of last minute adding it to Hera's story then adding back in that again she was the queen of gods who married her brother.

To continue with the off-balance would also be the fact that the book was an attempt at cleaning up most of the source material. Then at times the questionable material like Hera married her brother was thrown at the reader quite casually but brushed off as being just a family thing. The story of why Hera married her brother would have been nice, especially since his actions would show up to be the foundation for his later trysts.

This book was just what I feared it to be and I hate to say that it may have replaced Edith Hamilton's version in my list of loathed mythoi versions. As a result I cannot recommend it to anyone in good mind, not even as a start-up book, as I know there are better versions even geared towards younger audiences than this hot mess.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The central idea/summary of the book is that it talks about the different lives about Greek Gods. It starts in different kind of Gods in the Pantheon section then it goes to Nature Myths. It talks about each Greek God and tell their story. It starts of by talking about Zeus and at the end of the book it ends with Arion. It also talks about afterword, word origins, and a bibliography.

A word that was important in the book was Gods, because it is used to example the name of each person and what they are. Gods is a important word because it’s weird to say just Greek, but with Gods at the end it makes it better. The definition of Gods in the dictionary is the definition for Christianity Religion. So the best way to find the real definition is to type in Greek Gods and Goddesses. The word Gods is important because the book is titled Greek Gods and the book talks about the different kind of Greek Gods.

In my opinion the book was a OK book, it has a lot about Greek Gods, pretty much the whole book. The book has good information about each Greek God. Most of the information in really new to me because I don’t know a lot about the Greek Gods. It is a good book to learn a lot about each Greek God. I would recommend a book to people who want to learn about Greek mythology.

[S. Spelbring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the other Greek mythology book by Evslin, Evslin, and Hoopes, this too, takes stories and makes them more palatable for adolescents.

This one focuses more on the creation myths, the gods themselves, and the workings of nature. Not every God is here in the book, but most are mentioned in one way or another. The story of Hades and Persephone is in here too.

I have very fond nostalgia for this book (and the other one) and credit both of them with my love of Greek Mythology. This is a very PG method of introducing children to Greek Mythology.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Popsugar 2017 Reading Challenge: A book you loved as a child.

I can't remember how old I was when I bought this from Scholastic, but it was a very long time ago. It's one of the few books from my childhood I hung onto. All of the drawings have been colored in with Crayons.

This was my first book of the gods and made a lasting impact on me. I was amazed/disturbed just how much of the stories I could recall without reading.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cannot for the life of me remember where I picked up this copy.
Overall a fairly decent and concise introduction to the major aspects of the pantheon and some interesting, albeit strangely chosen, myths. Reminds me of the basic, kid-friendly texts I devoured when I first entered the "mythos-obsessed" part of my childhood, which I clearly never fully left. . .

[Caity McPhe · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

It is a great book for an introduction to the Greek gods and mythology. I read this aloud to my son because he had some confusion when we were reading Percy Jackson. This book was straightforward enough that my son made food connections with other things we've read.

I do wish they had more stories, because there are so many, but it was a good enough connection.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderfully swift overview!

I believe I had never read a mythology book about the gods & goddesses of Olympus before now.

I am a mythology kid and a Percy Jackson nut so I am familiar with lore at the very least.

This booklet is a great introduction to these divine beings, I found it quite lovely!

[Yvonne Glasgow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little refresher course on this particular pantheon. I feel as though I have read better tellings in the past but it would be a good book for teens or kids first starting to be interested in Greek mythology.

[Mark Pedigo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids book that gives an overview of Greek mythology. It would have been much improved by a page or two per story for context and interpretation, since these stories don’t really make a lot of sense without that. Still, a reasonable introduction.

[Linda Rusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an awesome resource! I was expecting something very simple if not oversimplified. Although it was simple enough to understand, the depth and quality of the writing/story telling just blew me away for such a short read.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another oldie but goodie. The copy I have is the Teachers Edition. I found it in her books when she died in 1999 - it has her name and the year 1979 in her handwriting on the first page (that’s how we marked our books in the olden days.). A real keepsake.

[Hours · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Your praises will not be sung. And without you will dry up and become a vicious old harpy. Farewell."
Sick burn via Eros.

[Cooper Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a great book for people who want to learn about the gods or just starting to get in the these myths.

[我是🌹 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Greek Mythology as a kid, this book is truly nostalgic for me and one that I could read countless times without end.

[Jessica Christmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in 6th grade and still have it and re read it. One of my all time favorite books. Short stories for the greek gods and myths. A must read.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compact summary on Greek gods and mythology.

[Jay Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Greek myths. Easy to read and entices the reader to read further. I especially liked the stories of Aphrodite and Orpheus.