Modern Good Reads discussion

I recently read a book, The Origin of the Sphinx. I've read plenty of stories about this creature but never thought to look beyond as to where she came from and how she became what she was. This book explains it.

What intrigued me was the authors use of keeping the Greek gods with their personalities of old. They were selfish, they punished people for no good reason, they would place a curse on an entire family, just because they could.

It just reminded me of the myths I read back in the day and could never understand how they (the gods) could be so mean.

Lets start a discussion of your favorite and why it stands out to you.

The Odyssey has always stuck with me, no matter what other fiction I read. One of my all time favorites.

Christopher wrote: "The Odyssey has always stuck with me, no matter what other fiction I read. One of my all time favorites."

Yeah, Odyssey is the undisputed champion in every mythology related category although I do have to say that the mythology of the Americas is also very intriguing and contains under-appreciated gems.

The Odyssey is my favourite book of all time. I really like Ovid's Metarmorphoses too.

My favorite is The Iliad. There's just something about the story of the Trojan War that has always fascinated me.

I love The Iliad too but I prefer The Odyssey. I didn't care too much for The Aeneid.

Vardan wrote: "Christopher wrote: "The Odyssey has always stuck with me, no matter what other fiction I read. One of my all time favorites."

Yeah, Odyssey is the undisputed champion in every mythology related c..."

Vardan, which ones are you referring too?

As far as the myths of the South are concerned, I love the Iliad and the Odyssey. When I think of the myths of the North, I think of Weland: Smith of the Gods by Ursula Synge, a retelling of the tale of Volund the smith and the swan maidens of Valhalla from the Elder Edda. It is a short book, only ninety four pages long, but it is well told and captures cleanly the spirit of the myths of the North.

The Saga of the 'Nibelungen', Wieland the Smith that forged the sword Mimung, where it is the first time, a forger has used nitrogen to create hard steel. The demise of the Knights in the fire of Attila's castle.
These Saga's, Legends have become myth, equal to the stories of Thor and Loki, Freia and Odin. And to day we still talk about the tree of life, Yggdraschil, where Odin was chained for seven days to gain his knowledge.

Margaret Atwood's second novel, "Surfacing," offers a terrific re-interpretation of Joseph Campbell's hero path.

I agree--Homer's works are at the top, but I also really like contemporary setting novels that work with Greco-Roman myth. One of my favorites is The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break. Anne Carson's verse-novel The Autobiography of Red is also quite good.

Two books that I read by Mary Renault were The King Must Die and The Bull From the Sea. The story of the Greek hero Thesus is very convincing. Thesus's slaying of the Minotaur is told. I especially remember the description of the young boys somersaulting over the backs of charging bulls while the young girls stood ready to catch them. The characters comes across as realistic except for the constant presence of the Greek Gods.

I have almost finished reading The Maze Maker by Michael Ayrton, a wonderful, well written novel, which I would recommend to anyone who likes fine writing and Greek mythology. Michael Ayrton is remembered most as a sculptor and painter, but his obsession with the tale of Daedalus, the father of Icarus, led him to write The Maze Maker, which he wrote in the first person, convincingly, as Daedalus, giving an absorbing, often moving account of his life and works. Write about what you know. Advice Michael Ayrton heeded, for he was a sculptor, writing with authority as Daedalus, the sculptor and maze maker of Greek myth.