Settare’s Reviews > Divine Might - Goddesses in Greek Myth > Status Update

Chapter on Hestia/Vesta was pretty good though, even though the author admitted material on her is a lot more scarce than other Gods. I liked the insight that Hestia seems to have been the only woman to not only reject a bunch of male Gods without facing consequences, but she also refused to have anything to do with love / Aphrodite and managed to stay in her good graces too.

Chapter on Artemis was kind of chaotic, the narrative wasn’t connected enough. Chapter on Demeter was insightful but it was mostly about her in relation to the kidnapping of her daughter, as if Demeter never really had anything else going on for her beyond her role as a mother. I enjoyed the insight that she’s one of the few who managed to stand their ground against Zeus and Hades.

The chapter on Hera was a lot better. I usually hate Hera in ancient myth (especially in Ovid), but Haynes does a good job of putting it into perspective that it was easier to blame her than Zeus when people were recounting the stories. The pop-culture references are still hit or miss for me. I do like her random "I'm only saying this to see if my editor will cut it out" comments, I'd do that too if I was writing.