Ever since Percy Jackson I've been obsessed with greek Mythology! I thought this book gives you a great overview of all the Gods and Goddesses without lingering on things.

A really good little collection of stories about the Greek myths surrounding the Gods and Goddesses. A perfect starter for people wanting to learn more

I thoroughly enjoyed this mythical collection. It contains the stories of a variety of gods and goddesses from ancient Greek myths. There were many stories I was aware of and it was fun to revisit them and also many I had never encountered and they were a delight too.

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.

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.

This and its sister book were great ive always enjoyed the Greek myths and legends and this is easy to read as the author has split them into individual chapters so you can dip in and out if as you please I thoroughly enjoyed these stories and are perfect for any age for those who enjoy this part of history highly recommend both books.
Thanks to net gallery and the publishers for my honest and independent review

Myths

This book, as its title suggests, is about numerous Greek myths, with a particular emphasis on those that feature several well-known gods and goddesses. I was eager to start reading this one because I enjoy mythology retellings but haven't read many books on the original stories.
The book contains a variety of short stories by a number of authors, and while I recognise that each author has a distinctive writing style,
Do you know why crows are black and make the cor-cor sound? Stories about the origin of all things, Prometheus, and the narrative of Apollo and Coronis were all new to me.

Stories of the gods and goddesses, including the offspring of Zeus and Hera, Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus, Apollo and Artemis, Poseidon, Dionysus, Persephone, and Demeter, and their lives and wrath.
Stories of the gods and goddesses, including the offspring of Zeus and Hera, Ares, Hebe, and Hephaestus, Apollo and Artemis, Poseidon, Dionysus, Persephone, and Demeter, and their lives and wrath.

Overall, this was a compilation of succinct, intriguing stories based on Greek myths, including both good and average stories.

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.

Greek Myths: Heroes and Heroines 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 Beautiful 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.

Greek Myths: Gods and Goddesses, edited by Jean Menzies
Publication date: 25 May 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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
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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.
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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.
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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

A great book for a small introduction into Greek myth - this was clear and concise and easy to understand.

I would not say this was necessarily for those who have read a lot of Greek myths as not a lot of new things were introduced.

Perfect for introducing children to Greek mythology, this gives a clear and concise retelling of many of the key events, with the gods' worst excesses of lust, spite, envy, etc sanitised so that it is suitable for a younger audience. There are a huge amount of excellent Greek myth retellings out at the moment, and this will help the novice get a grip on who's who among the gods and goddesses. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.

I've read a lot of collections of Greek Myths recently in my bid to find clear, concise retellings. This collection has hit the nail on the head. It's perfect for a school library and I will definitely use it extensively with my students.

A very nice collection of Greek myths condensed into shorter versions, and made child friendly by removing the graphic bits (and most of Zeus actions to be honest) and with simplistic language which seems aimed at younger readers . It would make a good book for preteens or anyone who wants a basic knowledge of Greek myths

Absolutely superb! My students are absolutely obsessed with all kinds of mythology right now and they will absolutely adore this

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.

I am a big Greek Mythology reader, and discovered Jean on youtube a few ago. So of course I came running when I saw this. Loved it, Jean's voice really comes through in the writing and I just couldn't put it down. Definitely going to be my go to reference for the myths from now on!

Perfect for fans of Greek mythology. This is a collection of short stories featuring Gods and Goddesses. Several of these stories will be familiar to readers, while others less so. Highly recommended!

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.*