Lately I've been thinking about my lack of knowledge when it comes to Greek Mythology and I've set myself the task of trying to redress this. I've even bought some old encyclopaedias from the library. But I shouldn't have bothered, because Natalie Haynes exists. Seriously, why bother with dry, stuffy encyclopaedias when you can "listen" to a great story teller? If you think about it, Greek myths were just that: story telling, so it's only fitting to learn more about them from a modern story teller, right?! Needless to say that Haynes is a master story teller, she is well read and funny. She made every single chapter engaging despite being chock full of information. I've truly learned a lot and retained much more than I would have had reading other books on the subject. I've also thought that she tried to present us with a complex image of this goddesses, showing them to us in all their conflicting and intricate glory, with all their sides: good and bad; without necessary trying to make them look good by the mere virtue of being women. Maybe I was not that keen on the movie bits, especially as I am no into films at all, but it reminded me a lot of my reading group and how we always end up chatting about old movies. And I would have loved for illustration to be included. I did google all the vases/paintings/sculptures described, but I think it would have been lovely to have images alongside the text.

All in all a great read that I recommend, especially to novices in all Greek mythology, but not only!

Once again, Natalie Haynes doesn't disappoint with her latest release, Divine Might, where she talks about some of the most famous goddesses from Greek myths.

With her usual humour and knowledge, she dedicates each chapter to a different goddess, exploring their powers, the different myths about them, and even some of their modern-day equivalents (for example Katniss Everdeen who is, indeed, very similar to Artemis).

I always had very little sympathy for Greek divinities (they were just awful), but I still found it a very interesting and enjoyable read. My favourite chapter, surprisingly, was the one about Hera. Haynes really made me feel sorry for her. She has suffered a bad reputation, but Haynes really opened my eyes to just how much she had to endure being Zeus' wife. I am now very excited to read Jennifer Saint's novel about her next year.
The chapter about Demeter was another favourite. Haynes painted a heart-warming picture of her relationship with her daughter Persephone, but also showed how powerful she truly was. As Haynes says, she refused to do what many women are expected to do, which is tolerate the abuse of powerful men.

I was going to obviously love this - filled with information and Natalie Haynes’ wit! I devoured this easily

Rating: 3.5⭐️
Genre: Mythology, Nonfiction
Pages: 320
Series?: Standalone

This was my mistake not realizing when I requested the arc that it was nonfiction. I saw that it was by Natalie Haynes and another Greek book and I got excited. I assumed it was another retelling so I was a bit sad it wasn’t. I am not the biggest fan of nonfiction books, even mythology unless I am in the mood to learn and really focus on a book.

The book wasn’t terrible but I was in the mood for nonfiction so I did struggle a bit to read it. I was not the biggest fan of this one (though I am a fan of her other books) and I struggled to pay attention and finish. There were added inserts about movies, etc. and I kept feeling confused and scattered. I was confused about bits that were added and why it moved around so much. It was quite long for what it was and I think if some of the added inserts were removed, I would have personally enjoyed it more. As I normally don’t enjoy nonfiction, I am not the best person to listen to when it comes to this review!

If oxen and lions and horses had hands like men, and could draw and make works of art, horses would draw gods like horses, and oxen like oxen, and each would draw pictures of the gods as if they had bodies like their own.
But what would the goddess-lionesses look like?

This one was much better than I expected!

"When women make art like men do, their goddesses look divine."

A nonfiction mythology about Goddesses and this time written and interpreted by a woman, "Women can now make art, and we require no one’s permission. We can create our own stories of all those gods and monsters, and –if we choose –make them in our image."

At first, I thought might enjoy the author's viewpoint on goddesses but as as I kept reading, I began to wonder how often my own opinions matched hers.

After the introduction and the Muses chapter, the first goddess is Hera. The one who was always pictured as a jealous wife and wily. Of course, I had a problem with that, for sake, we are talking about Zeus, what else she could do?!

"Beautiful, jealous, destructive, comical: the peacock was the perfect match for Hera, the goddess everyone loves to hate. Before we go any further, I should explain that I do not love to hate her."
Me too, and yes, she has been misrepresented.

The next two goddesses are Aphrodite and Artemis. I like the description of Natalie Haynes of Artemis, she never really was the protector of animals or girls!

Demeter is one of my favorites, the way she turns the world upside down as no gods or goddesses could calm her down for the sake of her daughter.
"Not knowing the fate of a loved one is a catastrophic double loss, where imagination forces those left behind to grieve again and again."

Hestia, the oldest Kronos child in many references also does not have many tales.
"She is the heart of your home and mine, the heart of our cities and temples alike. She is our warm homecoming, our baked bread, our light in the dark."

The last one is tricky, I always find myself questioning whether I love or hate her. It's funny that the author also seems to struggle with this character's complexity. Athene, the goddess of wisdom, sometimes behaves like an eight-year-old child. I've also never seen her as a female favoritism...
"She does tend to prefer men, even if she isn’t keen to have sex with one; she doesn’t tend to support women...
Athene doesn’t hate competitiveness, she loves it. What she hates – above all else – is losing."

The final chapter discusses the role of the Furies in ancient mythology and why they were needed.
"If clear water is tainted by filth, you’ll never find a drink.
Advice we might all do well to remember next time someone tells us that, for example, a certain amount of corruption in politics is to be expected."

My huge thanks to Pan Macmillan for giving me a chance to read Divine Might (Goddesses in Greek Myth) by Natalie Haynes via NetGalley. I have given my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5765375472

I've really enjoyed all the Natalie Haynes books I've read and this one is no exception. It follows a slightly different format to the others: a series of potted histories of the key goddesses of ancient Greece, with one chapter per goddess. I felt like I learned a lot about Greek myth and how Greek society worked without it ever feeling like hard work. As always the writing was witty and insightful and a super easy read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Is it possible to have a non-fiction book about mythological events and characters? If so, this is it!

Natalie Haynes considers goddesses of Greek and Roman myth, gives us their biographies and links them to popular culture today. She is, as ever, witty and amusing while being quite erudite, often going back to the original Greek words and discussing the etymology.

A recommended read for lovers of Greek Myth and listeners of the BBC Radio 4 show Natalie Haynes Stands Up For The Classics.

Natalie Haynes has developed a superb line in updating of the classics, and this selection of easy reading essays about the goddesses is a fascinating, witty and informative read. This is very much in the Pandora’s Jar mould of modern reflections rather than the fictional retelling of the myths, which makes it less narratively satisfying, but does give you an intelligent and enjoyable analysis that opens up some of the obscure pockets of the classics.

Many of the stories of Gods and Goddesses from Ancient Greece focus mainly on the Gods with Goddesses often having more of a support role and many being depicted as petulant and vengeful. “Divine Might” seeks to show another side to the story of some of the most well known Goddesses in Greek mythology.

“Divine Might” by Natalie Haynes is due to be published tomorrow, 28 September, by Pan MacMillan and I was very fortunate to receive an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

I read “Stone Blind” earlier this year and really enjoyed it so I was very pleased when I got notified I had been authorised for the eArc just as I was coming to the end of my holiday and I got struck straight in.

“Divine Might” is very different to “Stone Blind”. Rather than a re-telling of a story it’s more of a study of the portrayal of various Goddesses and how the fact that the Classic authors who wrote about the Greek Gods and Goddesses of old were all male may have affected the way the subjects were approached.

That being said, it’s very well written with lots of Haynes’ humour coming through. I did love that I was reading this having just come back from Cyprus and when she talks of Aphrodite’s birth just off the coast of Paphos I know exactly where she’s taking about because I went there whilst I was away.

Haynes makes some excellent points about the filter of misogyny that a lot of these myths are kind of told through. Women are routinely mistreated as a way of punishing a man for something. To link back to “Stone Blind”, in that book we see Medusa herself being cursed by Athene after being raped by Poseidon in Athene’s temple. I challenge anyone to make a case for how this is fair!

I know a lot of female readers joke about the way some male authors write their female characters and if anything I think the stories of these ancient Gods and Goddesses just show that this has been going on for as long as people have been writing stories.

Haynes ends the book with the story of the Furies; three Goddesses who exact vengeance on those who commit the most heinous of crimes. In this section she points out how fear of the Furies was often enough to keep people in line, particularly when it comes to broken promises, and she makes a very good point about the current state of the political landscape where we have several politicians who feel they can say whatever they want and then later lie and attempt to gaslight the public by claiming they didn’t actually say that. Haynes makes the point that in the time of the Furies this behaviour wouldn’t be acceptable as nobody wanted to be caught going back on their word.

If you’re interested in the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece and looking for a more feminist outlook on the stories this one is for you and I would highly recommend you hit that bookshop tomorrow and treat yourself!

Excellent. I mostly wanted to read this before we did the event and I'm glad I did. Holds up to everything I loved about Pandora's Jar and the podcast.

Divine Might is similar to Haynes' other book Pandora's Jar in the sense that it's also a non-fiction work that focuses on women in mythology. In Divine Might, she dives deeper into some goddesses, including Artemis, Hera and Athene.

Let me just come straight out and say that this book was beautifully written. Haynes' compares and points out similarities between well-known old Greek/Roman myths and modern society, referencing books, plays and more. I absolutely loved this and the insights that she provided were really interesting.

Whether you're a fan of Greek mythology or just getting into the genre, I can highly recommend this book.

I have read and really enjoyed reading Natalie's other books, which were Greek myth retellings. This book was different in the fact of rather than a story this was split into female goddesses and each chapter looked at the history of each told from a females perspective. 'When women make art like men do, their goddesses look Devine; .

Natalie has untold knowledge of this world and some of the goddesses covered include Hera, Aphrodite, Armertis, Athene and The Furies. Each chapter looks at different myths from across the years and I found out so much interesting information such as - Ego is the Greek word for I and the word museum come from the muses - home of comedy, dance, poetry, history and tragedy.

I loved this factual book and will be recommending to others. Will be looking out for more from this author

I read Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes not too long ago and really enjoyed it so I was definitely excited to read this.

It was good and I really enjoy her writing which is as much the case for Divine Might as it was for Stone Blind.

I don’t typically read a lot of non fiction but I’m glad I made the exception here.

Divine Might by Natalie Haynes is the third of Haynes books that I've read, and I think may be my favourite.

I've said before, when reading Haynes' Stone Blind, that I prefer her style when in non-fiction rather than in fiction, and that's a big reason why I enjoyed Divine Might. Like Pandora's Jar (her other non-fiction collection), Divine Might is a series of essays on the big figures of Greek mythology. This time around it's the Goddesses!

Linking Ancient Greece to 80s Hollywood, renaissance paintings, Bernini's statue of Prosperina and Pluto, and many more visual and cultural references, Haynes breaks down the well-known, and lesser known, myths into relatable and interesting pieces.
While I didn't necessarily agree with All the opinions given (I certainly agreed with a Lot), this is a collection that feels like a conversation. It feels like Natalie and I are sitting down together chatting about all the absurd things that the Greek God and Goddesses get up to in their spare time (which I think is all of their time). In that way, the things I didn't feel I agreed with didn't detract from my enjoyment of the conversation. If anything, it was stimulating.

Though Hestia is officially now my favourite of the Goddesses, and I will not be taking any questions on the matter. Each of the stories were fascinating and humorous. Taking sides not often seen, and showing connections to modern media not often made obvious.
And while the sassy tone of some of the chapters of Stone Blind really detracted from my enjoyment, it absolutely carried in these essays in a way that made me giggle, and scowl, at the appropriate moments. I adored the Muses and Furies for all their meddling and messing. I nodded and frowned at all the terrible things we forget about Persephone's story. I even, goddesses help me, forgave Hera a bit. Only a bit!

𝙳𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝙼𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: ★★★★☆
𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚎: ☆☆☆☆☆

“𝙷𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚟𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝚐𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎: 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.”

💌 Goddesses, the Muses and the Furies in Greek Myth
📍Ancient Greece, with modern references
❤️‍🩹 Non-fiction, feminist lens, Greek Mythology

📖 A modern deep dive into the Greek Goddesses and the Muses, overflowing with knowledge and depth. Haynes creates the perfect blend of factual information and humour; bringing the women in myth and ancient statues to life, in all their complex glory. The use of pop culture references to not only provide modern context but show their recurring depictions brings an additional layer of intrigue to this book.

✨ In an era of modern retellings, it’s so refreshing to have a fresh lens of the facts of the original myths. Haynes’ writing is vivid and incredibly engaging, allowing you to fly through this non-fiction the same way i would a fictional story. Though written in a fairly informal tone, the depth of research and care behind it truly shines through.

Thank you NetGalley, Pan Macmillan and Natalie Haynes for sending me this book for review!

This is a really lovely, in depth introduction to the stories of the goddesses. While all their names were familiar, the detail of their stories was often not so I greatly enjoyed this deep dive. I loved the authors references to other sources such as art works, and the great knowledge that is clearly being shared. A wonderful book if you’d love to know more about the Greek goddesses, or if you are a fan of mythology.

It is no secret I have devoured myth retellings in the past few years (thanks to the librarian to suggest Miller's Circe back in 2020!). It made complete sense to try to get my hands on this title.


Hayne's writing flows beautifully, and smartly uses humour to balance the crude reality of classical mythology and culture. The use of textual references, art and even literal quotations help build a comprehensive case for each of the goddesses . I was already familiar with some of the myths, but I am sure it will be an enjoyable read for anyone interested in the topic, regardless of their prior knowledge.

What would then this need to be 5 stars? I felt that some contemporary references took too many lines without adding that much meaning or information to the main topic. I would have liked them to be a bit shorter in favour of a deeper analysis in other sections (I would have loved more info about Sapho's goddess status, for instance). Whereas it is interesting how she explores their different representations, a missed her voice exploring how they compare to the canon more directly, representing contemporary anxieties and issues. I found that after a while I was dreading said sections, and taking some of the joy away for me. I have to say however, that this is not the case for all references, and I actually really enjoyed some chapters such as Demeter's.

I am sure many will appreciate what I did not, and again, it is written very nicely, which made it easy to follow and enjoyable apart from the aforementioned sections.

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth by Natalie Haynes
Publication date: 28 September 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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Natalie Haynes examines the role of the goddesses (Athene, Aphrodite, Hera and others) who are as mighty, revered and destructive as their male counterparts. Isn't it time we looked beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within? 
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I read Stone Blind a few months ago and loved it, so I jumped at the opportunity to read and review Natalie Haynes' new non-fiction book. I've had a good time with Greek myths retellings this year, and I love learning more about the deities and heroes that underpin those tales. Haynes is obviously passionate and knowledgeable about her subject, and her great writing and wit make it approachable without dumbing it down.
Haynes focuses on the Goddesses and I was familiar with most of their stories, but I did very much enjoy learning more about the Muses, the Furies and especially Hestia, the least flashy and demanding of Greek Goddesses who, ruling over home and hearth, is at the centre of everyday life and yet less represented than Athene or Aphrodite. I love an understated, capable Goddess who can get the job done without the dramatics 😁
I also really appreciated how Haynes kept this book engaging by referencing modern, popular culture to help ground the information she was imparting. I really enjoyed this and I'd love to pick up more of the author's non-fiction book.
~~~~~

There is just something completely entrancing about Haynes writing – I would read her shopping lists at this point. This non-fiction look at the Greek goddesses meshes historical research into these mythical figures and their depictions in popular media. I absolutely loved it.

After reading Haynes' wonderful novels it was a little bit of a mind reset to immerse myself in her exploration of the 'real' characters but once this was made I was enthralled.
I loved Haynes' turn of phrase as well as her outlook and feminist lens that is applied to the ancient world.