bookpossum's review
1.0
I never thought I would give up on a book by Robert Graves, but this one I did. It is very long because it is quite unbelievably detailed. I assume Graves did this as a way of reproducing how the story might have been told orally, but also I think in order to cram in his interpretations of just about every Greek myth you can think of.
To give one example, in a banqueting hall where the Argonauts are feasting, there is a painting on the wall showing Daedalus and Icarus flying, so Orpheus tells in great detail the story involved, explaining how some things were misinterpreted and misunderstood, what might really have happened, and so on.
I got about halfway through, and maybe I shall return to it one day, but somehow I doubt it.
To give one example, in a banqueting hall where the Argonauts are feasting, there is a painting on the wall showing Daedalus and Icarus flying, so Orpheus tells in great detail the story involved, explaining how some things were misinterpreted and misunderstood, what might really have happened, and so on.
I got about halfway through, and maybe I shall return to it one day, but somehow I doubt it.
nwhyte's review
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3424586.html
Graves here subverts the received version of the story by situating it in an ancient world of magic and gods, where the worship of the mother goddess has been written out by later traditions. There are some thrilling bits here, as the Argo plays hide-and-seek with its pursuers around the margins of the Black Sea. Graves has a lovely eye for detail, and the humour is a bit hearty but also humanising.
Graves here subverts the received version of the story by situating it in an ancient world of magic and gods, where the worship of the mother goddess has been written out by later traditions. There are some thrilling bits here, as the Argo plays hide-and-seek with its pursuers around the margins of the Black Sea. Graves has a lovely eye for detail, and the humour is a bit hearty but also humanising.
pussreboots's review against another edition
5.0
A weird by enjoyable retelling of the Hercules Myth by the man who wrote I Claudius.
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