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1957s's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.5
Este libro hizo que me diera cuenta de varias cosas sobre mí.
annoyingtwig's review against another edition
Good book, just got too busy to read it plus I don’t find reading about psychology to be as interesting as other things.
hayleysreads's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Great! I read this after her first book ‘Goddessses in Every Woman.’ Although you can tell it’s a little outdated from being written in the 80s (with discussions on gender etc.) it was super interesting - really good info on the background of the gods and then how it relates to today. It is quite open in terms of how she discusses, saying that the archetypes can apply to anyone regardless of gender, and de-constructing issues coming from living in the patriarchy, with traditionally masculine values being upheld as the only thing of value.
loched's review against another edition
4.0
Well, I am so happy I impulse bought this at the used book store! It was sitting sideways on the "New Age Religion" shelf, like someone had almost picked it up, and then though better of it. Boy am I glad they did.
This book enabled me to develop a more personal relationship with the Gods, learning how to recognize them working within me, as well as in the other people around me. Mind you, this is not a book written from a Pagan perspective, but from a Psychological one. Whether or not you are Pagan, this book can help you to understand yourself and why you behave the way that you do. In addition, it provides impressively insightful advice and guidance for bettering yourself. For example, if you are a person very heavily influenced by Dionysus, who is spontaneous and prone to impulsiveness, you might benefit from cultivating Apollo, who is more focused on long term goals.
The author did an excellent job in tying in the traits and archetypes of each God and Goddess to their mythology, including accounting for alternate retellings, and the cultural context in which myths were developed. For example, she openly acknowledges that the Greek gods existed in an extremely patriarchal society, and factors this into all of her explanations, especially in the male section of the book. In addition, she acknowledges that not everyone is straight, and while she typically only does this in a single sentence per deity, I appreciated it for the most part.
Personally, the primary value that I took from this was in relation to my religion. There were many "ahah!" moments that I had throughout the reading process. Sometimes this was in relation to Gods and Goddesses that I already knew I felt close to, such as Artemis, but oftentimes it was in relation to deities that I would never have dreamed to developing a personal connection to, like Zeus, Poseidon, or Ares. From a psychological standpoint, I found many of the theories referenced to be outdated and limited. Obviously, I'm only a student in the field, but I personally find the vast majority of Freud to be extremely distasteful and inaccurate, so I skimmed when the author drew on his theories.
In addition, from a psychological standpoint, I felt that the vast majority of the Gods and their archetypes were very...extreme. I personally have a very extreme personality, so I had no difficulty relating to most of them, but it struck me that most of the archetypes would probably be tough for the masses to relate to. For men, you are either a Zeus, the borderline sociopathic CEO, or you are Ares, getting into drunken barfights. For women, you are either an Artemis, who does not interact with men at all and focuses solely on her career, or you are a Hera, who does not know who she is without her husband, and hates all other women. The author acknowledges that we all have many different aspects of the Gods inside of us, but that was just something that I noticed. Personally, it was a part of the reason why I could only see this book as an explanation of the Gods themselves, rather than of...people.
This book was written in the 70s, so bits and pieces of it are outdated, as well. H*mosexuality was treated clinically and as an "alternate lifestyle" more often than not, with a disturbing amount of the content for gays and lesbians being dedicated to explaining how certain archetypes can cause gay men to date women and lesbians to date men.
Yeahh...this author very clearly has a two dimensional view of the LGBT community. Take what she says about us with a grain of salt. Bi people are mentioned no more than two or three times, and trans people are completely ignored. Discussions of non cis people, I think, could have made this book come across as far more nuanced in its understanding of gender. At the very least, the author acknowledges that men have aspects of Goddesses within them, and women have aspects of Gods within them.
I will also say that the structure of this book was very formulaic. This made it difficult to get lost in the reading in a bad way, but also in a good way. I found myself getting bored if I read too much in one sitting, because it is, quite literally, the same pattern for every single God, headings and all. There were also many times when I would notice something had been explained several times already, and have to sit through the author explaining it to me all over again, such as certain myths or backstories for Gods. I would recommend reading it one chapter at a time.
All in all, though, despite my criticisms, I would call this book critical for any new pagans interested in learning more about the Greek Gods. It allows you to connect to them on a personal level that can be difficult if you do not know how to begin applying the teachings of very archaic myths to your modern life. Spoiler alert: yes, you can.
This book enabled me to develop a more personal relationship with the Gods, learning how to recognize them working within me, as well as in the other people around me. Mind you, this is not a book written from a Pagan perspective, but from a Psychological one. Whether or not you are Pagan, this book can help you to understand yourself and why you behave the way that you do. In addition, it provides impressively insightful advice and guidance for bettering yourself. For example, if you are a person very heavily influenced by Dionysus, who is spontaneous and prone to impulsiveness, you might benefit from cultivating Apollo, who is more focused on long term goals.
The author did an excellent job in tying in the traits and archetypes of each God and Goddess to their mythology, including accounting for alternate retellings, and the cultural context in which myths were developed. For example, she openly acknowledges that the Greek gods existed in an extremely patriarchal society, and factors this into all of her explanations, especially in the male section of the book. In addition, she acknowledges that not everyone is straight, and while she typically only does this in a single sentence per deity, I appreciated it for the most part.
Personally, the primary value that I took from this was in relation to my religion. There were many "ahah!" moments that I had throughout the reading process. Sometimes this was in relation to Gods and Goddesses that I already knew I felt close to, such as Artemis, but oftentimes it was in relation to deities that I would never have dreamed to developing a personal connection to, like Zeus, Poseidon, or Ares. From a psychological standpoint, I found many of the theories referenced to be outdated and limited. Obviously, I'm only a student in the field, but I personally find the vast majority of Freud to be extremely distasteful and inaccurate, so I skimmed when the author drew on his theories.
In addition, from a psychological standpoint, I felt that the vast majority of the Gods and their archetypes were very...extreme. I personally have a very extreme personality, so I had no difficulty relating to most of them, but it struck me that most of the archetypes would probably be tough for the masses to relate to. For men, you are either a Zeus, the borderline sociopathic CEO, or you are Ares, getting into drunken barfights. For women, you are either an Artemis, who does not interact with men at all and focuses solely on her career, or you are a Hera, who does not know who she is without her husband, and hates all other women. The author acknowledges that we all have many different aspects of the Gods inside of us, but that was just something that I noticed. Personally, it was a part of the reason why I could only see this book as an explanation of the Gods themselves, rather than of...people.
This book was written in the 70s, so bits and pieces of it are outdated, as well. H*mosexuality was treated clinically and as an "alternate lifestyle" more often than not, with a disturbing amount of the content for gays and lesbians being dedicated to explaining how certain archetypes can cause gay men to date women and lesbians to date men.
Yeahh...this author very clearly has a two dimensional view of the LGBT community. Take what she says about us with a grain of salt. Bi people are mentioned no more than two or three times, and trans people are completely ignored. Discussions of non cis people, I think, could have made this book come across as far more nuanced in its understanding of gender. At the very least, the author acknowledges that men have aspects of Goddesses within them, and women have aspects of Gods within them.
I will also say that the structure of this book was very formulaic. This made it difficult to get lost in the reading in a bad way, but also in a good way. I found myself getting bored if I read too much in one sitting, because it is, quite literally, the same pattern for every single God, headings and all. There were also many times when I would notice something had been explained several times already, and have to sit through the author explaining it to me all over again, such as certain myths or backstories for Gods. I would recommend reading it one chapter at a time.
All in all, though, despite my criticisms, I would call this book critical for any new pagans interested in learning more about the Greek Gods. It allows you to connect to them on a personal level that can be difficult if you do not know how to begin applying the teachings of very archaic myths to your modern life. Spoiler alert: yes, you can.
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