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A review by haukka
Treasury of Classical Mythology by A.R. Hope Moncrieff
3.0
After realizing my knowledge of classic Greco-Roman myths and legends had grown rusty I decided to seek a book that would refresh my memory without omitting important details. This book did just that, with a concise introduction of all the major and minor gods and goddesses, demi-gods, heroes and some stuff by Plato. Both the Greek and Roman names for the deities were given and a brief history of how the gods came to be and whom they begat.
A sort of abridged collection of all the myths are presented in the book, which is good since it contained the whole Helen of Troy story and the Odyssey. However I felt that basically abridging and compacting the stories stripped away all the beauty and poetry of the tales. The re-writes of the myths were clumsy and cold. I figure if I want a decent re-telling of the tale of Persephone and Hades then it’s probably worth reading the full and heavy Homeric Hymn to Demeter.
A sort of abridged collection of all the myths are presented in the book, which is good since it contained the whole Helen of Troy story and the Odyssey. However I felt that basically abridging and compacting the stories stripped away all the beauty and poetry of the tales. The re-writes of the myths were clumsy and cold. I figure if I want a decent re-telling of the tale of Persephone and Hades then it’s probably worth reading the full and heavy Homeric Hymn to Demeter.