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A review by ros_lanta
Heroines of Olympus: The Women of Greek Mythology by Ellie Mackin Roberts
3.0
To quote the back cover, "Heroines of Olympus tells the tales of 50 of the most enthralling women of Greek mythology". This is not actually accurate - while there are 50 sections, many of them are dedicated to more than one woman, for example joining together Procne and Philomela, or having just one section for the nine muses. The women include goddesses, nymphs and mortals. Each section follows a similar format (with exceptions, described further down):
1. A page with a brief extract that feels like it is taken from a story about the character(s), often including the author imagining how they are feeling;
2. A full page illustration;
3. A two-page overview of the character(s), describing some of the myths they are involved with, and sometimes giving commentary about what they meant to the Greeks.
This is a beautiful book. The illustrations are plentiful and lovely, inspired by the figures on ancient Greek black- and red-figure pottery. The front cover has bronze foiling, which is a really nice touch.
Unfortunately I had multiple issues with the text of the book (the 3 star rating is given mostly on account of the book design and illustrations). The writing is often choppy, with events being told out of sequence and new myths suddenly being described halfway through paragraphs. I found myself wondering whether readers with limited knowledge of Greek mythology would be able to follow the book.
I'm not sure what process was used to pick the 50 sections. It is not a list of the most well-known women in Greek mythology - Helen is not included, nor Demeter. Nor is it an attempt to shine a light on overlooked figures, with Aphrodite and Athena both featuring.
The format unfortunately means that some characters have only a tiny part of their stories told, while other stories don't fill the two pages - in one case, necessitating the inclusion of an extra illustration. Frequently final paragraphs are taken up with introductions to other female characters, through the use of sometimes tenuous links - and this occurs even when there is more that could be said about the main character. In the case of the section about Echo, I'm not sure if there was a printing error as she is given only one page of text and the illustration page, rather than the normal four pages.
There is one section I enjoyed a lot, and that was the Introduction. There were several useful observations, including that "the gods of the ancient Greek world were not all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-seeing, and they weren't 'good', either behaviourally or morally. They were just who they were, as if they were mortals taken to the most frightening possible extreme."
Overall it was a fascinating read, but simply because the women of Greek mythology are fascinating. I will enjoy having it on my shelf because it is beautiful, but I think there are much better books out there if you want to read an introduction to the myths.
1. A page with a brief extract that feels like it is taken from a story about the character(s), often including the author imagining how they are feeling;
2. A full page illustration;
3. A two-page overview of the character(s), describing some of the myths they are involved with, and sometimes giving commentary about what they meant to the Greeks.
This is a beautiful book. The illustrations are plentiful and lovely, inspired by the figures on ancient Greek black- and red-figure pottery. The front cover has bronze foiling, which is a really nice touch.
Unfortunately I had multiple issues with the text of the book (the 3 star rating is given mostly on account of the book design and illustrations). The writing is often choppy, with events being told out of sequence and new myths suddenly being described halfway through paragraphs. I found myself wondering whether readers with limited knowledge of Greek mythology would be able to follow the book.
I'm not sure what process was used to pick the 50 sections. It is not a list of the most well-known women in Greek mythology - Helen is not included, nor Demeter. Nor is it an attempt to shine a light on overlooked figures, with Aphrodite and Athena both featuring.
The format unfortunately means that some characters have only a tiny part of their stories told, while other stories don't fill the two pages - in one case, necessitating the inclusion of an extra illustration. Frequently final paragraphs are taken up with introductions to other female characters, through the use of sometimes tenuous links - and this occurs even when there is more that could be said about the main character. In the case of the section about Echo, I'm not sure if there was a printing error as she is given only one page of text and the illustration page, rather than the normal four pages.
There is one section I enjoyed a lot, and that was the Introduction. There were several useful observations, including that "the gods of the ancient Greek world were not all-powerful, all-knowing, or all-seeing, and they weren't 'good', either behaviourally or morally. They were just who they were, as if they were mortals taken to the most frightening possible extreme."
Overall it was a fascinating read, but simply because the women of Greek mythology are fascinating. I will enjoy having it on my shelf because it is beautiful, but I think there are much better books out there if you want to read an introduction to the myths.