The Greek Myths

Rating:
Summary: Wore out first copy; purchasing a new one
Review: As a writer of fiction who bases work on Greek mythology, this is my most frequently consulted reference. Graves focuses on the sources of the myths as well as the myths themselves, puts them into context with contemporary culture and history, and also puts them into context with each other. The index, maps, cross-references, and the organization of the book as a whole are invaluable to me as a writer and a student of Greek and Roman mythology. Graves' writing is precise and evocative, as well. I've underlined, dog-eared, and completely worn out my first copy and will be purchasing a second for more "casual" reading.

Rating:
Summary: The Greek Myths brought to life.
Review: Despite being nearly 40 years old, Robert Graves' brilliant mixture of poetic prose and scholarly exegesis continues to make his Greek Myths a stunning read as well as a valuable resource for ancient greek mythology. As a poet, novelist, classicist, translator, historian and literary critic, Graves' had the ability to blend "poetic intuition" with scholarship to bring the myths of a distant time to life. As Graves himself always claimed, the ancient past is no less knowable than a contemporary political cartoon; however, a contemporary political cartoon seems easier to understand than an ancient myth because it's a product of what we know well. Graves sought to bring the past to life so that the ancient myth would seem as current and knowable and understandable as the present. Classicists and historians often reject Graves *because* he demystifies the knowledge they claim as their own.

Anyone at all interested in Greek mythology must come to own Graves' work. They can serve themselves well by also reading his The White Goddess, and The Hebrew Myths. His famous Claudius Novels, The Golden Fleece (Hercules, My Shipmate in America), and King Jesus are vaulable reads as well.

Rating:
Summary: Use with Care and Caution
Review: I am reviewing the two volume edition of Robert Graves's "The Greek Myths."

For many years I have used Robert Graves's "The Greek Myths" as my primary source for information about Greek mythology, but recently I have had to reevaluate the book. The book should be used with a great deal of care and caution.

The need for this reevaluation started innocently enough. I was reading "Hercules at Nemea" a poem by Robert Graves, I wondered about the first line: "Muse, you have bitten through my fool's-finger." I wondered which muse bit through Hercules's finger. So I went to his "Greek Myths" vol. 2 p. 104 where I read that Heracles wrestled with the Nemean lion, not a lioness, and it bit off one of his fingers, but he held it in a chancery and choked it to death. So Graves was free with his material and the poem, which makes poetic sense, does not make mythic sense. Still some questions remained like who were the muses? I was stymied there. In "The Greek Myths" Graves tells us who the Fates are: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The Erinnyes: Tisiphone,Alecto, Megaera. The Charities: Euphrosyne, Aglaia and Thalia. The Seven against Thebes:Polyneices, Tydeus, Capaneus, Hippomedon, Amphiaraus, Parthenopaeus, Adrastus, and some say Eteoclus. He even names the Sirens with all the variations: Aglaope, Aglaophonos, Leucosia, Ligeria, Molpe, Parthenope, Peisinoe, Raidne, Teles, Thelxepeia, and Thelxiope. But he does not name the Muses. In volume 1, page 53 Graves says that Zeus fathered the Three Muses on Mnemosyne with whom he lay nine nights, but in volume 2, p. 317 Graves says there are nine muses. How many muses are there? For the parentage and number of the muses Graves cites an Orphic fragment which I do not have, and Apollodorus 1. 3. 1-2. as his sources for this story. I checked Apollodorus and he states that Zeus and Mnemosyne are the parents of the nine muses and goes on to name them. In volume 1, page 55 Graves wrote that "Zeus's claim to be their [the Muses] father is a late one; Hesiod calls them the daughters Mother Earth and Air." In "Works and Days" and "Theogony" Hesiod says that Zeus and Mnemosyne are the parents of the Muses (see pp.3, 83-85 and 145 of the Loeb volume #57--"Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns"). Perhaps Graves is confusing the parents of Mnemosyne, Earth and Heaven, with the parents of the muses. Hesiod does names the Muses: Calliope, Cleio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, and Urania. Also on page 55 Graves cites Pausanius to say the number of the muses is three, but the citation he gives, ix.19.2, is wrong. The citation is actually ix.29.2.

This is not the only example of Graves' carelessness or his uncritical use of material. Graves does present a great deal of material, and generally he does present lively versions of the Greek myths, but you have to remember that these books have to be used with great caution. I would recommend that you use Graves' Greek Myths in conjuntion with other references.

Rating:
Summary: Textbook, not pleasure book
Review: I came to Graves' the Greek myths full of high expectations, having absolutely loved I,Claudius and knowing Graves' excellent reputation as both poet and scholar. Unfortunately, what I found was a textbook, not a retelling of the myths ala Edith Hamilton. I am not qualified to opine on The Greek Myths as a textbook; I'll leave that to those reviewers who teach mythology. As a lay reader, however, The Greek Myths is a bit cumbersome. Far too many of the myth stories consist of "but others say that his mother was XYZ, or YXZ, or ZXY and that this happened at QRS or TUV, but still others say . . . ." I found myself skipping entire paragraphs to avoid all of the variants on the main story. Graves' description of the Trojan War and Odysseus' journey are very well-done but are too little, too late to make the work as a whole truly enjoyable. The commentaries range from interesting to deadly dull - again, in this lay reader's opinion.

Bottom line, if you merely enjoy reading the myth stories you learned in childhood stick with Edith Hamilton. If you are looking for a more detailed *textbook* (or, as others have said, a *reference* book), then pick up Graves.

Rating:
Summary: Textbook, not pleasure book
Review: I came to Graves' the Greek myths full of high expectations, having absolutely loved I,Claudius and knowing Graves' excellent reputation as both poet and scholar. Unfortunately, what I found was a textbook, not a retelling of the myths ala Edith Hamilton. I am not qualified to opine on The Greek Myths as a textbook; I'll leave that to those reviewers who teach mythology. As a lay reader, however, The Greek Myths is a bit cumbersome. Far too many of the myth stories consist of "but others say that his mother was XYZ, or YXZ, or ZXY and that this happened at QRS or TUV, but still others say . . . ." I found myself skipping entire paragraphs to avoid all of the variants on the main story. Graves' description of the Trojan War and Odysseus' journey are very well-done but are too little, too late to make the work as a whole truly enjoyable. The commentaries range from interesting to deadly dull - again, in this lay reader's opinion.

Bottom line, if you merely enjoy reading the myth stories you learned in childhood stick with Edith Hamilton. If you are looking for a more detailed *textbook* (or, as others have said, a *reference* book), then pick up Graves.

Rating:
Summary: The White Goddess strikes again
Review: I could make a hobby out of "Graves-izing" popular stories. How about Cinderella? If Robert Graves got hold of that story, he'd say something like this: "Cinderella's name means Ash-lady, which denotes her as the ash-pale Death-goddess of winter. She and her two stepsisters form the classic Triple Goddess. Originally, the sisters' names were probably Destruction and Pestilence. Cinderella's transformation at the hands of the Fairy Godmother was really a late patriarchal addition; no doubt the original goddess transformed herself, showing her Love-goddess face rather than her more spectral one. Her dance with the Prince is an example of the White Goddess's choice of the King of the Waxing Year as her consort. In the version that has come down to us, she loses her shoe, but certainly in the uncorrupted, original myth, it was the Prince who lost his shoe, as the sacrificial king was often marked by a limp. This can be seen in the Welsh story of Math ap Mathonwy, and Dionysos's epithets also hinted at lameness. At the hour of midnight, that is to say, the witching hour, Cinderella reveals her terrible, ravening face by turning back into the ragged Death-goddess. Undoubtedly, the story ended with Cinderella's murder of the Prince, and her mourning for him by painting her face with the ashes of his funeral pyre, as the Welsh women mourned for Llew Llaw Gyffes. The happy ending we are familiar with is actually the record of the patriarchal takeover, when the White Goddess was forcibly married to the Year-King who had become the supreme god of the new mythology." Hey, that was fun!

Graves wrote in a poem once, "There is one story and one story only." This story is the myth of the White Goddess, beautiful and faithless, seducing her consort and then betraying him to death at the hands of his rival for her love. This is the only story Graves can see, and everything in this book is filtered through "White-Goddess"-colored glasses. Every myth in which a male figure dies is a record of human sacrifice to the Goddess. Every female figure is assumed to be triple, whether the myths show her in triple form or not. And he always chooses the bloodiest interpretation possible. For example, whenever the root "Perse" appears in a name, he insists it should really be "Pterse", "destruction". He is so caught up in his morbid mythos that he doesn't realize it might just really be "Perse", which means "light". So, certainly don't take this book as gospel. It is colored by the biases and assumptions of its author, and should definitely not be the only book you read on the subject of Greek mythology.

That said, I was fascinated by _The Greek Myths_. I had trouble following his _White Goddess_, but this book is more structured and easier to keep up with. And it gave me some tantalizing ideas for my neo-pagan practice. Just because the history may be dubious doesn't mean this book can't be inspirational--as long as one remembers that the theories came from Graves and not from the ancients.

Rating:
Summary: The White Goddess strikes again
Review: I could make a hobby out of "Graves-izing" popular stories. How about Cinderella? If Robert Graves got hold of that story, he'd say something like this: "Cinderella's name means Ash-lady, which denotes her as the ash-pale Death-goddess of winter. She and her two stepsisters form the classic Triple Goddess. Originally, the sisters' names were probably Destruction and Pestilence. Cinderella's transformation at the hands of the Fairy Godmother was really a late patriarchal addition; no doubt the original goddess transformed herself, showing her Love-goddess face rather than her more spectral one. Her dance with the Prince is an example of the White Goddess's choice of the King of the Waxing Year as her consort. In the version that has come down to us, she loses her shoe, but certainly in the uncorrupted, original myth, it was the Prince who lost his shoe, as the sacrificial king was often marked by a limp. This can be seen in the Welsh story of Math ap Mathonwy, and Dionysos's epithets also hinted at lameness. At the hour of midnight, that is to say, the witching hour, Cinderella reveals her terrible, ravening face by turning back into the ragged Death-goddess. Undoubtedly, the story ended with Cinderella's murder of the Prince, and her mourning for him by painting her face with the ashes of his funeral pyre, as the Welsh women mourned for Llew Llaw Gyffes. The happy ending we are familiar with is actually the record of the patriarchal takeover, when the White Goddess was forcibly married to the Year-King who had become the supreme god of the new mythology." Hey, that was fun!

Graves wrote in a poem once, "There is one story and one story only." This story is the myth of the White Goddess, beautiful and faithless, seducing her consort and then betraying him to death at the hands of his rival for her love. This is the only story Graves can see, and everything in this book is filtered through "White-Goddess"-colored glasses. Every myth in which a male figure dies is a record of human sacrifice to the Goddess. Every female figure is assumed to be triple, whether the myths show her in triple form or not. And he always chooses the bloodiest interpretation possible. For example, whenever the root "Perse" appears in a name, he insists it should really be "Pterse", "destruction". He is so caught up in his morbid mythos that he doesn't realize it might just really be "Perse", which means "light". So, certainly don't take this book as gospel. It is colored by the biases and assumptions of its author, and should definitely not be the only book you read on the subject of Greek mythology.

That said, I was fascinated by _The Greek Myths_. I had trouble following his _White Goddess_, but this book is more structured and easier to keep up with. And it gave me some tantalizing ideas for my neo-pagan practice. Just because the history may be dubious doesn't mean this book can't be inspirational--as long as one remembers that the theories came from Graves and not from the ancients.

Rating:
Summary: It should be an encyclopedia
Review: I don't doubt the knowledge of Mr. Graves on classical literature and mythology, but I feel that somewhat these works could have been put in a more organized fashion, at least for the tape listeners. Often I heard some letter denominations, such as "Q" and "Z" and other numbers as well, not really knowing why, these features were confusing. This work by Robert Graves is really encyclopedic and can really get tedious. I enjoyed the references to the myths and their relation to ancient migrations and historical facts.

Rating:
Summary: The best facts on Greek Mythology.
Review: It was a very good book,but was a little hard to read sence I'm only 14.I liked how after every story they had info on how it became.

Rating:
Summary: A Standard Reference
Review: Many of us had to suffer through some rehashing of classical mythology when we were in high school, as often as not Edith Hamilton's book "Mythology." While having the stories re-told to us when we were young is a part of a literary education (a dwindling part, sorry to say), sooner or later you have to graduate to a more authoritative retelling of the myths, to use as a reference and a doorway into other disciplines, such as anthropology.

Graves' book fills that gap. He provides sources for all of the myths he tells, and gives variant readings. He also retells what the classical authors had to say about the myths, and gives a wealth of etymological information about the myths as well, which given that Graves was a formidable classical scholar is saying quite a lot.

The only reason I'm not giving this book five stars is because like a great deal of Graves' anthropological commentary in his various books, what he has to say is out of date. I suppose that this was inevitable with the passage of time, but on the whole this does not detract from the literary effort. Graves is still the only classical mythology reference on my bookshelf.