The Greek Myths

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stars is because like a great deal of Graves' anthropological commentary in his various books, what he has to say is out of date.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.

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stars is because like a great deal of Graves' anthropological commentary in his various books, what he has to say is out of date.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.

Rating:
Summary: Soul and Underworld
Review: Much good stuff has been said about this book, right here on this page, so I would like to focus on just one important aspect: Graves's treatment of the Underworld. Here, for the first time in history, as far as I know, the author provides a genuine "map" of that dark realm, complete with Who judges Europeans, Asians and others, along with a superb description of the three roads of Hekate, the real ruler of the Three Realms -- Heaven, Earth, and Underworld -- a magnificent opus not to be intellectualized but felt in the heart, the Soul.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Reference for Scholars
Review: One thing to make apparent for thoes that might have been reading the other reviews here. Is that people are assuming there is one version of a myth and that it is fact and the be all end all of it. Which its not. The Greek Myths were all originally oral work. Even that of the Illiad and the Odyseey started out as oral work. As time goes one the myths had changed before they were put into written form and standarized. I think Graves does a wonderful job it trying to present a complete picture of something that has been so effected by time, he does not attempt to give you one account of the myth and leave it as that is the only right view. He does present the different views that were held, and he documents where everything came from clearly so that if like myself your a scholar you can pick up a copy of Metamorphisis or the Theogony and find the reference in its original format/language.

If you want a clear overview of the Greek Myths or just a complete view of them I would pick up this book. (Don't be scared off by the word overview...unless you want to read about 3000-4000 pages this is one of the most completle listings there is). I would highly suggest this book to anyone interested in Greek Mythology

Rating:
Summary: Insightful Reevaluation of Greek Mythology
Review: Robert Graves' "Greek Myths" is an innovative review of Greek Mythology. The book provides compiled summaries for each main Greek hero and deity. Graves then provides his own evaluation as to the anthropological origins of the myths in the context of early Greek civilization. His focus is primarily on Minoan and pre-Mycenean civilizations.

Through etymology and historical analysis, Graves contends that Greek mythology is a compilation of two distinct religious practices that were later merged. Graves argues that cults for female godesses such Hera, Diane, Athena, Hecate, etc., were the product of early Greek matriarchal/amazonian societies. Graves argues that myths such as the castration of Kronos and the labors of Herakles refer to the practice of mock-kings who were used for ceremony in fertility rituals. Such mock-kings, Graves recites, were sacrificed at the end of the ritual by the Amazon Queen. Graves suggests that the traditional patriarchal triad of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon was introduced later when the Myceneans invaded Greece and conquered these matriarchies.

(...)Overall, the book offers a direction of study that would be useful in corroborating a facinating theory about societies in Ancient Greece and how their evolution was presented through mythology. Unfortunately, as is usual with virtually an myth, the reason events usually become mythical is because there were few hard facts left behind to corroborate the truth that lies behind them.

Rating:
Summary: An Exhaustive Text For Advanced Students of Greek Mythology
Review: Robert Graves' THE GREEK MYTHS falls between the Victorian bombast of Bulfinch and the popular style of Edith Hamilton, less stylistically intimidating than the former and more scholarly than the latter. Originally published as a two volume set in 1955 with author revisions in 1957 and 1960, this single volume text does not abridge the original text but merely confines it to a single binding.

One's reaction to THE GREEK MYTHS will depend to some extent on one's purpose in acquiring it. This is an exhaustive collection of Greek mythology that far outstrips any other modern anthology that I have encountered, including myths both better known and extremely obscure. Each myth is presented in concise, graceful prose, and where possible Graves includes genealogies of the characters and major variations of each myth; an interpretive essay also follows each myth.

While Graves' retelling of the myths themselves have been widely praised, his interpretations of the myths have been somewhat criticized--and justly so. Graves tends to see incarnations of the "White Goddess" and the "Sacrificial King" in every third story; more dangerously, he tends to tie the myths to historical events in a highly speculative way. While this does not undercut the interest of his interpretations, it does hold a number of traps for the casual reader, who may assume that Graves' essays offer standard, scholastically unbiased interpretations based on proven historical events.

For myself, I use Graves' THE GREEK MYTHS as both reference and pleasure-reading, and I enjoy it a great deal; it is an indispensable purchase for any one with a serious interest in Greek mythology for any one who must frequently reference the same for scholarly purposes, and I strongly recommend it to them. At the same time, however, I would hesitate to recommend it to readers who have not previously been exposed to Greek mythology or who wish only a general knowledge of the major Greek myths; in such cases I would instead recommend Edith Hamilton's MYTHOLOGY: TIMELESS TALES OF GODS AND HEROES.

Rating:
Summary: The most exhaustive comparison of Greek Myth & stories extan
Review: Robert Graves, like Joseph Campbell, is one of half a dozen mythographers who are in the top rank of this century. His exhaustive research and comparisons of sources are stunning in scope but instead of being bewildering he has captured the themes and synergies between stories and come to some remarkably cogent conclusions. Graves sees history in the myths rather than psychology, primarily, and believes that they tell veiled stories of real happenings that became emotionally and spiritually significant and therefore ripened into the orthodox Greek religion of the millenium B.C.. Just as the stories, therefore, of Jesus and Moses are also cloaked in a real history, he analyzes the probabilities that the coming of Zeus' patriarchy played a huge role in the formation of the Greek myths, and he tells us credibly how this influence clashed with the beliefs of earlier times. Graves has few peers in the depth and scope and detail of his understanding and because his research is so comprehensive, his conclusions must be given great weight.

Rating:
Summary: A reference book that I'm glad I own.
Review: The collection is probably quite useful as a reference book in the sense that if you're (for instance) looking for the text around a particular character in mythology, it will provide you with a very complete set of references and background notes. It's less useful if you'd like to read larger pieces of the mythology stories.

For each myth fragment, Graves structures his approach by:

Recreating the primary myth
Citing the sources he uses for the recreation
Annotating his view on the origins and/or meaning around the myth

It's often a cumbersome way to read things and as a reader I was often left wondering how much he used the editorial process of distilling the primary text to back up his clearly very definite impressions about what the myth meant. I found myself often irritated by the absolute certainty with which he linked mythological traditions in his notes as well as doubting whether the historical assumptions were really as true as he seemed to find them.

However, it's remarkable for its comprehensive scope and clearly useful as a source guide. Taken for what it's worth, a book well owned.

Rating:
Summary: A good reference book for the home library.
Review: The collection is quite useful as a reference. For example, if you want to find the text around a particular character in mythology, it will provide a very complete set of references and background notes. This is not the place to go if you would like to read the bigger stories as narrative.

For each myth fragment, Graves structures his approach by:

Recreating the primary myth
Citing the sources he uses for the recreation
Annotating his view on the origins and/or meaning around the myth

Be warned, Graves has his own ideas about history and the source of myth. Many people today can and do quarrel with these notions. It also is not always clear in his notes which bits are really well accepted by other scholars and which bits are his own interpretations.

However, The Greek Myths is remarkable for its comprehensive scope and clearly useful as a source guide. Take it for what it is, and it proves its worth.

Rating:
Summary: I love Greek myth and this book was great
Review: The only reason this doesn't get 5 starts is because it's too sparse for me, but I'm a myth freak. There is a two volume, expanded version of Robert Graves' Greek Myths and it includes notes and more stories. If you're really into myth I suggest getting that one. This is not a book of stories, this is a scholarly book of myths. This would not be the book to get if you're looking to read myths in story form. If you want to study myths this is a good book to use as introduction to the subject, the two volume version is a great reference.