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Product Description
Product Description
From Zeus and Europa, to Diana, Pan, and Prometheus, the myths of ancient Greece and Rome seem to exert a timeless power over us. But what do those myths represent, and why are they so enduringly fascinating? Why do they seem to be such a potent way of talking about our selves, our origins, and our desires? This imaginative and stimulating Very Short Introduction goes beyond a simple retelling of the stories to explore the rich history and diverse interpretations of classical myths. It is a wide-ranging account, examining how classical myths are used and understood in both high art and popular culture, taking the reader from the temples of Crete to skyscrapers in New York, and finding classical myths in a variety of unexpected places: from arabic poetry and Hollywood films, to psychoanalysis, the bible, and New Age spiritualism.
About the Author
Helen Morales is University Lecturer and Director of Studies in Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge. She researches and teaches in Greek and Latin literature and culture, with special interests in classical mythology, the ancient novel, feminist approaches to literature, and the relationship between images and texts. She is the author of Vision and Narrative in Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon' (Cambridge, 2004) and co-editor of Intratextuality: Greek
and Roman Textual Relations (Oxford, 2000).
and Roman Textual Relations (Oxford, 2000).
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As with many of these 'A Very Short Introductions' you will be disappointed if what you are looking for is a basic guide to the subject. OUP's brief seems to be to find people who have interesting things to say about the subject in question and to get them to write about their ideas at a basic level in relation to the subject in hand.
Here Helen Morales offers a fascinating insight into classical mythology. She does not offer a potted history of all the myths themselves, although she does offer information about where to get such information. Instead, and much more interestingly to my mind, she walks us through what myths as a genre mean, and what they do for us to make them still relevant for discussion centuries after they were first conceived.
She takes broad topics for her chapter headings, such as mythology and its resurgence in the popular beliefs of New Agers, or myth as a vehicle for political machinations. Within that she discusses one or two key myths and shows how they have been used and developed over the centuries.
This is well written, easy to read and fun. It really whets the appetite for more research into the subject. It has some good illustrations, although those of mosaics would have been better on a bigger scale, unfortunately not to be, as the books are designed to be pocket sized. There are useful things like time lines, some good charts and a good bibliography. A great tool.
Here Helen Morales offers a fascinating insight into classical mythology. She does not offer a potted history of all the myths themselves, although she does offer information about where to get such information. Instead, and much more interestingly to my mind, she walks us through what myths as a genre mean, and what they do for us to make them still relevant for discussion centuries after they were first conceived.
She takes broad topics for her chapter headings, such as mythology and its resurgence in the popular beliefs of New Agers, or myth as a vehicle for political machinations. Within that she discusses one or two key myths and shows how they have been used and developed over the centuries.
This is well written, easy to read and fun. It really whets the appetite for more research into the subject. It has some good illustrations, although those of mosaics would have been better on a bigger scale, unfortunately not to be, as the books are designed to be pocket sized. There are useful things like time lines, some good charts and a good bibliography. A great tool.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are some excellent little books in this series. This isn't one of them.
The author's stated aim is "to understand classical myths not as fossilised entities, but as living agents." Her attempt to do this takes her into some strange by-ways: the story of Europa as a symbol of the European Union; the National Curriculum; sculptures on the Rockefeller Centre, New York; photographs of society ladies of the 1930s portrayed as mythical characters; the role of myth in psycho-analysis; ditto in New Age spirituality; a feminist perspective on myths of abduction and rape. She even gets in a reference to Xena, Warrior Princess.
Some of this may be interesting as a discursive commentary for people already well-versed in classical mythology. But readers wanting a clear, simple, well-organised introduction to the origins and development of classical myths and their contribution to Western art and literature would be best advised to look elsewhere.
The author's stated aim is "to understand classical myths not as fossilised entities, but as living agents." Her attempt to do this takes her into some strange by-ways: the story of Europa as a symbol of the European Union; the National Curriculum; sculptures on the Rockefeller Centre, New York; photographs of society ladies of the 1930s portrayed as mythical characters; the role of myth in psycho-analysis; ditto in New Age spirituality; a feminist perspective on myths of abduction and rape. She even gets in a reference to Xena, Warrior Princess.
Some of this may be interesting as a discursive commentary for people already well-versed in classical mythology. But readers wanting a clear, simple, well-organised introduction to the origins and development of classical myths and their contribution to Western art and literature would be best advised to look elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Two other entries in this Very Short Introduction series can be seen as companion volumes to the present one. They are Classics, by Mary Beard & John Henderson, and Myth by Robert A. Segal. I would recommend reading those two - in either order - and then this one, although they each stand very well alone.
Morales discusses various interpretations of the role of myth in Western culture, its functions and significance. Although she distances herself from works that restrict themselves to narrations and summaries of the myths themselves, she does include a list of Classical deities and their attributes, unapologetically admitting, "I am having my cake and eating it by including this". But the focus throughout is very much on the nature and function of myth rather than its content. The chapter on Freudian psychoanalysis is particularly interesting.
She writes very well, often with a light touch and with frequent popular culture references.
The book concludes with a useful 5-page Timeline - from 800 BC, "Early Greece" to 2007, the publication of this book - a comprehensive Reference section, and a very useful Further Reading section.
If you want an understanding of myth, how it evolves and how it continues to be relevant, you should read this book.
[PeterReeve]
Morales discusses various interpretations of the role of myth in Western culture, its functions and significance. Although she distances herself from works that restrict themselves to narrations and summaries of the myths themselves, she does include a list of Classical deities and their attributes, unapologetically admitting, "I am having my cake and eating it by including this". But the focus throughout is very much on the nature and function of myth rather than its content. The chapter on Freudian psychoanalysis is particularly interesting.
She writes very well, often with a light touch and with frequent popular culture references.
The book concludes with a useful 5-page Timeline - from 800 BC, "Early Greece" to 2007, the publication of this book - a comprehensive Reference section, and a very useful Further Reading section.
If you want an understanding of myth, how it evolves and how it continues to be relevant, you should read this book.
[PeterReeve]
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ancient World
Love this format. Small enough to tote in my handbag or keep by the bed. Packs a lot into a small parcel.
Published on 14 May 2010 by Mrs. Sheila Brown
The stench of the post-modern
Very dissapointed in this VSI - learned more about Morales' own obsessions than anything useful about classical mythology
Published on 19 Aug 2009 by P. S. Ball
Demystifying the myth
Emphatically not a narrative survey of Classical myths, this guide is firmly analytical. For Morales, 'Myth is a complex game of production and reception'. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2009 by Jon Chambers
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