Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili

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And if you want the individual voices of the women in Greek myths to linger in your soul for every single day until you die, read Nina MacLaughlin or Nakita Gill. Now my big shot out is to Penelope, construction wise her chapter doesn't do anything as interesting, but I love her! Depending on how you read this collection, it's either a great introduction to greek mythology for greek myth novices or perhaps not the best first glance into the topic. The dazzling white and blue of Aegean seascapes and the modern Greek flag are decorated with golden sequins, like those with which the women would highlight visual details.

Weaving was a metaphor at the heart of ancient metaphysics, since the Fates measure out and cut off the threads of human life itself. The only issue I had with this was when it came to retelling Heracles and his story- it wasn’t particularly linear, so if you were someone who maybe hadn’t read the myths it might seem a little confusing. If you want a general overview of Greek mythology but like with humor and wit and joviality while still focusing on the actual myths, lol THIS IS NOT THE BOOK. Photograph: IanDagnall Computing/Alamy View image in fullscreen Penelope weaves a design ‘as intricate as her own involved, withheld mind’ … Detail from Penelope and the Suitors by John William Waterhouse.This technique is powerfully employed by Charlotte Higgins to play on the intertexuaoity of these stories, on the notion of women weaving their own stories and as a brilliant way of introducing the ways in which these women reflect on the stories they themselves would have known. If you want a rundown of the general Greek myths without a lot of commentary, LAWD ALMIGHTY THIS IS NOT THE BOOK.

To keep safe, to keep them from harm, they should run to the temple of Hera, where no one would hurt them.We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. The book would make a perfect introduction to the entrancing world of Greek myth for any secondary school student. And in these stories, we do not see heroes and gods but patriarchs, rapists, cheats, braggarts and betrayers. Arachne, the victim of Athena’s pride and self-love, depicts stories of gods committing injustices against humans; Philomela, raped and mutilated by her own brother-in-law, weaves tales of individuals damaged by sexual desire.

Under Another Sky: Journeys in Roman Britain (Vintage, 2014), was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize for non-fiction, the Thwaites Wainwright prize for nature writing, the Dolman travel-writing prize and the Hessell-Tiltman history prize. Orpheus sings a heart-rending lament for Eurydice; a pale narcissus nods in the breeze, “throwing up its delicate scent”. Higgins describes how, when Penelope must finally complete the shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes – a fabric with “a design as intricate as her own involved, withheld mind” – she folds it up and puts it away. The importance of visualisation to the enjoyment of this book, a beautiful artefact in itself, is subtly indicated by prompts to the mind’s eye in the form of Chris Ofili’s exquisite line drawings on the dustjacket and at the opening of each chapter, and by the colour scheme.It’s as though the author took Wikipedia pages, summarized them in third person past tense, and then at the end of every story adds “and this is what Penelope/Helen/Arachne/whomever wove“ because all the stories are supposed to be tapestries. Theirs' are the hands which are responsible for piecing together the elaborate and imaginative tapestry that exists to make sense of the world.

There is no shortage these days of lively, well-written retellings of ancient Greek and Roman myths, but Charlotte Higgins has embraced a central metaphor – weaving – that leads us through the labyrinth of interconnected stories in a startlingly fresh way. This is supposed to be a ~feminist retelling~ but that is only true because 1) each chapter title is the name of a woman and 2) the author is literally just TELLING you the same Greek stories over again.Arachne who shows us the true ugliness of the gods, and in the end still loses to Athena (who honestly sucks). This is a retelling that brings a wonderful, overdue female perspective to the world of the Greek myths.