Fantasy

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

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

  • Downloads：5758
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-09-05 00:51:34
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Charlotte Higgins
  • ISBN：1787331652
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

In this spellbinding new collection， Charlotte Higgins reinterprets some of the most enduring stories of all time。

Here are myths of the creation， of Heracles and Theseus and Perseus， the Trojan war and its origins and aftermaths， tales of Thebes and Argos and Athens。 There are stories of love and desire， adventure and magic， destructive gods， helpless humans， fantastical creatures， resourceful witches and the origins of birds and animals。This is a world of extremes， and one that resonates deeply with our own: mysterious diseases devastate cities; environmental disasters tear lives apart; women habitually suffer violence at the hands of men。

Unlike in many previous collected myths， female characters take centre stage - Athena， Helen， Circe， Penelope and others weave these stories into elaborate imagined tapestries。 In Charlotte Higgins's thrilling new interpretation， their tales combine to form a dazzling， sweeping epic of storytelling， and a magnificent work of scholarship and imagination。

With a series of original drawings by Chris Ofili。

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Reviews

Ashlee Bree ，

I love Greek mythology。 It's been that way since I was a kid。 The truth is I have always been drawn to sweeping epic tales that feature gods and monsters， magic and adventure， humans who go off on long dangerous odysseys in search of themselves as much as in search of triumph。 What's great about them is that the myths themselves are endlessly diverse and variable in detail， and that's what allows them to continue to bloom with fresh life and perspective long after they've been told。 To reinvent I love Greek mythology。 It's been that way since I was a kid。 The truth is I have always been drawn to sweeping epic tales that feature gods and monsters， magic and adventure， humans who go off on long dangerous odysseys in search of themselves as much as in search of triumph。 What's great about them is that the myths themselves are endlessly diverse and variable in detail， and that's what allows them to continue to bloom with fresh life and perspective long after they've been told。 To reinvent themselves incarnation after incarnation depending on who's looking at them。 To sprout wings in the reader's imagination each and any time they're read。 Above all else， though， that quality is what keeps them ripe so they can be plucked for retelling over and over again。Higgins does a brilliant job of illustrating this。 She decorates， she enhances。 Quite unobtrusively， she accessorizes Greek myths with motifs and effervescence that changes the entire bedrock upon which they are grounded。In her reimagining， it is women like Athena， Circe， Aphrodite， Helen of Troy， etc。， who are at the helm - the heart - of the tales with their looms。 They are the writers， the shapers， the crafters of everything that is told。 Theirs' are the hands which are responsible for piecing together the elaborate and imaginative tapestry that exists to make sense of the world。 It is their voices， it is their weaving fingers of experience， which gives these myths of old a vibrant new texture that readers will be able to feel as well as behold。 It's a powerful depiction that infuses the myths with creative new artistry and paints the female characters with bolder agency。 I though this was brilliant。 Unique。 It was so nice to encounter a retelling of Greek mythology where the female characters/goddesses were the ones who were "spinning the yarn" and "pulling all the strings" in oratory for once。 Talk about a dazzling， tender， sophisticated reimagining--wow！ Just wow！ Thank you to Edelweiss and Random House for the ARC。BOOK BLOG 。。。more

Jesika ，

This is a retelling that brings a wonderful， overdue female perspective to the world of the Greek myths。 There are so many wonderful retellings by women， but as an overarching introduction to all the stories and the way they interact and bounce off each other， this is the one to read。It deserves so much praise， and I will be posting overviews of some of my thoughts （none of which are concise） over the coming weeks on a per chapter basis。 Settle in for some "Jes has gone mad on Classics again" po This is a retelling that brings a wonderful， overdue female perspective to the world of the Greek myths。 There are so many wonderful retellings by women， but as an overarching introduction to all the stories and the way they interact and bounce off each other， this is the one to read。It deserves so much praise， and I will be posting overviews of some of my thoughts （none of which are concise） over the coming weeks on a per chapter basis。 Settle in for some "Jes has gone mad on Classics again" posts。Suffice it to say that I think the structure of this book is inspired by Calliope herself。 To present the women of this world through their hard work - the toil of the loom should not be dismissed as minimal， this is not modern day chilled crafting - and through the stories they tell in the weaving， the space they create whilst doing so and the viewpoints and private experiences they hint at， the voice they create through this work。I loved the notion of ekphrasis throughout the book。 This is explained in the introduction， but it is essentially the written depiction of a physical work of art that itself visually tells a story。 This is used as a literary technique throughout the ancient Canon but is most memorable， perhaps， through Achilles's shield and the carvings on the temple of Juno when Aeneas visits Carthage in the Aeneid。 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。This is brilliant from start to finish。 It asks the reader to think about not only the female perspective on their stories， but their experience of living them。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Greek Myths: A New Retelling, with drawings by Chris Ofili&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0