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silver_lining_in_a_book's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.25
It’s fascinating that fully half of these six major goddesses have sworn off sex and marriage, given that they were worshipped during times when ordinary women had little choice about marriage, and almost no opportunity to reject it as a way of life. Perhaps the only thing we can read into this mismatch is that gods occupy a different plane from mortals and so would live unimaginable lives, and that being unmarried is as natural for a goddess (and unnatural for a mortal).
I really love Natalie Haynes' humour and writing style. This is my second read from her and she has really cemented herself as one of my favourite writers on Greek and Roman mythology already. I like the comparisons that she makes between ancient myth and current media, as well as sprinkling in some personal commentary and historical / archeological details, which really make her stand-out from the influx of mythology retellings we have been seeing recently.
I do not have much commentary to offer here. I found that I really loved this book and read it all in one go because of how interesting and well-written it was! I am afraid that it probably will not stick with me as much as some other books because of the incredible amount of information that was all squeezed into this book and the confusion I faced when the same characters was referred to by multiple different names (e.g. Greek, name, Roman names and all kinds of variations of it - I understand mentioning the different names but utilising them made me a little frustrated when I already always struggle with these names). Moreover, I think this would work so much better as a visual experience (e.g. a documentary or lecture series with slides) because of how often visual media such as art pieces and film snippets were mentioned. I am definitely not well versed in films, plays, musicals and TV series so all of these references went over my head despite me looking these things up after finishing a chapter.
All the negativity aside, I did truly love this and - who knows - maybe I will watch the films / series/ plays mentioned and give this a reread, I am definitely not opposed to that because this really was a good time!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Murder, Classism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexism, War, Violence, Rape, and Infidelity
inirac's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Death, Rape, and Sexual assault
sop17hie's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
pipn_t's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Really good book, very interesting insight into the women of Greek myth. A bit hard going at times as the subject matter was sometimes pretty dark, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
leontyna's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I'm struggling how to rate it. I really appreciate Haynes' writing but with this book I had trouble concentrating on the goddesses part of it because there were so many anecdotes and digressions. I enjoyed the process of listening to it, especially since it was read by the author, but I don't think I'll remember a single new thing from it. I'll still reach for anything the author writes though.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Rape
josiesprobablyreading's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
mars_loves_books's review
adventurous
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Animal death, Death, Incest, Kidnapping, War, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Rape, Blood, Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, and Sexism
carijacqueline's review against another edition
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Rape, War, and Sexism
katerina_l's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Blood, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Rape
tamarant4's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
[Erysichthon, cursed by Demeter] eats the racehorses, a warhorse and an ailouros – the animal they keep for catching vermin. This word was usually translated as ‘cat’ when I was a student, but some archaeozoologists now think domestic cats were quite late arrivals in Greece, so an ailouros might actually be a weasel or a pine marten. Whatever it is, Erysichthon eats it. [loc. 2795]
Haynes offers a witty, feminist account of six Olympian goddesses -- Aphrodite, Athene, Artemis, Demeter, Hera and Hestia -- bracketed by chapters on the Muses and the Furies. Her text is peppered with pop culture references (Katniss and Kate 'Hawkeye' Bishop, Lizzo and Cardi B, Lady Gaga and Arnold Schwarznegger, Jessica Jones and Barbie) as well as references to the myths in their various forms, and to artworks based on those myths. (I'd have liked more illustrations of the latter, but then again Kindle is not a great medium through which to view images, and the internet was at hand...)
Haynes reclaims Hera, who's typically depicted as foul-tempered, rageful and unreasonable, as the champion of married women -- and, implicitly, of a type of civilised order to which the 'petty, aggressive and routinely obnoxious' male gods are oblivious. She shows us the power of Demeter's rage and grief when Persephone is abducted by Hades; the destructive, sacrifice-demanding side of Artemis, and the great antiquity of her myth; the underappreciated Hestia, 'a goddess who doesn’t often do, but always is... our warm homecoming, our baked bread, our light in the dark' [2983]. She writes about how the Sirens were turned into magpies by the Muses (a myth I hadn't encountered before) and about the ways in which the Greeks identified and understood psychological states -- such as PTSD -- by thinking of them as curses dealt by particular deities.
Haynes is often slyly hilarious, for instance her remark that 'I too have been perplexed by Zeus’ habit of converting himself into a bird for the purposes of impressing or beguiling women'. I appreciate her humour a great deal and think it will appeal to the demographic that's perhaps her target audience: young women without much experience of Greek mythology. Her style is informal, her breadth of knowledge impressive and her observations highly relevant to the modern world. I've read and admired Haynes' novel Stone Blind, which retells the story of Medusa and her sisters: I think her non-fiction writing is equally accomplished.
of all the goddesses in this book, the Furies – not in their role of vengeance-goddesses but in the sense of collective, societal shame that they also personify, shame at breaking your word or behaving cruelly and dishonestly – might be the ones I would most like to see restored to a modern pantheon. [loc. 4040]
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, War, Violence, Rape, Animal death, and Animal cruelty