Greek Myths - Couverture rigide

Higgins, Charlotte

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0593316266 ISBN 13 : 9780593316269

Editeur : Pantheon, 2021

Synopsis

A brilliantly original, landmark retelling of Greek myths, recounted as if they were actual scenes being woven into textiles by women who feature prominently in them.

Athena, Alcithoë, Philomela, Arachne, Andromache, Helen, Circe, Penelope. Full of powerful witches, unpredictable gods, and sword-wielding slayers, their stories were also extreme: about families who turn murderously on one another; impossible tasks set by cruel kings; love that goes wrong; wars and journeys and terrible loss. There was magic, there was shapeshifting, there were monsters, there were descents to the land of the dead. Humans and immortals inhabited the same world, which was sometimes perilous, sometimes exciting.

The stories were obviously fantastical. All the same, brothers really do war with each other. People tell the truth but aren't believed. Wars destroy the innocent. Lovers are parted. Parents endure the grief of losing children. Women suffer violence at the hands of men. The cleverest of people can be blind to what is really going on. The law of the land can contradict what you know to be just. Mysterious diseases devastate cities. Floods and fire tear lives apart. For the Greeks, the word "mûthos" simply meant a traditional tale. In the twenty-first century, we have long left behind the political and religious framework in which these stories first circulated. But their power endures. Greek myths remain true for us because they excavate the very extremes of human experience: sudden, inexplicable catastrophe; radical reversals of fortune; seemingly arbitrary events that transform lives. They deal, in short, in the hard basic facts of the human condition.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

In addition to being chief culture writer at The Guardian, CHARLOTTE HIGGINS is a past winner of the Classical Association Prize and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. She lives in London.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Pantheon
• Date d'édition: 2021
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0593316266
• ISBN 13: 9780593316269
• Reliure: Relié
• Illustrateur: Ofili Chris
• Nombre de pages: 368
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible