Aphrodite's Blessings [Hardcover]

Clemence McLaren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

The goddess Aphrodite was adored and feared by gods and mortals alike; none were immune to her power. Young lovers offered gifts and prayers to her, the goddess of love and beauty, in hopes of receiving her blessings....

Content as one of the best athletes in her father's kingdom, Atalanta rebels against attempts at an arranged marriage. What she doesn't know is that Aphrodite has given her blessing to a race that will change everything.

Then there is Andromeda whose beauty rivals that of any goddess. She is devastated by her father's choice of a husband but Aphrodite has another plan for her too.

Finally, nobody wants to marry the beautiful Psyche. A mysterious suitor is finally found, but Aprhrodite decrees that Psyche must descend into Hades to earn his love.

In three love stories spun from Greek myths, Clemence McLaren, author of Inside the Walls of Troy and Waiting for Odysseus, presents these new retellings -- with all their longing, hope, fear, and love -- from the woman's point of view.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"And I realized with a shock that he was never going to understand. He was a man," laments Atalanta about her overbearing father. Atalanta, Andromeda, and Psyche--three Greek heroines bound by love, or by the harsh bonds of a patriarchal society? In these feminist retellings of classic love stories, Clemence McLaren, author of Waiting for Odysseus and Inside the Walls of Troy, tells it like it really was for women back in the Greek day--early marriage followed by complete sacrifice to a husband's sometimes selfish will. But these women refuse to accept that fate, and try instead to somehow get around their father-chosen futures. The story of Atalanta, the haughty girl athlete who refused to marry, is turned into a poignant tale of an obedient daughter doing her best to please her arrogant father, despite his unreasonable demand that she compete with her suitors--to the death. Andromeda is reluctantly resigned to marrying her father's old fogy friend, until fate intervenes in the form of a giant sea monster and a dashing young hero. But it's poor Psyche, so beautiful that people worship her instead of the goddess Aphrodite, who has to confront the most unpleasant creature of all--an angry mother-in-law who also happens to have the power of Mount Olympus at her fingertips. Three women, three marriages, three stories that riot grrrls of today will easily relate to, thanks to McLaren's savvy way of showing how real Greek women were far from being seen as goddesses, and just as unlikely to be treated as such. Divinely recommended. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

In this trilogy of love stories Greek myths expertly retold with a feminist slant McLaren (Waiting for Odysseus) brings to life three heroines, Atalanta, Andromeda and Psyche, and shows how each obtains a worthy mate. Romance links the stories, but it is not of the hearts-and-flowers variety. Themes regarding the repression of women and their secret yearnings for independence add an element of sharpness even as happy endings prevent these sagas from becoming unpleasantly bitter. In "Running from Love," for example, Atalanta's athletic skills and unorthodox views earn her a reputation as "a freak of nature." Caring more about self-preservation than others' opinions, she literally outruns her suitors to avoid the prison of marriage. Andromeda and Psyche are less rebellious. They reluctantly succumb to grim fates of loveless unions until supernatural forces unexpectedly intervene. McLaren endows her classical protagonists with new dimensions, making them vulnerable yet courageous, compassionate yet steel-willed. She artfully preserves the ambience of myth while offering an insightful glimpse of women struggling in a male-dominated world. A thoughtful afterword explores the status of upper-class women in real-life ancient Greece, identifies some of McLaren's sources and explains her variations on them. Ages 12-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; 1st edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689843771
• ISBN-13: 978-0689843778
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,926,214 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love is the greatest gift, January 15, 2002

By 

"libraryladie" (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aphrodite's Blessings (Hardcover)

Faced with life's challenges as they mature into young ladies, three Grecian teenagers receive help with love and romance from Aphrodite, goddess of love, as told in this first person narrative. The first, Atalanta, embraces her tomboy athleticism until she is thrust by her father into marriage. She is forced into running races against her potential suitors. If she wins the suitors are put to death. Through her intuition Atalanta realizes she has received the gift of winning from Aphrodite. She never loses a race until she meet her true love and her character is forced to take on a challenge. The second, Andromeda, is urged to sacrifice herself to a sea monster after he mother, Queen Cassiopea, boasts to the gods that she is the most beautiful queen. Aphrodite intervenes and sends a savior to slay the sea monster and protect Andromeda. She recognizes that her savior, Perseus, is her genuine love, thus breaking out of her shy shell to acknowledge her own persona. And finally, in Psyche's story, the heroine is blessed with actual beauty that exceeds Aphrodite's. Eros is sent by Aphrodite to shoot arrows and make Psyche fall in love with an ugly suitor. However, Eros is captivated by Psyche's beauty and falls in love with her. In order for the two to be together Aphrodite challenges Psyche to four tasks. Upon completion of the tasks she is made a goddess and is allowed to join her love, Eros. Therefore Aphrodite's gift is her son and his love. Based on Greek mythology this trilogy is wonderful for teens that may have any interest in Greco-Roman myths. This novella would function well as a complimentary text for a classroom assignment or research project. McLaren does a fantastic job of illustrating how confusing romance and love is for teenagers. One of the concurrent themes throughout the stories is that all of these women are living privileged lives compared to other women their age. Together the three exemplify some of the typical stereotypes given for teens, the tomboy, the inhibited and the beauty queen.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love it!, July 10, 2006

By 

S. Steiner "This is her daughter" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aphrodite's Blessings (Hardcover)

I loved this when i first read it back in 8th grade. Now that i bought it and re-read it again, i love it even more! I have loved greek mythology and romantic stuff for a long time and this book provides both. It first inspired me to write my own greek mythology love story back in 8th grade. But now that i have re-read it and another one of the author's books, i'm going to fix my story and make it better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great!, April 3, 2005

By 

S.N. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aphrodite's Blessings (Hardcover)

This book was pretty good. I definitely enjoyed reading it. Aphrodite's Blessing is a book about three Greek myths. In these myths, Aphrodite plays a main role in the lives of the main characters: Atalanta, Andromeda, and Psyche.

In the first myth, Atalanta is of an age to marry. But she doesn't want to be married off and to get out of it, she races against her suitors. If Atalanta wins, her suitors will be executed. If she loses, she will be married off to the winner. Atalanta ends up winning most of the races and tying only one time. She stays unmarried, until Aphrodite decides to change all that.

In the second myth, Andrommeda is going to be thrown in a loveless, arranged marriage. Until her mother brags about them being more beautiful than the water nymphs. In consequence, Andrommeda must be sacrificed to a sea monster. Until her secret hero comes and saves her.

The third myth is my favorite out of the book. It's about Psyche, who's beauty is enough to make Aphrodite herself jealous.
A prophecy has been made that Psyche is not to marry any mortal being and so she's ends up being married to an immortal. But there are sacrifices she must make. Psyche is not allowed to see the face of her husband and must trust him. But thanks to the meddling of her sisters, she breaks that trust and finds out he is Eros, a.k.a. Cupid. Now she must complete three tasks for jealous Aphrodite, Eros's mother, to ever see him again.

These are great stories and it gets more in depth than the original myths. I found out that some of the stories contradict the original myths, but i liked them anyway.