10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Epicurus is an absolute pleasure, March 20, 2000
Epicurus the Sage is a biting satire about the philosophical and historical climate of classical Athens. Although not at all historically accurate, it takes each character, including good old Socrates himself, to the extreme. No knowledge of philosophy or the mythology is required to get the most out of this book, although it certainly helps. It seems to take a while for the plot to kick and it winds up very quickly, which is a little disappointing. Still, it had my whole household rolling on the floor with laughter. In the tradition of Asterix, this is a great comic.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Epicuriouser and curiouser, June 6, 2006
This review is from: Epicurus: The Sage (Paperback)
OK, it's not a likely source of comedy. Epicurus, the philsopher, meets Plato. They suffer the withering gaze of Socrates, the ignominy of discovering that Persephone had actually run away with "Hades-poo," the libido of Zeus and the lividity of Hera in response, and lots more. It's a merry (and somewhat skewed) romp through the golden age of Greek philosophy and through the gilded cage in which the classical gods toy with us mere mortals. With them comes Alexander not-yet-the-Great, a hyperactive eight year old with an attitude and a sword.
This compiles a few of the original comics (and these truly are comical), from the long-ish "Visiting Hades," through "Riding the Sun," to "Helen's Boy." The artistic style develops visibly through the progression, from humorous to frankly bizarre exaggerations - watch for Hera speaking in a quasi-human cow, and brace yourself for a laughable but yuk-creepy caricature of a human female form. The stories wander agreeably through the old tales, back and forth through myth, truth, and pure silliness.
It's a good set, despite a visual style that I thought went downhill through the series. Knowing the original history and mythology will make the stories better for you - but reading these stories will also make you want to look up the originals. The renderings here include a few crude moments. Face it, though, Zeus's carrying-on with all those ill-starred lovelies isn't really what you're likely to use as a goodnight story for your tyke, not when you really think about the details. If you can put up with a little authentic indelicacy, it's good, literate fun.
//wiredweird
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent Comedy, August 17, 2004
This review is from: Epicurus: The Sage (Paperback)
I respectfully disagree with the previous reviewer's statement that no previous knowledge of Greek history is needed. I am by no means an expert in Greek history, but I know a few things from high school, watching documentaries, visiting museums and historical stories and movies. The first two stories in this volume are based on pretty well known Greek myths but the second two are more obscure, so I couldn't get into them very much. The plot does take a while to get going but I think that is necessary because of the story's philosophical theme. Of course, its not acurate according to history, its a satire, but I don't think most of it can be proven wrong either. Its very funny and very daring because this type of thing can lose readers pretty quickly. Even though there was a lot I didn't understand, this book is still a good purchase. I'll put it on the shelf for a couple of years and come back to it by which time I'll probably have learned more about Greek history so that I can understand the subtlties (and there are a lot of them).
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