A Gift from Zeus [Hardcover]

Jeanne Steig (Author), William Steig (Illustrator)

Book Description

Here are myths from Greeks and Romans,
With chimeras, curses, omens,
Strange seductions, gold abounding,
Transformations most astounding,
Sorceresses, swans, and mazes,
Goddesses with lethal gazes,
Flying horses-goodness gracious!
Snaky heads and bulls salacious,
Minotaurs and monsters strangled,
Passions kinkily entangled--
All herein--A Gift From Zeus
(which, by the way can cook your goose).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Frolicking across Olympus, ablaze with jealousy, passion, and wit, the ancient gods of Greece and Rome have always been fodder for storytellers. And at last, the incomparable creative team of Jeanne and William Steig have stepped up to the task, retelling and illustrating 16 favorite myths with remarkable drollness and layer upon layer of nuance. Although no one ever accused Zeus and his cronies of being demure, in these delightful versions their bawdy behavior knows no bounds. Jeanne Steig does not shy away from telling it like it is; still, her writing is masterful and coy--not to mention uproariously funny. In "Demeter," when Hades tells his brother Zeus he has fallen in love, Zeus is enthusiastic:

"'A wonderful feeling,' he says. 'Who is she? A plump little mortal? A wiggly, giggly nymph?'

"'No, no,' says Hades. 'Your daughter, Kore. Our sister Demeter's girl. My niece. Yours, too, come to think of it. And her mother's.' The Olympians were a happy-go-lucky lot, for all their jealousy and mischief, and such distinctions were of small concern. 'I've come to ask for her hand--and all the rest of her!'"

Prometheus, Leda, Venus, Adonis, Echo, Narcissus, Arachne, Pygmalion... all of these mortals and immortals (and many more) are introduced and their sordid, touching, humorous, or tragic tales told in this tremendous collection by two immortals in their own right. William Steig's familiar style finds a perfect home in the depiction of a sobbing golden King Midas, for example, or the hapless Icarus tumbling from the sky. Readers be warned: mythology has always been fraught with ravagings and disembowelments and lusty couplings. The extraordinary Steigs simply embrace the naughtiness and render it irresistible. (This book is best for adults, but surely titillating for kids 10 and older as well.) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Kudos to the Steigs (A Handful of Beans), who employ colloquial prose, agile rhymes and art brut imagery to retell Greco-Roman myths. But beware: Like Ovid's The Metamorphoses, this zesty volume is a Pandora's box of hubris, lust and homicide. It opens with Prometheus, whose brother receives curvy, nude Pandora and her "baggage" from Mount Olympus. "Think twice, brother," Prometheus says. "A gift from Zeus is not likely to be a bargain." In a scrawled ink drawing, jack-in-the-box dragons pop out of a golden trunk. Elsewhere, lewd Zeus makes trouble by seducing Europa (as a bull) and doing a swan-dive on Leda (fully clothed but smiling blissfully): "He could never resist a mortal woman, especially one so agreeably sprawled on a bed of myrtle under the Spartan sky." Besides amorous gods, ravished virgins and incestuous parents, the collection recounts the weaving duel between mortal maiden Arachne and wrathful goddess Minerva, and the tragic love of Orpheus and Eurydice. Jeanne Steig admirably distills the famous stories, which she spices with euphemism and mordantly witty verse; only the knotty sagas of Theseus and Perseus contain a surfeit of complications. William Steig provides an antidote to mundane neoclassical art, sketching voluptuous nymphs and bloodthirsty boars in an earthy hand. An iconic drawing of the key element in each story appears as a chapter opener (e.g., a golden goblet for Midas). These racy myths will raise eyebrows (e.g., Daedalus fashions a cow suit for bull-besotted Pasipha‰), along with a curiosity for the originals. All ages.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (June 5, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060284056
• ISBN-13: 978-0060284053
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #958,795 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Gift from Zeus, July 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Gift from Zeus (Hardcover)

A lovely retelling of classical mythology, but should hardly be included among "children's books." To begin with, as another reviewer has noted, the illustrations are a bit too "irreverant." Descriptions of how Daedalus fashions a wooden cow for his queen to enjoy a sexual encounter with a bull seems far too adult a subject for an intended audience of 9-12 year-old readers. I had bought this book intending to read it with my six-year-old son, but it will be a few more years (quite a few) before he will see it. I am just not ready to explain to him what "ravish" means. I am very familiar with classical Greek mythology and should have known better than to have bought a book of it for a child. However, its being included in Amazon's children's section convinced me that it would be "safe." This book would be better classified as "teen" or some such. Not for children.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fresh, lively, but flawed treatment of Greek mythology, July 4, 2001

By 

Mrs. Darcy "ohlizzie" (Ballwin, MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Gift from Zeus (Hardcover)

The Steigs have done a tremendous job in this book of retelling 16 of the most popular Greek myths. Most importantly, they have done so without altering the details of the myths or losing their original spirit -- which tends to happen all too often with contemporary retellings of myths.

I do, however, have a few problems with the book. One is that it isn't clear to me who the intended audience should be -- it is not nearly comprehensive enough to be of use to the serious student of mythology, but it is also NOT written for kids. (A note to teachers -- this is a seriously "PG-13" book, and emphatically NOT for use in a classroom!)

My other problem is with some of the choices of myths: For example, how in the world could a collection of "sixteen favorite myths" leave out the twelve labors of Hercules? And some of the others, like the story of Europa, are just not all that interesting to begin with.

In short, the myths presented are done well. However, the book would have been better had the author decided to compile a more complete collection of stories, or had she decided to retell the ones she chose in a less "salacious" manner.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't date an Olympian..., July 23, 2001

By 

Susan Shedd (South Woodbury, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Gift from Zeus (Hardcover)

unless you want to be dead or inanimate. This book is delightfully wry in its retellings, and William Steig's illustrations strike the perfect (irreverent) note. It's not really a kids' book, mostly because few kids will appreciate the dry humor, but I think there are plenty of 10 and ups who will understand what is going on (and if they don't, no big deal). True, I won't be able to get away with reading it to my (K-6)school library classes, but there are plenty of kids in the 10 plus age range for whom it's appropriate. If they can read it and they want to read it, let them! Of greater importance: don't miss it yourself!