Great Zeus and All His Children [Paperback]

Donald Richardson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Greyden Pr (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570740917
• ISBN-13: 978-1570740916
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,133,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good wine served in a dog dish, June 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Zeus and All His Children (Paperback)

After all the bowdlerized, westernized, censored, and in other ways mutilated versions of Greek mythology served up to the general reader in the English language, here at last is something approaching the real thing.

Richardson is the honest mythographer we should have been reading all along. This is emphatically THE book to read to your children (as well as to yourself), if you at all want them to have a taste of the deep and vibrant stories of the Greeks. The psychological and dramatic truth of the stories shines forth here like nowhere else, and Hamilton, Graves and Evslin are reduced (at best) to research tools in comparison to the vigorous prose and galloping pace of Donald Richardson. The Greeks approached the sacred stories that they viewed as the foundation of their existence with a great sense of propriety, so what is left after stripping away the modern translators' veil of Victorian prudery is the undistilled humanity of a long-lost people, earthy, humorous, astute, and profound, but in no way obscene or prurient. Paradoxically, the closer we come to understanding the minds of the writers of these tales, a people who lived and died thousands of years ago, the more we begin to recognize ourselves.

The only drawback is the terrible production of the book, but my copy dates back to the late nineties, so perhaps by now the print-on-demand technology has evolved to the point of putting out books that are more legible, and that survive more than one reading.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That's a lot of kids!!!, September 12, 2000

By 

"nlrj" (st. marys, oh United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Zeus and All His Children (Paperback)

Great Zeus and All His Children is an excellent place to start the study of Greek mythology. Although it should really be stressed that this book is for ADULTS, it is interesting reading full of heroic journeys and tragic tales. A must read for anyone interested in mythology.

NOT FOR YOUNG READERS!!!!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well written. Terribly produced., February 11, 2008

By 

Alaskan Reader (Alaska, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Great Zeus and All His Children (Paperback)

I first came across this book at the library and thoroughly enjoyed the read. Well written. Engaging. It's great. However, this paperback edition is so poorly produced I find it impossible to read. The type is uneven -- letters vary in thickness and some parts of the page are darker then others. It's painful and frustrating. I would check your local libary for a hardback edition before buying the paperback. Truly a shame.