Greece and Rome (Myths & Legends S) [Paperback]

H A Guerber (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Senate; New edition edition (March 24, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859580025
• ISBN-13: 978-1859580028
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,581,236 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars H.A. Guerber's The Myths of Greece & Rome was decent:, July 3, 2011

By 

BlackJack21 "BlackJack21" (Connecticut/USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greece and Rome (Myths & Legends S) (Paperback)

H.A. Guerber's accounts of Greek/Roman mythology is a great primer for young high school and college students getting familiar with the myths and legends of the Heroes, Gods and Goddesses of the ancient world, but I just could not get past his usage of the Roman translation of their names instead of the Greek.

With the exception of Hercules, I prefer the Greek names.
For example, I wasn't use to him referring to Zeus and Hera as Jupiter and Juno, or Athena as Minerva, or Aphrodite as Venus and so on.... But in each chapter he does give you the Greek names before he starts his account, which for me didn't matter much because the usage of the Roman names destroyed any nuances it might have had.
This made his accounts of the stories laborious in my opinion. In all honesty, I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book, but that doesn't mean you won't because Guerber is very thorough with his research. He manages to quote many sources such as Ovid, Homer, Virgil and many other writers while telling his versions of the tales/events.

If you like the usage of the Roman names better than the Greek then this will most likely be a four star read for you, but if you're like me you may want to take a pass and read Edith Hamilton's "Mythology Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" instead, or you may want to read the original stories in their entirety, such as Homer's "The Iliad" and the "Odyssey."

Overall, this was a good book it just wasn't for me.