Customer Reviews

Marriage of Cadmus & Harmony

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"The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony," is a marvelous retelling of the Greek myths that puts a trace on their source, and a track on their permutations. More importantly Roberto Calasso explores their ramifications on modern times. And, he does it in a scholarly and entertaining way that never pulls us from the full world of ancient Greece that he recreates. Oh, those gods and goddesses were steeped in gore, and would wreck whatever havoc was necessary to have their ways with humanity and each other. The blood of every hero seems to begin with a sanctified seduction or rape, and end in a pool either before the gates of Troy, or as a result of that ten year war. Not to say that the humans act or fare any better than their divine counterparts. The greatest among them were small in their motives as they pursued homicide, parricide, matricide, infanticide and every other side of slaughter they could summon into being. But, as small as they were, they were heroes; and, as petty as they were, they were the gods; and their actions, reactions, and inactions shaped and continue to shape Western culture. "The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony" is a fitting companion piece to "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," and stands alone as a thrilling tale of the mortal and immortal excesses that have formed us.

Roberto Calasso's retelling of the myths of antiquity is as powerful and life-changing a book as I've ever read. He illuminates these stories and brings them to life, showing us the power they held for the ancients by infusing them with his own narrative power, writing in a style which is crisp, modern, and yet full of fantasy. We see our own lives in the lives of the gods and the lives of the humans with whom they spoke, made love, made war. This book would be worth reading simply for the engaging way in which Calasso tells the stories. He doesn't stop there, however. His insights and interpretations are worth a book in themselves. Nearly every page of my copy is filled with checks and underlined passages, each representing ideas which provoked thought or simply struck me as brilliant. This book is not another dictionary of myths in the style of Bullfinch and Hamilton and Graves--it is a work of literature in its own right, and, I believe, a work of genius. If you are interested in classical mythology, read this book. If you are not, read this book. It is for anyone who wants to see the world in a different, richer way.

I first saw this book, very thick, one year ago, poking out of some shelf at my school's library. 'Greek myth, huh?' I was up for the challenge. I guess I knew the stories well, but the brilliant narrative and style was so absorbing, I was hooked. Calasso re-opened my eyes to the World of Greek myth! I can't remember how many times I went back to take this book out- more then five, as far as I know. What I enjoyed about it most was how each of the characters was brought to life, each with thoughts, and fears, and desires not unlike that of mankind today. The first time I finished this book I felt Calasso had altered my life, or my perspective on it. I had to go back and read it again, and again. Simply a work of art, this is a treasure of wealth in the form of written knowledge. And, personally, I don't care who you are or where you are form, just read this book. You'll see what I mean.

This is a poem camouflaged as prose. An eye opener. You don't read the book, the book reads into you and, after a few pages to find the right keys, it starts using your words, describing your feelings. I have read this book 4 or 5 times, and I will read it again. It is like listening to a piece of music that fascinates you. Every time you read it, it gives you something more, something new, something you missed and were waiting to find. Amazing. I am glad I came across this book

"The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony" is a truly ambitious work. Roberto Calasso has gathered together the various tales in Greek mythology, including the works of Hesiod and Homer, and put them together into one cohesive whole. Rather than simply retelling these well-known stories, the book shows the interconnectedness of events and characters, tying everything together. Calasso writes with a style that is both narrative and scholarly. He takes time to dig deeply into the underlying themes of Greek mythology, producing some profound and thought-provoking insights, but at the same time keeps the tone animated, retaining the feel that this is an epic story rather than a dry scholarly analysis.

Despite the choice of title, the characters of Cadmus and Harmony are only mentioned a few times in passing in the main body of the work. It is not until the final chapter that they take center stage. Calasso opens the book with Zeus's abduction of Europa, and ties this in with a general theme of abduction to be found throughout Greek mythology. Then he slowly works his way back in time, taking us, in the middle of the book, to the very beginning, the creation story of the Greeks. From there Calasso moves forward once again, relating the fall of Athens, the decline of ancient Greece, and the slow fading of the gods from earthly life.

"The mythographer," Calasso says, "lives in a permanent state of chronological vertigo" (281). While he does make the stories flow together, it would be impossible to put them in a definite order. Trying to do so would drive one mad, and it is advisable to just sit back and enjoy the stories without worrying too much about their placement in time. In addition, since the Greek tales were primarily passed on orally, many variations on them evolved over time, and not all of these variants fit together. Nevertheless, Calasso often gives us multiple versions of a story. Don't let this confuse you too much. The Greeks themselves, Calasso tells us, "became so used to hearing the same stories told with different plots that it got to be a perfectly normal thing for them" (279). I do, however, wish Calasso had included some family trees to help keep family relations straight. I ended up jotting down my own rough lineage tables to keep the lines of descent organized in my mind.

I was slightly disappointed to find that Calasso has not included the entirety of Greek mythology here. Ironically, the front cover shows Pandora descending to Earth with Mercury, but the story of Pandora is not mentioned in the book at all. The stories of Arachne, Prometheus, the Minotaur, and others are alluded to in passing, but never fully told. The slaying of Medusa by Perseus is not mentioned. Rather, Calasso has devoted a bit too much of the book to retelling the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey, which one can just as easily read in those books themselves. Nevertheless, what he has done here is impressive, and well worth reading.

The book is not what I would call an easy read, as it requires concentration on the part of the reader as Calasso analyzes the stories and their themes, but for an attentive reader it should not be overwhelmingly difficult. Calasso's style can take a little getting used to. I do not know whether to blame the author or the translator, but the book is riddled with sentence fragments which sometimes make for choppiness in the train of thought. However, there are not so many of these as to be overly distracting, and once used to the style, they are easier to digest.

One final word of warning: The is a book for adults. If it were a movie, it would be rated X, and is best suited for readers of high school age and up. Greek sexual values would be seen as licentious by many readers of today, and Calasso makes no effort to censor them. There are extensive, detailed passages on the practice of sodomizing young boys, and on the abduction and rape of women. There is also an abundance of incest, as the Greek gods and goddesses were mind-bogglingly inbred. For example, after deposing his father, Kronos, Zeus sleeps with his mother, Demeter (a.k.a. Rhea), resulting in the birth of Persephone. Zeus then sleeps with Persephone to produce Zagreus, the first incarnation of Dionysus. The book contains debauchery in every possible form, graphically described, so this is not the version of Greek mythology to start your little ones with.

That said, however, I would highly recommend the book to mature audiences. "The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony" an insightful and highly enjoyable read. Greek mythology has never ceased to captivate readers of subsequent ages, and Calasso offers us a clear new perspective on these ancient tales. This is a book to read slowly and to savor. It is a book you will probably want to read more than once, as it offers plenty to think about, and it certainly deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Greek mythology and culture.

This breathtaking analysis of the core of Western thought spans mythology and reality, interpretation and metamorphosis. We see the primary characters seen through different versions of their stories, applied to the different needs of the culture and finally pull back to see the evolution of that need dissolve into mere fascination. A glorious book, I've read it three times!

However, I strongly suggest that readers should have a fair background in Greek mythology before tackling this book.

Sometimes we run across a book that makes a real difference at the way we look at the world, or at least at an area of our own world. This is one of them. A poetic run through all the myths of the Greeks results in us looking for the answers to the same questions, thousands of years later. And of course to think about what is the core of human nature and how come it has not changed that much after all. The book is well written and the translation superb. The read takes time because we must stop to think, we must go back to read, we need to understand. Reading this book is truly a journey of the mind, a journey that we can at any time go back to by picking up the book later and opening it at any chapter. And for the more practically inclined, it is a beautiful romp through Greek mythology, with interesting connections to history and psychology. You can't miss with this one.

I have often thought that the magic of classical mythology - that sense of wonder at its stories of flawed heroes and capricious gods - had to be created in childhood by parents who read to their children. Ever since I heard these stories as a child, I have peridoically enjoyed re-reading them as an adult.

This book, I thought, would be another simple retelling of the stories. Well, I was wrong: this book is for adults, with its own sense of wonder at the complexity of the classical world's religion and leisure activites. Calasso mixes the stories with archeology, art criticism, and psychology in what I believe is unique literary experiment. Even for adults who did not become imbued with these stories early on can enjoy this book and perhaps see what childhood initiates treasure. That makes it a unique gift book for the thinking adult.

It is also fun and easy to read, a lovely tableau painted by a great master. The descriptions are brilliant and vivid, totally believable as well. REcommended.

Calasso's masterpiece tells the story of the age that preceded our grand loneliness which started the morning after the gods were last invited to one of our revels. That morning-after,"Cadmus and Harmony woke up in the bed Aphrodite had made for them. Now they were just a king and queen." This is when our chaotic age starts and when the book ends. Every page back is a step back into that story-studded lost age when men and gods co-existed. The whole unfolds as a sustained finale of fireworks, starting with the first page, once triggered on the shores of Sidon by what the gods do best: metamorphosis and abduction. Calasso brilliantly amalgamates the metals of Plutarch, Ovid, Pindar and the Greek Tragedians with the mercury of an almost forgotten Nonnus whose Dionysiaca, Calasso, a formidable rare book collector, distills into a limpid tonic for us moderns.

As a Mythology teacher I have read few books more insightful, intelligent, and artistic than Calasso's achievement. Although the book presupposes quite a bit of knowledge of Greek Mythology, it leaves the reader with a new perspective on the meaning and philosophy of mythology. Amazing.