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Myths of the Greeks and Romans (Meridian) Rev Upd Edition

by Michael Grant (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 5 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0452011625
ISBN-10: 0452011620
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Product Details

  • Series: Meridian
  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Plume; Rev Upd edition (September 1, 1995)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0452011620
  • ISBN-13: 978-0452011625
  • Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.2 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,136,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA new look at some old stories
By mrliteral on July 28, 2007
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
As important as almost any literature is in understanding Western culture are the tales of Greek and Roman mythology. Unlike Shakespeare, Chaucer or Cervantes, however, these stories are not identified with a single author, but rather a number of big names, including Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, Livy, Ovid and most notably (and perhaps most legendary), Homer. These stories have endured for millennia, and have been related by a number of authors over the years. Michael Grant is walking over familiar ground with his book on these myths, but he still is able to provide a new look at these old stories.

Grant, an author on numerous books on ancient history (particularly Greek and Roman, but also other Mediterranean communities), definitely has the credentials to write about these stories. The myths themselves are actually just the starting point in his discussion; what follows after the tales is an analysis of the impact of the story.

An example would be the story of Oedipus, in particular, Sophocles play, King Oedipus (also known as Oedipus Rex). First Grant tells the story in a rather straightforward narrative with occasional interruptions where he provides excerpts from translations. He then discusses some of the history behind Oedipus and some of the thematic issues: for example, why is Oedipus punished for a fate beyond his control? Grant also discusses Freud and the Oedipus Complex.

What's important to Grant is that these myths are not mere entertainments, but instead have a depths and breadth that goes well beyond the actual tale. All the well-known tales are discussed: the Iliad and the Odyssey, Jason and the Argonauts, Perseus, Aeneas, Romulus and Remus, and many others.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsA scholarly summation from an earlier time
By Levana Taylor on March 19, 2010
Format: Paperback
I bought this book while searching for a summary of up-to-date points of view on the Greek myths, but "Myths of the Greeks and Romans", first published in 1962, is no such thing. (Note that although the listing here says that this edition is "revised and updated", according to the title page only the bibliography has been updated.) It sorely feels the lack of half a century of archaeological and historical research, and of theoretical and literary perspectives. This is a pity, because the conception of the book, as a way of organizing the vastness of its material, is a good one: choose a number of ancient literary sources, summarize a myth or myth-cycle taken from each one, and discuss the history, background, alternate versions, and continuing literary legacy of that myth.

Grant finds opportunities at various points in these discussions to introduce the layperson to an array of the theories that had been applied to myth by the mid-twentieth century: the aetiological, the ethnological, the psychoanalytic, the search for traces of history, various poetic theories, and so forth. (Incidentally, the book entirely omits footnotes for the scholars and works mentioned, and most of them are not even in the bibliography; though I realize that this is a conscious decision to avoid intimidating lay readers, I think it's a poor one.) Grant's eminently sensible insistence that "no single theory, however valuably suggestive, will suffice to explain the whole range of Greek and Roman mythology, or even a major proportion of its content" leads to some good passages, such as the section of the chapter on Demeter where his discussion of the relation between ritual and myth presents arguments for the primacy of the one and the other and points out that it's not necessary to choose between them.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsBought for High School Student
By W. Caulfield on April 24, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
My niece was studying Homer in 9th grade and I thought Professor Grant's insights might be helpful. Also a good introduction to basic mythology: Cupid and Psyche, Pyramus and Thisbe...the list goes on and on.
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2.0 out of 5 starsmissing pages
By It's a secret on May 18, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Pretty good overview with haphazard but welcome connections from all over literary history. Unfortunately, my copy cuts off at page 368, leaving out some 50 pages of chapter 17, maps, notes, and the index which are all listed in the table of contents.
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5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
By Michael R. Stolze on March 1, 2015
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Great Book !!
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