THE GREEK MYTHS: THE COMPLETE AND DEFINITIVE EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Robert Graves | 784 pages | 17 Jun 2011 | Penguin Books Ltd | 9780241952740 | English | London, United Kingdom The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition / AvaxHome Graves may have read widely but probably selectively and certainly not critically. He was clearly greatly influenced by Margaret Alice Murray and her theories on religion. Even at the time, Murray's work was widely criticised by other academics and little has changed in that regard since - if anything the academy has become more entrenched in its criticisms of her. Although Graves makes use of folkloric, ethnographic, historic and archaeological sources in interpreting the myths they all appear to have already been out of date in the 's when he wrote this book and, worse, the sources themselves are not referenced. Since Graves was happy to present his own ideas in the footnotes as well and all the supporting evidence and theories he uses are not referenced it's impossible to sort his own fancies from others'. It's also notable that all of the sources he does present conform to his own ideas - a further sign of his writing to an agenda Murray influenced or not. Sep 13, Hannah rated it really liked it. This book is not a commentary on or a history of the myths. It is simply the myths, wonderfully organized and beautifully told. As someone who loves order, the organization of this book is a dream. Graves divided the book into seven sections and within those sections he titles every myth. This is all laid out in the table of contents. Only want to read about Io? Or The Vengea 3. Or The Vengeance of Orestes? No problem, just find it in the contents and and get reading. One of my favorite sections is the very first one, which Graves calls In the Beginning. As the name implies, this section deals with the creation of the universe and the big, or main, gods and goddesses. I found it interesting to think about and compare the few different creation myths. Graves includes the Pelasgian, Homeric and Orphic, and Olympian creation myths. My personal favorite is Homeric and Orphic myth in large part because of the character of Night. The character is so beautifully written that I wanted a whole story about her! I also want to note that I will always love the story of the birth of Aphrodite. Be warned, there is a whole lot of incest going on view spoiler [and rape hide spoiler ]. It's weird and it will never not be weird. One of the biggest surprises I found while reading was the story Deucalion's Flood. In short, it's Noah's Ark before there was Noah's Ark. Makes you wonder how original that bible story is. One last comment, I found it interesting to think about whether or not these myths influenced morality - or at least tried to influence it. Certain stories seemed to be pushing a certain point of view as many stories do on the reader. Just some food for thought. I will say that some of the myths, in my opinion, are rather dull. However it helps that the myths are short. I think the longest one was about 5 pages long, so it makes for a quick read nonetheless. Do I recommend? I think most people can find some part of this book that they'd enjoy. It's always been my favourite, and it always shall be. Nov 28, Jak rated it liked it. There are several pros and cons to this book. This would be an invaluable tool to an academic but as some one who only wanted to read and enjoy the stories I There are several pros and cons to this book. This would be an invaluable tool to an academic but as some one who only wanted to read and enjoy the stories I skipped all that and consequently probably only read half the near pages. Also, in order to be academic each character is given their lineage which in a cast of thousands becomes tiresome. Also each possible source is given a brief mention which becomes again, tiresome. For example Graves might write a couple of paragraphs describing how a character murdered a king with a spear, married his wife and begat several children. Sep 02, Dave rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction , non-fiction , history , classic. Originally published in , it was updated for the last time in There are two volumes, but they are often available in a single book, which makes it easier for the reader to handle. Graves does a wonderful job of making the myths easy to read and understand, and discusses the variations which often occurred in the myths. His interpretation of the myths is a bit subjective, so the reader needs to treat that aspect as such. The volumes can be used in different ways. One of the more useful ways is as a reference for learning about references to Greek Mythology. A second way to use the book is to simply browse until you find a myth that interests you and spend some time reading about it and its variations. Each myth is explained in clear English and divided into paragraphs relating to each of the ancient Greek works which mention the myths. These ancient references are then listed which easily provides the reader the information they need to do further investigation. Lastly, additional notes are included which help to better understand the myths and put them into an historical perspective, though again this is not necessarily factual as much as it is supposition on the part of Graves. Another way to use this book is to simply read it to gain an overall understanding of Greek myths. In addition, many of the myths have multiple versions and Graves discusses many of these variations which also interfere with treating this book like a story book. In addition the links to references and the material added to better understand the myths which are so useful for treating this as a reference, definitely get in the way of telling the story. All that being said, you can still use the book in this way, it is just not the optimum format and there may be better books out there for this purpose. I have found this book to be very useful over the years. It is very helpful when doing research, but also good for a diversion when one wants to look at one particular myth. Though not perfect, this book still rates five stars in my opinion. Oct 09, Sharon Barrow Wilfong rated it liked it. Robert Graves is quite thorough in writing about the myths and at the end of each story, he provides foot notes that can be as long as the story itself. Some of the footnotes are speculative. It is difficult to know these things or the origins of any of these stories. But Graves gives his educated guesses and they are worth pondering. In Graves' version the myths are not child friendly and a lot more graphic than I remember Edith Hamilton's version. I Robert Graves is quite thorough in writing about the myths and at the end of each story, he provides foot notes that can be as long as the story itself. I have not read Hamilton's version in many years, so I suppose I could be wrong. She also includes stories that Graves leaves out. Graves seems to lean heavily on saga, which I appreciated since I recently read the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also fills in the gaps those two poems leave, letting us know how the Trojan War began and what happened to some of the key players such as Achilles, who is alive in the Iliad, but already dead in the Odyssey. I do not know if Robert Graves has a certain predilection towards the salacious his books, I, Claudius and Claudius the God were pretty lewd or if he is simply preserving a faithful translation of the stories. He has been criticized for relying too heavily on Suetonius' histories, who is also known for creating scandals that are not as historically reliable as they should be. Every single story contains murder and rape. No Greek hero is exempt from practicing treachery, adultery, and, in one instance, necrophilia. Leaving children out for exposure was common. Many of the heroes were spared from an early death by compassionate shepherds, or even female animals who nursed them. Women are treated savagely by men, and especially Zeus who ravaged the countryside without mercy. These women were not only the victims of this heinous crime but they also got to be punished for it by the ever jealous Hera. The female goddesses were not much better than the gods. Both male and female gods' sense of justice was based largely on caprice and selfish ambition. There seemed to be very little reason other than a cruel nature behind any of their actions. Ancient Greece is known for being the intellectual epicenter of the B. View all 4 comments. This is a reference book more than a short story collection. If you want entertainment, look elsewhere. If you want research and philosophy on the myths this book might be up your ally. Graves writing is good, but very dry. NOTE: This is not a comic book nor is this for kids. Yes the guy who wrote Percy Jackson did the introduction, but this is way above that reading level.