| Title | : | Greek Mythology: A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters (Norse MythologyEgyptian MythologyGreek Mythology Book 3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 153 |
| Publication | : | First published January 22, 2017 |
This book includes some of the standard views of Greek myth and history but also tantalizes your imagination with the possibilities that lay behind myth and legend. By the time you are finished with this book, you will have a good appreciation for the nature of Greek mythology and the gods, monsters, and heroes which populate it.
Greek myth is full of fascinating tales of Titans and Olympian gods. Some of it makes us wonder if there might be some hint of truth behind those stories, no matter how outrageous they may sound. What parts of those stories were merely symbolic and what parts were literal?
Greek Mythology: A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters (Norse MythologyEgyptian MythologyGreek Mythology Book 3) Reviews
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I read this in July and accidentally deleted my review (not the first time). I wouldn't bother except I didn't like this book at all. I read it hoping it would help me understand The Iliad and Odyssey better. It didn't help with The Iliad at all and I've postponed reading The Odyssey until I can read a quality book; based on reviews and ratings I've selected Edith Hamilton's Mythology.
Matt Clayton races through a ton of information about the origin stories, abilities and interactions of I guess every one of the gods. His pace is fast and his tone casual; too casual for this reader. It wasn't worthless for me, but close. Perhaps the book is meant for a younger reader? Perhaps a pubescent male who will find his puerile jokes about the origins and sex lives of the Greek gods and goddesses funny? I want to learn what I was never taught in school. I wanted a serious guide and got anything but.
"Never to be outdone by anyone," Clayton writes, "Cronus ended up hating his own children more than Uranus hated his." He ends his description of Athena emerging from Zeus fully grown, clothed and armed with "Ouch!" There's a lot of that sort of thing. "Ouch" describes my reaction to this book. In the Kindle version at the end he writes, "If you have enjoyed this book, would you consider writing a review of it?" Since I didn't, I did. -
Kindle Unlimited NOTE I read this in the triple pack, listed below, so all 3 are mentioned.
Discover the captivating beliefs of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians, and Vikings in this book on Mythology that contains three manuscripts. The first manuscript in this bundle is the bestseller called Greek Mythology: A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters.Manuscript 1: Greek Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Ancient Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and MonstersThis first part includes some of the standard views of Greek myth and history but also tantalizes your imagination with the possibilities that lay behind myth and legend. By the time you are finished with this part, you will have a good appreciation for the nature of Greek mythology and the gods, monsters, and heroes which populate it.Manuscript 2: Egyptian Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Gods, Goddesses, Monsters and Mortals, This part is jam-packed with fascinating facts and stories. For instance, it covers perhaps the most popular of all the Egyptian stories - the myth of Osiris. Pieces of this story have been found throughout Egypt. One of the most appealing aspects of the Osiris myth is the human-like behavior of the gods within the story. Many of the other gods of the Egyptian pantheon were rather emotionless and their stories far less interesting. With the Osiris story, the gods display a broad range of emotions that made them more real to mere mortals. Manuscript 3: Norse Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Gods, Sagas, and Heroes Within this part, you'll find the answers to these questions and more. {Please note that the numbering is different in the single books, Norse is 1, Egyptian is 2, Greek is 3} -- noticed a review that said too simplistic, but thought to myself, just how detailed should books such as this be, since I don't want to have needed a Doctorate or some sort of higher degree to read these, so some things do need to be 'simpler' so a layman can actually understand them.
Norse Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Gods, Sagas and Heroes (Norse Mythology - Egyptian Mythology - Greek Mythology Book 1)
Egyptian Mythology: Captivating Stories of the Gods, Goddesses, Monsters and Mortals (Norse Mythology - Egyptian Mythology - Greek Mythology Book 2)
Greek Mythology: A Captivating Guide to the Ancient Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters (Norse Mythology - Egyptian Mythology - Greek Mythology Book 3)
Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Greek Mythology, Egyptian Mythology, and Norse Mythology (Norse Mythology - Egyptian Mythology - Greek Mythology Book 4
Others as well of these type books, please see the the writer's amazon page. -
Quick read. Very informative. It's always good to learn something new about a subject you thought you knew about. Well written and a nice flow if the book.
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A quick read and very interesting.
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Informative. Not much else to say!
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If I could give this book 3.5 stars I would, but since I can’t I���ve given it 4 stars. I read this as part of the 5 book (
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...) set by Matt Clayton available on Kindle Unlimited.
First and foremost, this book is perfect for those who are wanting to learn the basics of Greek mythology. Each of its 16 chapters covers a different story within the mythology. It begins with explaining the birth of the Titans and the Titan vs Olympian war while making it easy to remember who is who. The chapters are short and concise, written using basic language and explaining difficult and/or uncommon words (such as anthropomorphic) which I appreciate as although I don’t struggle myself, I know some people find learning about mythology can be confusing when they are a beginner.
Another thing I liked about this book is Matt Clayton often briefly mentions the alternate versions of some of the myths. As with a lot of mythology, some of the stories have changed over the years so different people may have heard different versions of the same story.
I do, however, wish Clayton would have been more upfront about some of the gorier details. For example, in the story of Medusa he described her and Poseidon as “making love” when I’m fairly sure he raped her and she was punished for this. It doesn’t really change the story and if this is meant to be a more “family friendly” book then I can understand changing these details, its just something I noticed that rubbed me up the wrong way.
Overall I think this was a fantastic beginners guide to Greek mythology that would have earned one more star if it had gone into just a tiny bit more detail per story. Those who are already familiar with the basics may not learn anything but I think anyone interested in Greek mythology would find this book informative and entertaining nonetheless. I look forward to reading more of Matt Clayton’s “Captivating Guides” as well as looking into Captivating History’s other books.
Side note: for anyone who is interested there is a podcast available on Spotify (and likely other places) called Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby which is very informative and in-depth. The woman who presents the podcast is very knowledgable and passionate about Greek mythology and I find it interesting whenever I fancy listening to one of the stories -
I enjoyed reading this book very much, it felt as if I was having a conversation with a friend on Greek Mythology. The ending was a historical overview of Greek Philosophers like Socrates and Plato, this is the only reason why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 simply because I am not interested in an overview. I recommend this book if you are interested in getting a quick summary on popular Greek Mythology stories.
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It is a very short book by what I can tell but it does suggest other things to check out. I love history and this isn't written in a boring, matter of fact tone and I think I am going to continue the series after I read the three-book set I received.
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I would consider myself familiar with Greek Mythology, but I still found this to be a great overview of not only their Gods, but of the people and some of their history. This would be a great introduction to the Ancient Greeks.
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Excellent read!
Great summary of events and a very interesting, quick read. I I learned a few new facts I never knew about and I highly recommend for those interested in mythology. -
This was a great book that contained very interesting stories that kept me captivated.
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Good enough!,,
It’s definitely a brief introduction, but it does a good job of chronologically explaining how things unfold from the perspective of the Ancient Greek -
I didn't like it, so disappointed. Everything feels rush and the information isn't enough.
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What a great read! So informative and detailed! I'm so excited for Matt Clayton's other pieces!!
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A good and concise introduction to Greek mythology
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I think this is the best start on greek mitology book one can have! I read it súper fast! Love it
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It was disappointing. There was not enough of the stories and too much pushing of Atlantis as a real place.
