The Library of Greek Mythology
"The only work of its kind to survive from classical antiquity, The Library of Apollodorus is a unique guide to Greek mythology, from the origins of the universe to the Trojan War".
You may be wondering what a classy, nineteen year old primary ed studying girl is doing reading books on Ancient Greek Mythology... well I will let you in on a bit of not so much secret... I am a massive history geek. Especially ancient history. Especially Greek ancient history or anything to do with any type of mythology. So yeah, I like to read any type of history book just for fun. Why aren't I studying history you may ask? Well, I want to teach, but high school students... *shudders* ...but don't worry, all the lessons I plan tend to have some kind of involvement with history. For instance, I had to do a science lesson, and what would you know, lets talk about Mt Vesuvius...
Anyway, you probably want me to shut up and tell you about the book... It isn't your classically arranged novel of course and is broken into three 'books' which cover pretty much every thing that happened in ancient Greece relating to mythology. Its kinda like the bible... but for Greeks... "this person bore a son to this person, who married daughter of this person and that person... blah, blah, blah." Please don't get me wrong; very, very, very interesting stuff, for me anyway. I don't really have time to go into all of the billion specifics included in the book, as I have a geography assignment that I need to spin ancient history into to do. But here are some interesting facts from the book that you may or probably don't know...
Six facts, because that's my favourite number....
1. There are twelve main deities (gods); Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athene, Demeter, Dionysos or Hestia (debated as to which is the twelfth) Hephaistos, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon and Zeus. I don't know why they don't put Pluto on this list, as he is pretty important... but more on that later.
2. Although most of the gods are married, they tend to have A LOT of affairs, to both other gods and humans which result in the birth of demi-gods. Some famous demi-gods include Heracles (Hercules), Perseus and Theseus.
3. While most people think of Hades as the ruler of the underworld, Hades is actually the term for the underworld, and the ruler's name is Pluto.
4. Many Pharaohs of Egypt are believed to have been Greek demi-gods.
5. The expression 'achilles heel' which refers to one's ultimate weakness comes from the legend of the demi-god Achilles who was an immaculate fighter and impossible to kill, until the day he was shot through his heel and weakened enough to kill. That part of the body is now called the achilles tendon.
6. . Helen of Sparta, later Helen of Troy had a daughter to Menalaos called Hermione, and it is she, it is said, that JK. Rowling got the name of Harry Potter character Hermione.
Rate: 7/10
Recommended if: You like your history or would like to know some awesome stuff
You may be wondering what a classy, nineteen year old primary ed studying girl is doing reading books on Ancient Greek Mythology... well I will let you in on a bit of not so much secret... I am a massive history geek. Especially ancient history. Especially Greek ancient history or anything to do with any type of mythology. So yeah, I like to read any type of history book just for fun. Why aren't I studying history you may ask? Well, I want to teach, but high school students... *shudders* ...but don't worry, all the lessons I plan tend to have some kind of involvement with history. For instance, I had to do a science lesson, and what would you know, lets talk about Mt Vesuvius...
Anyway, you probably want me to shut up and tell you about the book... It isn't your classically arranged novel of course and is broken into three 'books' which cover pretty much every thing that happened in ancient Greece relating to mythology. Its kinda like the bible... but for Greeks... "this person bore a son to this person, who married daughter of this person and that person... blah, blah, blah." Please don't get me wrong; very, very, very interesting stuff, for me anyway. I don't really have time to go into all of the billion specifics included in the book, as I have a geography assignment that I need to spin ancient history into to do. But here are some interesting facts from the book that you may or probably don't know...
Six facts, because that's my favourite number....
1. There are twelve main deities (gods); Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Athene, Demeter, Dionysos or Hestia (debated as to which is the twelfth) Hephaistos, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon and Zeus. I don't know why they don't put Pluto on this list, as he is pretty important... but more on that later.
2. Although most of the gods are married, they tend to have A LOT of affairs, to both other gods and humans which result in the birth of demi-gods. Some famous demi-gods include Heracles (Hercules), Perseus and Theseus.
3. While most people think of Hades as the ruler of the underworld, Hades is actually the term for the underworld, and the ruler's name is Pluto.
4. Many Pharaohs of Egypt are believed to have been Greek demi-gods.
5. The expression 'achilles heel' which refers to one's ultimate weakness comes from the legend of the demi-god Achilles who was an immaculate fighter and impossible to kill, until the day he was shot through his heel and weakened enough to kill. That part of the body is now called the achilles tendon.
6. . Helen of Sparta, later Helen of Troy had a daughter to Menalaos called Hermione, and it is she, it is said, that JK. Rowling got the name of Harry Potter character Hermione.
Rate: 7/10
Recommended if: You like your history or would like to know some awesome stuff