Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths

Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin is a book that provides a brief and vivid over view of the popular stories of Greek Mythology. While re-telling these stories, Evslin makes a reminder of exactly how within our society today, our stories, idioms, names, and words are mostly derived from these epic myths. In this book, Evslin connects the stories of the Greek gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Artemis, Apollo and Aphrodite, as well as connecting with many of the lesser known gods. He also tells the stories of the nature myths of Prometheus, Narcissus and Echo, Eros and Psyche, and stories of the demigods Perseus, Theseus, and Atalanta. Evslin also relates to the story of Pandora’s Box and the story of how the spider got the name Arachnid.

I actually enjoyed reading this book very much. Bernard Evslin wrote this book to where it was easily comprehendible which I appreciated very much. It gave me a chance to be able to respect and value the stories told rather than be frustrated with not being able to understand what the stories were actually talking about in the first place. Even though this book is dumbed down a little, it is still a well written retelling of the ancient stories of Greek Mythology that have greatly influenced our culture of today.

Another great vice about this book is that it didn’t just tell the stories of Greek Mythology: It connected them to an instance, word, or idea that is currently used in society to this day. For instance, the story of Athene and Arachne explains how the name of the spider came about. Due to the fact that Arachne dared to state that her weaving was better than Athene, Athene challenged her to a competition to see who actually the best was. When judgment time came into play, it was clear to see that Athene was indeed the winner, so out of fright Arachne went to the woods and hung herself. Athene pitied the girl, but because of her lack of humbleness and pride, Athene made sure that Arachne would stay alive and would spend the rest of her life spinning and weaving. Evslin makes sure he explains this by blatantly stating, “That is why spiders are called Arachnids by those who know them best”(14). This selection of the book is just one of the many examples that portray the true meaning of the story at the end of each chapter.

Evslin, Bernard. Heros, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths. New York: RandomHouse Children's Books, 1966. 204. Print.