D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

As far as I’m concerned this is and has long been the book on Greek Myths for young adults.  Of course, I ended up marking this mature teen because the content in Greek mythology is a bit questionable, and it’s entirely family specific how you feel about exposing your children to these stories.  I know I read them in middle school and was really into them.

The book opens with the creation of earth, followed quickly by the story of the Titans.  Then we move into Zeus and his family, followed by minor gods and finishing up with mortal descendants of Zeus. It is nothing if not thorough.  I read it cover to cover and was a bit overwhelmed, but it can easily be used in a more encyclopedic fashion, referencing various deities as you like.

Although I marked this as mature teen, I believe many teens or middle schoolers would find it very enjoyable.  The violence seems somehow less real because it’s part of mythology.  It’s not like you’re really ever worried that you’ll be fed to the Minotaur.  While older students will pick up on the more sexual parts, there’s nothing graphic or explicit ever.  We’re told the gods “marry” people and then the women have children.  Even something like the story of Persephone which is certainly a tale of rape, is never referred to as such.  We simply know that Hades kidnapped his bride.  I don’t think younger readers will go so deep as to make the connection between the abduction and what’s left unwritten.

Great for: A thorough compilation of the Gods.  Anyone who wants to know the basic myths and the relationships between the Gods would do well to have a copy of this on hand.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There is much falling in love.  Euphemisms such as “joined in love” are employed (but we’re talking about the Earth and Sky here, so not “people”).  Zeus’s wife Leto bears him twins. Incest (Hera is Zeus’s wife, queen and youngest sister!) is not uncommon.  Polygamy (Zeus and Poseidon have multiple wives and children by them) is frequent.  A hunter sees Artemis “bathing” (that’s Greek myth for NAKED).  Leto can’t give birth because Hera won’t send the goddess of childbirth to her.  Hades kidnaps Persephone for his bride.  Endymion dreams that held the moon in his arms, the moon bears him 50 daughters. Satyrs like to chase nymphs.  Narcissus falls in love with his own reflection (he’s got to be at least a little gay, right?) Centaurs carry off women, repeatedly.   A woman gives birth to a half man/half bull.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Cronus swallows his young, but vomits them up later.  There are many great battles. The eyes in a peacock’s tail once belonged to a warrior.  Athena springs from Zeus’s head.  Zeus swallows his wife to prevent her giving birth to a son.  A man is turned into a deer and torn to shreds by his own dogs.  Zeus rescues an unborn child and sews him under the skin of his leg.  Prometheus has his liver eaten daily.  Many people are killed or turned into something else (grasshopper, tree, cricket, flower).  Sometimes, you’ll think someone’s been killed and really they’re just being tortured.  Tantalus cooks his own son in a stew and serves it to the gods. A king beheads men who lose a chariot race and nails their heads to his gates.  When Apollo beats a satyr in a musical contest he uses the satyr’s skin to make a drum.  The Minotaur eats only human flesh. Death by scorpion, arrow,  javelin, boredom, spontaneous combustion upon seeing a god, chariot crash, snakebite, being torn to pieces, being flung into the sea, being stabbed by your wife, from looking at a Gorgon, by lyre, by boiling water, being cooked in a cauldron by your own daughters, being burned up in a sacred fire by your mother – there’s plenty of death.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – What would we do with out Dionysus, god of wine?  Sileni (old satyrs) fall off their asses (DONKEYS!!) because they drink too much wine.  Centaurs get drunk at a wedding.
Frightening or Intense Things – Enumerating the beasties, horrible monsters, such as Cyclops, Gorgons, Chimera (a lion, serpent, goat hybrid), sea monsters, man eating horses, things with 100 heads and eyes that drip venom, in this book would take up far too much space.  I’ll just say that anyone with a fear of monsters, the underworld or being tricked by the gods should beware.