Top 10 Classical Myth Retellings According to an Ancient Historian
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
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I'm so glad to hear you talk about wanting justice for Medusa! I'm currently writing a Medusa retelling and I'm hoping to give her a new life and show her as a sympathetic character instead of a villian
Hi do you have any recommendations for good medusa retellings???
@@khushsaba7004 there is a novella called Here the World Entire that is pretty good. And I found one called Athena's Child but I haven't read it yet.
The Song Of Achilles would be that book for me. Read it for the first time this year and it ruined me. It became my all time favorite... the depth of Patroclus and Achilles’ characters, their construction of their relationship, Thétis, the portrayal of the Trojan War??? Phenomenal!
I read it first 💔 now I'm searching for the next, it's hard to match it tho
I love good Myth retelling. A Thousand Ships I thought was really good and The Vegetarian by Han Kang which I did not know was a retelling until after I read it.
I've been seeing that book around and didn't realize it was by YOU! Oh my god, congratulations?? I've been watching you for several years now and I'm really proud! Cannot wait to read it. I've actually been looking for a good introduction book to Greek Mythology so this is perfect.
Aw thank you!!!
Omg I’ve been seeing it around too! I was planning to get it as im just getting into greek mythology as a hobby so its so cool to learn its by her 😂
I love Circe. I listened to the audiobook last year and it caused me to reexamine my reading tastes. It was also how I learned about booktube and found your channel after searching CZcams for reviews.
I just recently finally read and LOVED Circe, and now I think every book in this video is fast tracking to the top of my TBR.
I was 5-6 myself when I was reading about greek mythology and it had such a huge effect on my life. I'm grateful to this day that it happened to me. It put down a base for me on how I see the world, understanding everything is connected, understanding beliefs and religions, relating to nature and looking at it as its own entity with soul and thoughts. Then after greek methology, in the book I was reading, roman mythology came next (of course), and then I understood how those I have learnt before are now connected to planets, and I got drawn into space. I strongly believe I wouldn't be the creative professional I am today if I weren't affected by the conceptual and abstract stories of greek mythology at such a young age. It's seriously the best thing ever and I will have it introduced to my kids too. Maybe it will be in the form of your book, the illustrations are very nice. :) Thank you for writing it, and for writing for children audience.
Although not a myth retelling, if you haven't already read it, I think you would like Memiors of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. It's a fictional biography of Hadrian written from the perspective of Hadrian as letters to his successor Marcus Aurelius. It's a beautifully written and poignant book I would highly recommend
Congratulations! That's wonderful that your work was published, illustrated, released - how very exciting! Awesome that your hard work paid off- I hope many kids enjoy this!
Thank you so much!
The Palace of Illusion is a female focused retelling of the Mahabharata. It's by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It's so lyrically beautiful. I think it would be up your alley.
Oooh going on the wishlist aha
@@JeansThoughts and the cover is absolutely stunning!
Congrats on the book, it looks gorgeous! And I've been looking forward to this video, thanks for making it!
Love myth retellings! Your videos always have me adding to my want to read list
Congratulations on your book! It looks amazing and I can't wait to read it! I recently put Circe on my TBR after listening to your interview with Madeline Miller on your podcast :)
Congratulations on your book! It looks so beautiful!! I can’t wait to read it!
OMG just put your book on my wishlist! It looks gorgeous!
Also, I just finished Circe and it was fantastic!
Thank you the recs! I just finished The Song of Achilles and am looking for more Greek myth retellings. Adding all of these to my tbr. I was also recently reminded of tv show I watched as a kid called MythQuest that was all myth retellings. It has exactly the production value of a public access tv show from 2001 you would expect but I remember it making me fall in love with myths. Some kind soul uploaded all the episodes to CZcams if you want to check it out!
these are all great suggestions! a retelling i love is Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin, which retells the second half of the Aeneid and the events following it from the perspective of Lavinia, the Latin princess. it’s really great not just to hear her side, since she never gets to speak in the original, but also because it follows her WHOLE life, so it’s a good way to supplement the actual Aeneid, which ends so abruptly in the middle of the action. also it does some really clever meta stuff with Virgil and the idea of knowing you’re semi-fictional.
Congratulations on your book! It looks absolutely stunning!
Congratulations Jean📚💕 Your book is beautiful!!!!
I haven’t really read many Myth Retellings but I definitely want to! I love how you can see how passionate you are about mythology. You obviously are so knowledgeable and it really really shows. It makes me want to be passionate about it too!
Loved this list, adding them to my tbr ✨I am currently reading (and loving) Circe which I thought was my first Greek myth retelling but I read Homefire last year and had no idea it was a retelling! So that was handy to find out, makes complete sense now the way you have explained it 😅😅
Great video! I love myth retellings so much. Congratulations on your book - it looks beautiful.
I had no idea when I first subscribed that you were a classicist. I just knew that I liked how you talked about books! Your classics-focused content just makes me love this channel all the more. 💜 This list is lovely and makes me all the more excited for The Penelopiad, which is currently sitting on my shelf.🤓
Sitting here with a cup of tea! So happy I’ve found your channel and even happier to hear you have a podcast! Thank you for this lovely video :)
..Love the cover!! Congrats on the book release!!
That was so interesting Jean, thank you. I'm also very interested by the myth of Medusa.
This is great and all sound amazing. Thanks for this!
I enjoyed The Silence of the Girls, but I thought it focused too much on Achilles (if I remember correctly).
I loved Circe and A Thousand Ships as well.
Such a fantastic video. My TBR just got a little bit bigger - I had forgotten about the story of Orpheus, and now I am eager to read Orpheus Girl!
Your channel’s my first and so far main spot on CZcams to fairytale, myth and folklore retellings AND I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL!!!!! GAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! YOU’VE PUT TOO MANY BOOKS ON MY TBR!!! How dare you? 😆📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
Now I will be adding many of these books to my tbr. Also I looked up your podcast and I can't wait to listen to it.
I originally misread this video's title to mean top 10 classic myth retellings according to an author who lived in antiquity and became confused but then suspected it would have been Plutarch even though that doesn't make much sense at all. Congratulations on your beautiful book! COVID-related delays have prevented my postal system from getting to it into my hands yet but I can't wait to read it. It's a very big achievement, Jean!
Added so many to my tbr! Thankyou for the recommendations ☺
Literally a big THANK YOU for this video. More like these pls. Historical romance maybe?
P.s. love your jumper! 💜
omg alkjsfalksjdf i totally agree with your opinion on more retellings about medusa. my next tattoo is actually the head of medusa based on the idea that she was a victim that used her "curse" as a way to protect herself and her daughters from abusers of power. as well as on the fact that, from my research, the head of medusa was also used as a symbol to indicate safe spaces for people in abusive situations, which i aspire to become. thank you for bringing that up!! i thought, for the longest time, that it was just an opinion i found from someone on tumblr, but i'm so glad to hear that there's more truth to the idea of medusa being a victim than of her being a monster.
That's actually incorrect. The head of Medusa, which was created before she gained a tale, was created as a symbol to ward off the evil eye. Also, Medusa was not cursed in Greek mythology and the one time an affair with Poseidon is mentioned, it's always shown as consentual (Hesiod, Theogony) and it's a real shame people keep perpetuating Ovidian propaganda and then slap the "Greek myth" brand on top of it.
Thanks I've been trying to read more stuff based on the old myths. This a good list.
Hi! And thanks for this video! I've read Miller's Circe but really fell in live with The Song of Achilles 😍 and I'm so happy with your video, it gives me so many ideas of books to read! Thank you and have a great day ☺
Yay I hope you find some new favourites :D
Omg I just didn't connect the dots with your book! I ordered one for the school library and I was thinking where have I seen that authors name and I completely blanked that I follow you on CZcams! The book is amazing and the struggling/reluctant readers absolutely love it! It branches into nonfiction for one kid, who legitimately did not read at all before we started on mythology retellings. You are amazing! ❤ 👏👏
I’ve been loving your content so much recently! Thanks so much for these recommendations :)
Aw thank you so much! Means the world!!
You should also check out 'House of Names' by Colm Toibin. It is a great retelling of the story Electra.
This is such a great and informative video Jean thank you so much, I have saved it so that I can refer back to it. I’d love to see retellings of myths from The Mabinogeon and other Celtic Mythology.
Evangeline Walton did one: www.goodreads.com/book/show/168525.The_Mabinogion_Tetralogy
I'm currently just over halfway through Circe and loving it, it's the first retelling I've ever read and I'm excited to read more when I'm done! Thanks for the recommendations :)
im planning to read it too but know close to nothing about greek mythology ;; would that be a problem?
Glad to see you are making more videos. Good news to us.
my want to read list just got a wholeee lot longer 😅 thank you for sharing your thoughts on these because now I am even more excited about reading them! 💕
Hello Jean. Fascinating video. I never appreciated that Greek mythology could be so relevant to todays issues. Will be reading Daphnis and Chloe. Thank you so much.
these are such amazing recommendations thank you!!!!
Have you ever read or seen Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman? I checked your blog and you didn’t list it, but it is one of my favorite plays. It’s staged with a pool of water on stage, which makes the pretty straight forward retellings feel so magical. I also LOVE Hold Your Own, I’m glad you mentioned it!
Congrats on your stunning book 🙌 going to buy it to read to my nephew as soon as I have some spare cash ❤️
I just read Circe, and was looking for more retellings! I’m looking forward to reading some of these thanks!😁
Yay glad to be of service ☺️
Wow, what a great video!!! I've read most of the list but will be putting two on my TBR. I didn't realize how much I loved myth retellings until this video. Thanks for sharing!!
Ooh awesome which two?
@@JeansThoughts Weight and Here the World Entire.
And I forgot, your book also! Can't wait to order it!
I’ve asked for your book for Christmas! Happy Holidays!
Oh I hope you enjoy it!
hopefully you can do a review of the song of Achilles next!! its such a gorgeous book
I was just binging your podcast and love when you had Madeline Miller on :) Interestingly enough my son is homeschooled and he decided to start an ongoing study of Mythology. Of course, we're starting with Greek and Roman myths, but we'll also be studying other countries too. Then we will find something specific he wants to study within mythology and comparing to modern times.
How do you find good content for this? Would love to do similar xx
@@sophiec2600 We're just starting this multi-year span study. We're starting with Edith Hamilton (I think) called Mythology and the DK Myths and Legends as spines (Will be adding Jean's book as soon as I can get my hands on it, it's been on my to buy). Then I am adding in texts that are translated works and retellings. Mostly I get from searches and from Jean's video recommendations. We're just diving into really looking at Mythology, but there's so much we can learn from antiquity I am hoping to open a new part of a world my son has only just begun to enjoy.
Omg I had no idea you wrote a book! Congratulations!! It sounds perfect for my baby cousin once he’s a little older I’m definitely gonna pick up a copy to pass down when he’s ready
Aw I hope he becomes a big greek mythology fan!
Congratulations on the publication of your book 📖👋☘️🥳🎉📖📚
I LOVED Here, The World Entire. So glad you mentioned it🖤
I started loving greek myths after reading Percy Jackson....And now I can't wait to read these books....
Yay, enjoy!
This was wonderful, I've o it read half of these and am particularly interested in picking up The Penelopiad. Have you read House of Names by Colm Toibin? I enjoyed that a lot (although I'm not a Classics student so don't know how accurate it is aha).
I loved this video thank u soooo much❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Your book looks gorgeous! I can’t wait to buy these books - recently read Circe and adored it ☺️
Thank you ☺️
I love retellings of the Norwegian folk tale 'East of the Sun West of the Moon. It's very similar to Beauty and the Beast with a healthy dose of Eros and Psyche mixed in too. My favourite retelling of the story is East by Edith Pattou though I would also highly recommend Echo North by Joanna Ruth Mayer
If I am not mistaken, Hans Christian Andersen wrote a version of that story. It would have come to him from Norway, just as the Princess and the Pea came to him via Sweden.
ali smith's take on antigone was really wonderful, i thought. as for medusa, donna jo napoli's greek myths for the national geographic portray her in a really favourable light and ignore the Ovid temple rape (which most people take as canon), if i remember rightly, and draw on versions where she was Poseidon's lover instead. also has a brilliant retelling of the titanomachy from the point of view of Hestia. thanks so much for this list, can't wait to read all of them - including your book! congrats!
This is exactly what I needed!!
Woooow thanks for this video! ❤️
Glad you enjoyed!
Great video! Have you read The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson?
I don't know if you play D&D but there's this wonderful set of one shots that center around folklore and myths called Uncaged. Each one uses a different "monster" found in D&D, Gorgons, Sirens, Harpies, etc., and creates a more nuanced story around them.
I always get a kick out of seeing (a version of) my kid's name in the "wild" lol. I have an Anwyn (enby, ace, 17). It's a fairly uncommon name in Canada ;) I have an aunt named Olwen, so uncommon names are kind of a family thing lol.
It's a LOVELY name!
Yeees Here, The World Entire is one of my favourite books of all time. It's perfect. I'm so glad more people are hearing about it.
Just got a copy of Circe from a charity shop. Congratulations on your book!
Excellent find!!
I must ask, what drew you into Greek mythology in the first place? Is there a particular reason, were you always interested in it?
I find your knowledge and passion for it very impressive.
Literally just pop culture and encouraging parents. I watched Xena, read Asterix, watched documentaries and went to the museum. But to be honest I still knew very little when I started my degree at university really :).
Me hearing you say that women wanting control over their own bodies is a timeless theme when Roe v Wade is about to be overturned in the US is just... eerily accurate.
Nicely done
Interesting i like the ldea of a Different points of views of myths of Human Experiance loves Fears happenings...goodvids thanks.
I’ve read three of these, so now I have 7 more to add to my TBR 😂💕
my poor poor tbr xDD
also, there's a book i personally dnfed cause i didn't vibe with the writing style but that might be of interest to you. it's A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond. it has a gorgeous cover, which was the reason i was drawn to it in the first place even before i realised it is a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice.
another thing i was meaning to say for a while now but couldn't find the right place for and this feels like it: i wonder if you could make a recommendation of some kind of the best translations or editions of the classical myths? i read illiad and odyssey in middle school [yeah, i know] before it even ever occurred to my child's brain that they are translations and/or summaries. and i wanted to finally read them recently as an adult but was, to be honest, intimidated by the number of different translations that can be found. so i was wondering, as someone who studied the classical literature, what translations are the best in your opinion?
Or lucky TBR... ;)
@@JeansThoughts ahahahhaaahahah that's one way to look at it i guess
Have you read nietzsche's Birth of tragedy?Can you try doing a video of you applying your knowledge of ancient greece to Birth of tragedy?Or recommed some good books analyzing Birth of tragedy?
Well done 😀👍 I’ve just got Circe and silence of the girls cant wait to read them 😀
I want to read all of these
Congratulations on your book!
Thanks ^_^
Are you familiar with the books Ilium and Olympos by Dan Simmons?
What a wonderful way to wake up in the morning
Just stepped away to listen to the Kate Tempest performace. Wow, very powerful.
I loved Home Fire and never even knew it was based on mythology!
I'm sure I read somewhere that later in Greece/Rome that Medusa became a symbol of protection for women - i could be wrong but I'm sure her image was used to "protect" abused women and that Athena "cursed" her to protect her from man's gaze
The idea that Athena cursed her in an act of protection is only something I’ve seen as a modern interpretation - my main issue with it has always been that Athena always helps Perseus kill Medusa as well, so the punishment doesn’t stop at her curse. The image of Medusa’s head does then get transposed to Athena’s shield however and is seen in iconography as a symbol of protection a bit like the evil eye - I think this is also related to the fact that Perseus used her disembodied head as a weapon to defeat the man who wanted to rape his mother. So sadly it still seems Medusa has very little agency or power herself :(
@@JeansThoughts totally agree and thank you for clearing that up
That is incorrect. Medusa does mean "protector" but the term refers to the origins of her creation rather than her abilities. Before she had a story (she was a gorgon in every single Greek myth, dont use Ovid as a source please) she was simply a hideous face meant to ward off the evil eye.
this is a really great list! altho im not a fan of weight! i loved circe & home fire when i read them a few years ago now! i thought home fire was so so so good + was such an impressive piece of fiction as well as a great retelling! & i rly wanna get to hold your own, a thousand ships and perhaps the vegetarian although i think i might find it too upsetting! and here the world entire sounds super good, i will never not be a fan of medusa / medusa retellings!!
Have you read Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe? :))
Congrats!
Congratulation Jean!! It is beautiful! :) :)
what's your thought on "The song of Achilles"?
I want a physical copy of your book so bad! But it's like $40 because of shipping 😭📚🤷🏼♀️
Aww, I really wanted to order your book, but for some reason, Amazon UK won't ship it to the US, and it's not on Book Depository. Do you happen to know another way to order it from the States?
Aw thank you! It is on book depository - it doesn't come up when you search my name which may be the issue: www.bookdepository.com/Greek-Myths-DK/9780241397459?ref=grid-view&qid=1595314383813&sr=1-4
@@JeansThoughts Yay, thanks!
your book looks so nice, i am definitely going to get it for my younger sisters! have you read autobiography of red by anne carson? that is my favourite classical retelling!
I haven’t but I have it on my bookshelves and NEED to read it!
@@JeansThoughts i hope you end up enjoying it! when i read it i loved it so much that i ended up writing my ba dissertation about it!
34:51 the myth of "Daphne and Chloe"? If only ;P
Ahahaha it’s all muddled in my head
More books to buy! :-0
With regards to the idea of the Trojan War told from Briseis' point of view, well that is interesting. From what I can gather, the Ancients tended to believe that Achilles was a truly great hero because he chose to go to Troy and follow his destiny in the full knowledge that he was doomed to die an early death. He showed courage and determination, they would have argued. However, I tend to think other heroes were greater. Perhaps indeed Paris did a great service by riding the world of someone who had killed so many good men, and had then enslaved and abused women. One gets the impression though that Homer himself was not completely in favour of the way that the heroes prosecuted the war. Nor was Homer a lover of war as such.
Til We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C. S. Lewis
You are the best! Ζητω η Ελλας!
I like Hades and Persephone retellings. Do you have any suggestions?
I’m not actually a fan unfortunately, I’ve yet to read one that does not romanticise their relationship so they’ve never worked for me.
@@JeansThoughts there are multiple versions their story. Even actual Greeks like myself know that you're only getting a commercialized and surface level understanding of their story. Look elsewhere for suggestions.
@@JeansThoughts It depends on your definition of "romantisation", actually. I agree that modern writers change the narrative to fit their own standards and ideals, going against and being unable to understand the meaning and the importance of the myths (but so do many of the books you recommend) and I absolutely abhor all "retellings" about Hades and Persephone but I think it needs to be said that Ancient Greeks themselves found them to be an ideal couple and worshipped them as such and to discredit their beliefs is not the greatest take one should have.
@@zoeapostolidou3964 then perhaps romanticisation was the wrong word - let me clarify. I don’t like many modern versions because they always paint Persephone as going willingly to the underworld with Hades out of love and delete the abduction. Meanwhile there is not a single ancient source with Hades and Persephone where she is not taken initially against her will.
@@JeansThoughts I agree that people tend to paint over the abduction but the abduction itself should not be viewed as any kidnapping would. It was after all, modelled after the marital rituals - as was their entire myth. People also paint over that.
✨💜the gOod content 💜✨
Would you now contemplate writing a novel that would be aGreek myth retelling/ inspired by??
100% 😅 (it’s one of the projects I’ve always wanted to do).
I loved The Vegetarian.
It's so goooood!