Gods and mortals. Chaos and order. Savagery and civilisation.

These things are the main components of Greek Mythology and are artfully presented by Jean-Pierre Vernant in ‘The Universe, the Gods and Mortals’. Linda Asher translated the work from its original French to English while keeping the style and grace which I can only imagine it had in the French. Vernant was a French historian and anthropologist specialising in Ancient Greece. He was a part of the French Resistance in World War 2, also becoming commander and was a professor at the university of Sao Paulo.

 

This book details the Greek myths from the beginning of the universe, the Titanomachy and the Gigantomachy, and how humans came to be. It mentions the Iliad and the odyssey, Dionysus’ origins Oedipus, and then in the closing chapter Perseus and his story. My friend who had read the book before me called it ‘a classical education disguised as a book for teens.’

 

I started this book three days ago and immediately I was hooked. I had read so many books of Greek mythology none that got the point across so beautifully and so precisely. In less than two hundred pages Vernant managed to bring the reader on a trip through time giving his own thoughts on the topics and meanings discussed in the book. I discovered new meaning to some of the myths and even different versions. Overall, this book was brilliant. However as much as I loved reading all the stories sometimes it felt disjointed. For example, the chapter on Dionysus was sandwiched between two other storied and made it seem out of place but as separate stories they were wonderful.

I would give this book an 8.5/10 and recommend it to anyone wanting to delve into the depths of Greek Mythology but not sure where to start.