Greek Mythology: Beyond Mount Olympus

★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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“It's not by chance what Americans say when in need of a specialized or precise term, that ‘the Greeks have the word for it'.” -Aikaterini Spanakaki-Kapetanopoulos

From the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos, is derived the word hypnosis.
From the Greek legend of the King Tantalus, is derived the word tantalize. He was condemned for eternity to stand up to his chin in the middle of a river with a fruit tree above him. Whenever he tried to drink the water, it receded from him, or grab a fruit, it pulled away from him.
From the Greek god of love, Eros, is derived the word erotic.
From the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, is derived the word aphrodisiac. . . .
From the god of fire and blacksmithing, Vulcan (Greek: Hephaestus), is derived the words volcano and vulcanizing.
From the Roman goddess of grain and farming, Ceres (Greek: Demeter), is derived the word cereal.

D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths

Greek Mythology is an extremely broad topic, nevertheless, it's one that has always intrigued me. Especially since so much of our modern language and stories are derived from these myths.

In this volume of in60learning, we spend an hour listening to stories about the Greek gods, explanations of their origins, and even how Greek mythology affects us today in the modern world. 

I've reviewed a book for in60learning before (Detroit: From Boom to Bust and Back Again) however, this is my first audiobook from them. First, I'd like to say that I love the concept of in60learning! Sometimes, we're too busy to pick up a 900+ page documentary on a subject we're interested in, so in60learing has created resources that you can read, or listen to, in just 60 minutes! Now, because there is such a short amount of time, you can't expect tons of detail to be included, but if you're looking for a quick topic overview (or you're a student needing some sources for a paper), in60learning has quite a list to choose from.

As for this particular volume, I would have much preferred to read the book rather than listen to it. I love audiobooks, and the narrator certainly did a great job, but there is just so much information packed into this that it is literally overwhelming to listen to. I would have preferred reading it at a much slower pace, looking at the words myself, and probably taking a little bit longer than an hour to soak all the info in. It's just a lot, very sudden.

I did like the structure though. First they cover the origins of the gods according to beliefs, then how the gods interacted with humanity, stories of human heroes, and how so much of our culture (like Marvel and DC comics) are inspired from Greek myths. I definitely learned a lot.

So, I do recommend this book, as well as other material from this publisher, I just don't recommend the audiobook over the book. You'd likely learn much more reading the book at your own pace.  I give the audio 3 out of 5 stars. 

I would like to note that the topic of Greek Mythology is very sexual at times and this book does not leave that out. I would not advice this to be a resource for young students.

I received this audiobook from in60learning for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

This is a LiteratureApproved.com Review.