The gold standard in Greek mythology, in a dazzling Graphic Deluxe Edition featuring flaps, deckled edges, and specially commissioned cover art by Ross Macdonald and a new introduction by the multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series
From the creation of the world out of Chaos and the birth of the Olympians to the Trojan War and Odysseus's return, Robert Graves's superb retelling of the Greek myths has long been acclaimed as the definitive edition. Graves draws on sources scattered throughout ancient literature, using a novelist's skill to weave a crisp, coherent narrative of each myth and providing commentaries with cross-references, interpretations, and explanations based on solid scholarship. The result is a classic volume of many of the greatest stories ever told—stories of the gods, heroes, and extraordinary events that inspired Homer, the Greek tragedians, and so much of subsequent European literature.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Robert Graves's classic retelling of the Greek Myths is definitive, comprehensive and unparalleled - and available now in the Penguin Classics Deluxe series, featuring a new introduction from Rick Riordan (bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and Olympian series).
Including many of the greatest stories ever told - the labours of Hercules, the voyage of the Argonauts, Theseus and the minotaur, Midas and his golden touch, the Trojan War and Odysseus's journey home - Robert Graves's superb and comprehensive retelling of the Greek myths for a modern audience has been regarded for over fifty years as the definitive version.
With a novelist's skill and a poet's eye, Graves draws on the entire canon of ancient literature, bringing together all the elements of every myth into one epic and unforgettable story. Ideal for the first time reader, it can be read as a single, continuous narrative, while full commentaries, with cross-references, interpretations, variants and explanations, as well as a comprehensive index of names, make it equally valuable as a work of scholarly reference for anyone seeking an authoritative and detailed account of the gods, heroes and extraordinary events that provide the bedrock of Western literature.
The result is a classic among classics, a treasure trove of extraordinary tales and a masterful work of literature in its own right.
Robert Graves (1895-1985) was a novelist, poet, historian, critic and translator, author of some 140 books, and one of the greatest figures of 20th century British literature. Alongside The Greek Myths, his most famous works include the historical novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God and his First World War memoir Goodbye to All That.