I notice there's a lot of reference to Greek gods and myths in European writings from the Renaissance to the age of Romanticism. I assume this is almost always more of an artistic expression than an actual declaration of faith, but was it seen as scandalous or heretical by the Church to casually refer to "the gods" in poetry and such?
Consider this an appreciation thread for the recent glut of novels and non-fiction that are bringing new (and largely feminist) perspectives to our favourite myths. This is largely a reaction in the publishing world to the success of Madeline Miller's pair of instant classics Song of Achilles, and Circe.
Here are some of the recent books I have read and would recommend:
>Stephen Fry's cycle of Mythos, Heroes, and Troy. I actually saw him perform these as a one-man show, and they are what you would expect from Fry - witty, well written, and warmly familiar.
>Ariadne, by Jennifer Saint. This retelling of the Minotaur myth from the perspectives of the Cretan sisters Ariadne and Phaedra. Really great for casting Theseus in a more dickish light. Wasn't a super fan of the last couple chapters, but on the whole worth a read.
>A Thousand Ships, by Natalie Haynes. This spectacular book jumps back and forth through time, with each chapter from the perspective of a woman caught up in the Trojan War. From Thetis to Penthesilea to Cassandra to Briseis, it shows the warmongering effects of the Greeks and Trojans from the perspective of those caught in between. My favourite chapters were the ones with Hecuba and Odysseus, but her interpretation of Athena might be my favourite version of the goddess I've yet seen.
>Antigone Rising, by Helen Morales (non-fic). This series if essays explores the ancient stories through a modern lense, with an eye on their subversive power, and how they speak to those who are underrepresented in society.
>Daughters of Sparta, by Claire Heywood. I just picked this up and haven't read it yet, but am looking forward to it. Following the parallel stories of sisters Helen and Clytemnestra as their destiny is wrapped up in Troy.
What are your book recommendations for those mythically inclined?
I have recently read "The murder of Roger Ackroyd" By Agatha Christie and shortly after I read "The big sleep". 2 very different novels that follow a detective narrative story. I was wondering if we could establish any similarities between the american hard boiled fiction and the european golden age of detective fiction.
Now Raymond Chandler said that Golden age novel do not get the gist of detective fiction. Are golden age novel obsolete? If we look at it from a certain stand point, being that golden age novel exist in a universe mostly catered to fit the detectives need and follow a pattern (i.e the rules of detective writing), I guess we could say so/
Any opinions on this
Sorry if some of what I said seems incoherent, im trying to work my way around an answer
Thanks!
I've recently come across a history youtuber who said that we should give Constantinople and its library more credit for preserving alledegly two thirds of ancient greek literature. That made me wonder and I found out that in the medieval period scholars had a vastly different landscape of ancient literature than we do today.
I.e. The oldest fragments of Plato come copies from around 800 C.E. Do we know where these texts came from, where they were preserved or can we at best make educated guesses? Would a scholar in Constantinople around 1200 have a much broader picture of ancient philosophy than, say, one in the HRE? Is there really such a big credit due to the library of Constantinople?
Additionally I'd like to ask if the 'theory' my history teacher at high school dropped (years ago) that the fleeing/migrating scholars from the Byzantine empire contributed to the revival of antiquity in the West or is this just hogwash?
