Pandora's Jar: Women In Greek Myths - Natalie Haynes

Mythology

Rating: 8/10

A tenet of readers far and wide is that stories, and the language used to form them, are emblematic of the times in which they are written. And the stories that writers revisit are transformed a little with each retelling. Changing over the course of years that pass as well as the number of narratives spun. Embodying new tropes and giving voice to the heretofore speechless.

Going into this book, you may think you know all there is to know about mythology, but you will find yourself enthralled by the plot twists and delighted by the audacity of women who have long been relegated to supporting cast.

Many wonderful contemporary authors, including Haynes herself, are featuring women from myths in unprecedented ways through fiction. As a bonus for this review, I have included some of the reimagining’s and retellings of the stories of the women captured in this book.

Pandora

The Gifts Of Pandora – Matt Larkin

In the last days of the Silver Age, the tyrant God Zeus takes whatever and whomever he wants with impunity. Having already been taken from her home. Pandora flees with Prometheus when Zeus turns his wrath upon Atlantis. While both have considerable gifts of their own, Zeus is far from being done with them.

Jocasta

The Children Of Jocasta – Natalie Haynes

Jocasta struggles through a miserable marriage until she is unexpectedly, and not unhappily, widowed. Now free to choose her next husband, she selects the handsome and youthful Oedipus. While whispers of a scandal follow them, another character hovers on the edges of the story, uncovering more than we even imagined at the heart of this iconic tale of woe.

Helen

Helen Of Troy – Margaret George

The Trojan War, fought nearly twelve hundred years before the birth of Christ and recounted in Homer’s Iliad, continues to tantalize us with its origins. One woman’s beauty, a prince’s passion and a love that ends in tragedy for thousands. With a cast of irresistible and legendary characters; Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, Menelaus, Priam, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon as well as Helen and Paris, you won’t be able to stop turning the pages.

Medusa

Stone Blind – Natalie Haynes

When Medusa is assaulted in Athene’s temple by the sea god Poseidon, it’s not him the Goddess is enraged at, it’s her. Furious that her sacred space has been violated, Athene unleashes a curse on Medusa. Replacing her hair with writhing snakes and giving her a gaze to turn any living creature to stone. Cursed with the power to destroy all she loves with a glance; Medusa condemns herself to a life of solitude. That is, until Perseus embarks upon a quest to fetch the head of a Gorgon, the legacy of Medusa’s family.

The Amazons

Queens Of Themiscyra – Hannah Lynn

Sisters. Mothers. Lovers. Warriors. In ancient Themiscyra, Hippolyte rules as Queen of The Amazons. Feared throughout Greece, their skills on the battlefield are unrivaled. But when a ship lands on their shores, it brings something more dangerous than the threat of war. It brings a future they could never have dreamed of. One that could change everything.

Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra – Contanza Casati

She was born to a king but married a tyrant. She had to helplessly stand by while he sacrificed her child to placate the gods. Soon enough she comforted herself with violent thoughts of revenge while he was off waging war. While she bided her time, she plotted and prayed until untold prophecies set things she could never have imagined in motion.

Eurydice

Eurydice – Sarah Ruhl

Dying too young on her wedding day, Eurydice must journey to the underworld, where she reunites with her father struggles to remember her lost love. With contemporary characters and ingenious plot twists, this is a fresh perspective on a timeless love story.

Phaedra

Phaedra – Laura Shepperson

As the daughter of an adulteress, sister of a monster and unwilling bride to the power-hungry Theseus, Phaedra is used to being cast aside. When her stepson assaults her, her world is darkened, and she refuses to remain quiet any longer. When she publicly declares his crime, the men of Athens gather to determine the truth while the women understand the slippery nature of it.

Medea

Medea – Christina Wolf

Medea arrives in Corinth with her husband, the hero Jason. He is welcome but she branded an outsider. When she discovers the appalling secret behind her new kings claim to power, she becomes a threat. When she is abandoned by Jason, she becomes ensnared in a brutal battle and reviled as a witch and a murderess.

Penelope

Ithaca – Claire North

Decades ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy, taking with him every man of fighting age from Ithaca. When none returned, the women were left to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. Enough years have passed that suitors are beginning to knock at her door with the threat to claim his throne. She is smart enough to know that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into a bloody war.