So over the last 3 months I read Natalie Haynes two non-fiction books about Greek mythology. Now I know I have said some strong things about my disconnect with Greek mythology re-tellings but that does not extend to non-fiction work or the original works themselves. I have been loving reading about greek mythology from a non-fiction point of view than through fictional works.

Natalie Haynes’ work Divine Might and Pandora’s Jar have helped me come to this realisation.

Pandora’s Jar: Women in Greek Myths

• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Non-Fiction
• No. of pages: 288
• Dates read: 31.10.2023 – 07.11.2023
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from the Trojan War to Jason and the Argonauts. And still, today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost three thousand years ago. But modern tellers of Greek myth have usually been men, and have routinely shown little interest in telling women’s stories. And when they do, those women are often painted as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil. But Pandora – the first woman, who according to legend unloosed chaos upon the world – was not a villain, and even Medea and Phaedra have more nuanced stories than generations of retellings might indicate. Now, in Pandora’s Jar, Natalie Haynes – broadcaster, writer and passionate classicist – redresses this imbalance. Taking Pandora and her jar (the box came later) as the starting point, she puts the women of the Greek myths on equal footing with the menfolk. After millennia of stories telling of gods and men, be they Zeus or Agamemnon, Paris or Odysseus, Oedipus or Jason, the voices that sing from these pages are those of Hera, Athena and Artemis, and of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Eurydice and Penelope.

So this was the second book out of the two that I read but it came out first so I thought I would discuss it first. I love reading books that highlight and give nuance to once over-looked or under appreciated female characters. And this book was no exception. Natalie does an amazing job of giving extra context from original sources to expand upon these women. She does this is a way that is accessible, funny and articulate. I loved learning about women I know well and don’t know so well. While I won’t be able to go into my thoughts on every woman mentioned I did want to talk about my 3 favourite chapters from the collection.

Jocasta – I learnt about the Oedipus myth years a go but in a very brief and roundabout way. I never read any detail about the myth I just knew the bare bones of the story. Through this chapter I was allowed to learn more about the myth but also deconstruct Jocasta as a character. I loved to explore more about who Jocasta was as a women and how different interpretations from classic authors have her living longer, ruling more and being more than just being connected to Oedipus she becomes a whole character outside of her connection to Oedipus.

Phaedra – Growing up I never knew anything about Phaedra. My knowledge of Theseus stopped once he became King of Athens. I did learn more of her story through Jennifer Saint’s book Ariadne. But I was interested in Haynes’ look into Phaedra’s story and her false allegation against her stepson. Tackling topics of false allegations especially with women and sexual assault is a very tricky topic. Trying to do justice to the victims and not undermining them while discussing the true nature of this specific allegation I felt Haynes’ did a great job. She also again, contextualises through plays and poems what was happening to Phaedra at that time etc.

Medea – I love evil women, I love women wreaking havoc. Is she right in what she did? No. Did I support her? 100% I loved exploring her nuances, how authors like Euripides’ challenged and hailed her in his work, how modern day writers try to explain away her motives and in doing so make her less complex of a character. Exploring Greece’s relationship with outside countries etc. Medea was probably the character I knew the least from this collection which is why I enjoyed it so much. I was able to learn so much about her and her life which was previously unknown to me.

Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth

• Series: Standalone
• Genre: Non-Fiction
• No. of pages: 288
• Dates read: 31.08.2023 – 05.09.2023
• Star Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: Natalie Haynes, author of the bestselling Pandora’s Jar, returns to the world of Greek myth and this time she examines the role of the goddesses. We meet Athene, who sprang fully formed from her father’s head: goddess of war and wisdom, guardian of Athens. We run with Artemis, goddess of hunting and protector of young girls (apart from those she decides she wants as a sacrifice). Here is Aphrodite, goddess of sex and desire – there is no deity more determined and able to make you miserable if you annoy her. And then there’s the queen of all the Olympian gods: Hera, Zeus’s long-suffering wife, whose jealousy of his dalliances with mortals, nymphs and goddesses lead her to wreak elaborate, vicious revenge on those who have wronged her. We also meet Demeter, goddess of agriculture and mother of the kidnapped Persephone, we sing the immortal song of the Muses and we warm ourselves with Hestia, goddess of the hearth and sacrificial fire. The Furies carry flames of another kind – black fires of vengeance for those who incur their wrath. These goddesses are as mighty, revered and destructive as their male counterparts. Isn’t it time we looked beyond the columns of a ruined temple to the awesome power within?

An incredibly well-researched and highly entertaining look at the Greek goddesses – how we know them, how the Ancient Greeks know them, and what they tell us about the times they lived in. I enjoyed every second of reading this book, I hated putting it down and looked forward to picking it back up. It was a great mixture of myths I knew as well as some that I didn’t know so well while exploring the many layers of each goddess so uniquely and made me reevaluate my thoughts about them, especially the Hera chapter.

I can’t remember exactly what my top 3 chapters were in this series but I know Hera was my girl. I love Hera as a character and being able to give her more agency in a world that reduces her just down to a heartbroken and malicious wife was so interesting.