2024/040: Divine Might — Natalie Haynes

2024/040: Divine Might — Natalie Haynes

[Erysichthon, cursed by Demeter] eats the racehorses, a warhorse and an ailouros – the animal they keep for catching vermin. This word was usually translated as ‘cat’ when I was a student, but some archaeozoologists now think domestic cats were quite late arrivals in Greece, so an ailouros might actually be a weasel or a pine marten. Whatever it is, Erysichthon eats it. [loc. 2795]

Haynes offers a witty, feminist account of six Olympian goddesses -- Aphrodite, Athene, Artemis, Demeter, Hera and Hestia -- bracketed by chapters on the Muses and the Furies. Her text is peppered with pop culture references (Katniss and Kate 'Hawkeye' Bishop, Lizzo and Cardi B, Lady Gaga and Arnold Schwarznegger, Jessica Jones and Barbie) as well as references to the myths in their various forms, and to artworks based on those myths. ( Read more... )