I Think I Never Left My Greek Mythology Phase…

Did you ever have a phase as a kid where you were obsessed with Greek mythology? I definitely did. And I’m starting to realize that I don’t think I’ve ever left that phase haha. Lately I’ve been more sucked in than usual, and I totally blame that on the video game Hades. You already know I’m a sucker for retellings, and in particular I love mythology retellings. I think I find them interesting because with fairytale retellings, you are generally sticking to one story, whereas with mythology retellings you have soooo much more to draw from. I think in this way, the author can really shine with their own original take on things from mythology.

Because I’ve been drawn back in, I wanted to make a post about Greek mythology retellings/stories in various forms of media. Obviously I’ll talk about books, but I know we all consume other forms of media so I wanted to add those in as well!

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Books and Comics

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Books I’ve Read

I’ve been trying to read mostly the books I already own, and luckily after falling into the Hades hole I realized I already owned a Greek myth retelling that I haven’t read yet!! So naturally I read it in a single day hahaha. This was Lore, a young adult fantasy standalone novel by Alexandra Bracken. It’s set in modern day New York City, and I looooved it. It was fast paced and fun, and it was super interesting to read the author’s take on the gods, and how they affect society. Though it was a standalone, I do kind of wish there was more from this world just because I enjoyed it so much.

A few more of my favorite Greek myth books that I’ve read include Circe, the Percy Jackson series, and Frankenstein. Circe is retelling, but the other two are more of reimaginings, or in the case of Percy Jackson, a modern take on the overall mythos. Okay I know what you’re thinking – Frankenstein? Really?? Well, it’s not a retelling per se, but it was inspired by the story of Prometheus! If you don’t know who that is, Prometheus is the Titan god of fire, and is credited with creating mankind from clay. He also steals fire from the gods and gives it to humanity. If you’ve actually read Frankenstein, then you probably know this because the subtitle of the book is “The Modern Prometheus”, alluding to how Dr. Frankenstein “creates” a person similar to Prometheus.

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Books I Want to Read

Naturally, there are a bunch of books that I haven’t read yet that I’d really love to. I’ll list those here in case you all want to check them out! The following books are more standard retellings of stories from Greek mythology, rather than reimaginings, like the previous ones are.

• A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes (tells the stories of the women of the Trojan War)
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (the story of Achilles and Patroclus, from The Iliad)
• The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker (about Briseis, the woman “given” to Achilles as a concubine)
• Ariadne by Jennifer Saint (a retelling of the story of Theseus and the Minotaur, centering Ariadne as the main character)

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Comics!

I also cannot possibly write this post without mentioning Lore Olympus, which is one of my faaavorite retellings. It is a WebTOON, which is just a serial web comic. The comic follows Persephone as our main character, and the main storyline follows her romance/story with Hades. However, the other gods, goddesses, and beings feature heavily in the story and are just as important as the two mains. The artwork is beautiful, and the comic is really well done.

I’ve heard of another Hades and Persephone retelling WebTOON, called Punderworld, and I’d like to check it out but haven’t had the chance to yet.

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Games and TV

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Video Games

Okay so obviously the first one I have to mention is Hades, since I said in the intro that this is what reignited my obsession. I’ve already talked about it a little bit in my last two monthly wrap up posts. But basically, you play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, who is trying to escape the underworld. Along the way you are aided by various gods and goddesses. You also meet other figures from the myths, such as the Furies, Achilles, Orpheus, etc. It made me just want more stories about all of these characters!! Seriously if you guys are into video games at all, I highly recommend this game. The storyline is incredible, the artwork is STUNNING, and the gameplay remains fun even after 100 hours. I may or may not know this from personal experience…haha.

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I’m not sure I know any other video games inspired by Greek mythology – though to be fair, I’m not well versed in video games. Please let me know if you know of others!!

Television and Movies

But if we switch to television, then I have a few more recommendations! The most recent thing I’ve watched is an animated show on Netflix called Blood of Zeus. It follows a young man named Heron, who is revealed to be the son of Zeus (a demigod). The show follows his (made up, non mythological) story, and features lots of gods and monsters from mythology. It’s definitely dark and gory, so just be aware of that!

One that I haven’t watched but have heard good things about is Xena: Warrior Princess. I’m now thinking about going and watching it haha.

There are a MULTITUDE of movies inspired by Greek mythology. The one many know I’m sure is the Disney movie Hercules. While fun, it’s not quite the “classic” story of the hero haha. There is also Clash of the Titans, Troy, Jason and the Argonauts, and etc. I admit I haven’t actually watched many of these.

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Thanks for reading about my love of Greek mythology hahaha. I had a lot of fun writing this post! Do you have any favorite Greek mythology books? Or other things?

I also wanted to note that I wrote about Greek mythology mostly because it’s what I know the most about, and I’ve loved it for a long time. However! I really want to explore stories from other mythologies – particularly Asian mythologies. If you have any good book recs (or other media recs) for other mythologies, please do let me know!