Philip Freeman - Oh My Gods: A Modern Retelling of Greek and Roman Myths

I am Zeus, the highest and wisest. Learn how much stronger I am than the rest of you immortals.

But like his brother, Poseidon did not confine his sexual urges to his wife. He pursued goddesses and mortal women with a callousness and violence that surpassed even that of Zeus.

When dawn came at last, Aphrodite arose and once again put on the shining form of a goddess.

He slowly flayed the satyr alive, Marsyas screaming in agony until the end. No one ever again challenged Apollo to a contest of musical skill.

Athena was so furious that she grabbed a wooden shuttle and began to beat the girl senseless. Arachne was in such pain that she took a rope and hanged herself from the cottage roof.

The Greek and Roman myths have never died out; in fact they are as relevant today as ever. For thousands of years these myths have inspired plays, operas, paintings, movies, and television programs. They are fascinating tales that tell us about ourselvesabout our hopes, fears, and desires, which are as ancient as mankind. Many of these myths are deeply disturbing; others are sublimely beautiful. All of them move us still, as they did the Greeks and Romans hundreds of generations ago.

Oh My Gods is a retelling of some of the most popular myths by a gifted scholar and writer. These tales of errant gods, fantastic creatures, and human heroes are brought to life in fresh and contemporary versions.

Have there ever been stories to rival the myths about the creation of the universe and the wars among the earliest gods? Or about the Olympian gods themselves: powerful Zeus, king of the gods, possessed of a wandering eye; his wife, Hera, queen of marriage and childbirth, perpetually outraged by her husbands many affairs; Poseidon, god of the sea, brother of Zeus; their other brother, Hades, god of the underworld; and all the other gods and goddessestalented Apollo, beautiful Aphrodite, fierce Athena, swift Hermes, and many more. And the dauntless heroes Theseus and Hercules, the doomed lovers Hero and Leander or Orpheus and Eurydice, whose stories can still break our hearts. From the astonishing tales of the Argonauts to the immortal narrative of the Battle of Troy, these ancient myths have inspired writers from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling.

Philip Freemans vibrant, contemporary retelling makes us appreciate again why these wonderful tales have lasted thousands of years and charmed young and old readers alike.

PHILIP FREEMAN is the Qualley Professor of Classics and chair of the classics department at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. He is the author of many books, among them St. Patrick of Ireland, The Philosopher and the Druids, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great. Visit him at philipfreemanbooks.com.

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ALSO BY PHILIP FREEMAN

Alexander the Great

Julius Caesar

The Philosopher and the Druids: A Journey Among the Ancient Celts

St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography

War, Women, and Druids: Eyewitness Reports and Early Accounts of the Ancient Celts

The Galatian Language: A Comprehensive Survey of the Language of the Ancient Celts in Greco-Roman Asia Minor

Ireland and the Classical World

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First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition January 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Freeman, Philip, 1961-

Oh my gods : a modern retelling of Greek and Roman myths / Philip Freeman.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Mythology, Greek. 2. Mythology, Roman. I. Title.

BL782.F73 2012

398.20938dc23

2011039704

ISBN 978-1-4516-0997-4 (Print)

ISBN 978-1-4516-0999-8 (eBook)

Like most children, I loved stories of ancient gods and heroes. Zeus wielding his mighty thunderbolt, Hercules slaying monsters, battles raging before the walls of Troyall these were favorite bedtime reading before my mother made me turn out the light. As I grew older, I continued to enjoy classical myths, so much so that I made the ancient world the focus of my lifes work as a college teacher. In the classroom I talk about the stories that so enchanted me with students who have signed up for mythology as a much-needed break from chemistry and calculus. They also read the myths as children and are now rediscovering in them the magic of a strange and distant world that echoes so clearly in their favorite modern stories by J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and J. K. Rowling.