A Gift from Zeus
by Jeanne Steig

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Summary of A Gift from Zeus

Here are myths from Greeks and Romans,
With chimeras, curses, omens,
Strange seductions, gold abounding,
Transformations most astounding,
Sorceresses, swans, and mazes,
Goddesses with lethal gazes,
Flying horses-goodness gracious!
Snaky heads and bulls salacious,
Minotaurs and monsters strangled,
Passions kinkily entangled--
All herein--A Gift From Zeus
(which, by the way can cook your goose).

"'A wonderful feeling,' he says. 'Who is she? A plump little mortal? A wiggly, giggly nymph?'

"'No, no,' says Hades. 'Your daughter, Kore. Our sister Demeter's girl. My niece. Yours, too, come to think of it. And her mother's.' The Olympians were a happy-go-lucky lot, for all their jealousy and mischief, and such distinctions were of small concern. 'I've come to ask for her hand--and all the rest of her!'"

Prometheus, Leda, Venus, Adonis, Echo, Narcissus, Arachne, Pygmalion... all of these mortals and immortals (and many more) are introduced and their sordid, touching, humorous, or tragic tales told in this tremendous collection by two immortals in their own right. William Steig's familiar style finds a perfect home in the depiction of a sobbing golden King Midas, for example, or the hapless Icarus tumbling from the sky. Readers be warned: mythology has always been fraught with ravagings and disembowelments and lusty couplings. The extraordinary Steigs simply embrace the naughtiness and render it irresistible. (This book is best for adults, but surely titillating for kids 10 and older as well.) --Emilie Coulter

Greek & Roman Books

• Books > Subjects > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths