Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths

Description

Natalie Haynes is the nation's muse' Adam Rutherford The Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories. 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.

Natalie Haynes is a writer and broadcaster. She writes for the Guardian and the Independent. She was a judge for the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction, the 2013 Man Booker Prize, and the 2014 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Natalie is the author of three novels: The Amber Fury, The Children of Jocasta and A Thousand Ships as well as two non-fiction books: The Ancient Guide to Modern Life and Pandora's Jar. She has spoken on the modern relevance of the classical world on three continents, from Cambridge to Chicago to Auckland. She is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4: reviewing for Front Row and Saturday Review, appearing as a team captain on three seasons of Wordaholics, as well as writing and presenting her own show Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics.

"Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to, and how they sometimes made idiots of . . . but read on!" -- Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale "Natalie Haynes is both a witty and an erudite guide. She wears her extensive learning lightly and deftly drags the Classics into the modern world. I loved it." -- Kate Atkinson, author of Life After Life "Natalie Haynes is beyond brilliant. Pandora's Jar is a treasure box of classical delights. Never has ancient misogyny been presented with so much wit and style. -- Amanda Foreman, author of The World Made by Women "Beyonce, Star Trek, Ray Harryhausen . . . the most enjoyable book about Greek myths you will ever read, absolutely brimming with subversive enthusiasm." -- Mark Haddon, author of The Porpoise and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Witty, erudite and subversive, this takes the women of Greek myth the women who are sidelined, vilified, misunderstood or ignored and puts them centre stage. -- Samantha Ellis, author of How to Be a Heroine and Take Courage "Natalie Haynes is [Britain's] muse." -- Adam Rutherford, author of How to Argue with a Racist A hugely enjoyable and witty book, which will appeal to admirers of novels such as Madeline Miller's Circe, Kamila Shamsie's Home Fire, and Haynes's own fiction." -- The Guardian "Impassioned and informed . . . When Haynes gets down to retelling the stories . . . and teasing out their distortions and elisions, the book flies. -- Sunday Times (UK) "An erudite, funny and sometimes angry attempt to fill in the blank spaces." -- Observer "Classicist Haynes challenges common ideas about Greek mythology in this sharp corrective. . . . When she hits her stride and seamlessly blends historical, textual, and artistic analysis, her survey sings. Even those casually familiar with Greek mythology will find this enriching." -- Publishers Weekly "Agile, rich, subversive, Pandora's Jar proves that the classics are far from dead, and keep evolving with us." -- Mail on Sunday "Witty and frequently surprising." -- Times Literary Supplement "Engaged, engaging and fun." -- Herald "Packed with wry humor and scholarly insight, Pandora's Jar shines a new light on our oldest stories, illuminating its subjects in all their painful complexity." -- Booklist Throughout, Haynes also notes that these often outlandish retellings and related tropes have become (flawed) inspirations for works of modern art, music, and film, including the original Star Trek series, an episode of The Simpsons, Pulp Fiction, and a music video by Beyonce . . . Readers of all levels of knowledge are certain to be enthralled with her analysis and find her humor and wit captivating. A fun and informative addition to the ongoing consideration of ancient mythology. -- Kirkus Reviews A classicist revisits the tales of 10 mythological women from a female perspective, adding a new depth and nuance to the stories of Helen of Troy, Medea, Medusa and others. -- New York Times