Book Review: D’aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

Review by Clyde Sousa, age 13

D’aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, written and illustrated by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, is one of the best mythology collections in the world, published in 1962. I recommend this book for kids 10 and up. I really like it because it has so many different stories. It has all the major myths.

Some of the myths include Hercules’ twelve labors, Theseus and the Minotaur, Orpheus, Bellerophon, and Perseus and Medusa. My personal favorite myth is Bellerophon. Bellerophon goes to kill the Chimera, a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and a snake for a tail. He kills it with the help of Pegasus, a winged horse. He flies above the Chimera and chokes it to death with a chunk of lead.

However, like almost every Greek myth, it ends sadly. Bellerophon tries to fly up to Mount Olympus and meet the gods. He gets blasted out of the sky with one of Zeus’ lightning bolts. He falls to earth and wanders around the world for the rest of his life.

Myths still show up in modern-day culture. There are superheroes like Thor and Wonder Woman and villains like Loki and Hela. There are books like Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus. There are statues of the gods and heroes all over the place. There are grand buildings dedicated to them in Rome and Greece like the Acropolis, the temple of Athena, and the Colosseum. It’s amazing how important they are to culture.

This book could help you understand these myths better. If you liked Percy Jackson, reading this book could give you a background to those stories. I think you should read this book. I know you will like it.

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