(9) NATALIE HAYNES –

DIVINE MIGHT: GODDESSES IN GREEK MYTH (2023)

 

When it comes to classical mythology, I’m in it for the nymphs.

So naturally I’m up for the goddesses in this book by English classicist Natalie Haynes.

Where her previous book Pandora’s Jar celebrated the women of classical mythology, Divine Might playfully worships the goddesses, not surprisingly given the title (and subtitle) – “focusing on the goddesses whose prowess, passions, jealousies, and desires rival those of their male kin”.

As one might expect, the six Olympian goddesses – Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Hestia and Athene – take center stage. Through the lens of these goddesses, it does detour into other female figures or more minor goddesses, notably (and again not surprisingly) the chapter on Demeter detours into Persephone and Hecate. I hope for a sequel or companion volume extending that detour through the many minor goddesses or demi-goddesses in classical mythology.

The book also reminded me of the odd fact that fully half of the Olympian goddesses – Artemis, Hestia, and Athene – were virgins, which Haynes notes is strikingly at odds with the usual status of women at that time as one in which marriage and children would be expected. But then, the divine make their own rules and break them anyway.

Speaking of virgin goddesses, her chapter gave me a new appreciation of Hestia, a goddess that all too often is told to stay in the hearth, when she is not forgotten or overlooked altogether for the more glamorous Olympian figures. One might extend that by way of alliteration from Hestia to Hera – as the latter’s chapter also gave me a new appreciation of a figure often seen, conveniently for Zeus, as something of a shrew (and bunny boiler).

Aptly enough, both for symmetry and as representative of divine female figures in classical mythology, the book started with the Muses and ended with the Furies – dare I quip, not unlike my ex-wife.

My only complaint? It needed more nymphs! One can only hope for a book of nymphs – perhaps even a dictionary of nymphs…

 

RATING: 4 STARS****

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)