A good rundown on the the major players and happenings in Greek mythology. Good for getting a grasp on the subject. ( )

Donna Jo Napoli’s books have always been some of my favorites to turn to got mythology, and Treasury of Greek Mythology was no exception. The Greek myths captivated, as always, and Napoli did a fantastic job at making them easily understood. Christina Balit’s illustrations still amazed me, as always. ( )

American author Donna Jo Napoli and British illustrator Christina Balit, whose other collaborations include books on ancient Egyptian and Norse mythology, the stories of the Bible, and the Arabian Nights, here focus on the world of Greek mythology. Beginning with Gaia, and the creation of the world, the narrative here explores the stories of the Titans, and then the Olympians. All of the major Greek gods are included - Gaia, Uranus, Chronus, Zeus, Hestia, Poseidon, Athena, Hades, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hera, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Ares, Helios, Selene, Dionysus - as well as heroes like Perseus, Orion, Heracles, Jason and Theseus. The final story is devoted to the Trojan War, and the book concludes with an extensive afterword, including a map, timeline, cast of characters, bibliographic note, list of sources, and index...

After greatly enjoying Napoli and Balit's Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters & Mortals, I expected to find Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters just as engaging. Unfortunately, I was often distracted and put off by the narrative tone here, which seems very invested in offering moral judgment of the mythological characters being described. A great deal of attention is paid to Zeus' many wives, and while this does reflect the mythology, the asides about how he was 'entitled' felt intrusive. In the story of Perseus, Polydectes is described as acting "in the selfish tradition so common of kings," whereas Perseus himself is described as being clever but heartless, killing Medusa, who had "done no wrong." Similarly, the scene in which Perseus rescues Ariadne contains a rather snide comment about the heroine being the classic 'maiden in distress.' Theseus' action in abandoning Ariadne is described as the "least fine moment of his life." It's not so much that I disagree with all of these conclusions - one can't read Greek mythology without wincing a bit at the violence, injustice and oppression that were part of the ancient world - but I don't require the author to come to those conclusions for me. It's also interesting to note that this moralizing doesn't carry over to the female characters, even when they do horrific things. When Medea murders her own children to be revenged upon Jason, there's no extraneous commentary, nor is Helen of Troy condemned for betraying her husband - everything is apparently the gods' fault, when women do wrong.

I was really quite surprised at my reaction here, and wonder whether, being more familiar with Greek mythology than Egyptian, I was better able to concentrate on issues of tone and storytelling here, than in Treasury of Egyptian Mythology, where so many of the stories were previously unknown to me. It doesn't seem reasonable to suppose that the tone there was so different than here, but I simply don't recall being put off by it, to any great extent. Given my reaction to the storytelling here, this might have been a two-star book for me. Fortunately, I am a great admirer of illustrator Christian Balit's work - indeed, she is the reason I have tracked these collections down - and I greatly enjoyed the visuals here. The vibrant colors, the boldly stylized figures, the use of gold accents and decorative borders - I found the whole thing gorgeous, and awarded an extra star accordingly. In the end, I think there are better collections of Greek mythology out there for children, starting with the classic (and best all-time!) D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, and I would definitely recommend that title over this one. This, I would recommend chiefly to fellow Balit fans, who will undoubtedly enjoy the artwork. ( )

Partnered with National Geographic, Donna Jo Napoli put together a great collection of stories. The artwork was beautiful and the characters had a lot of personality. ( )

I have read most, if not all, of these myths in their original forms and WOW did Napoli destroy them. Most are horribly watered down, or pared down to almost nothing, or censored, or just completely butchered. What a crappy, crappy collection! ( )