This retelling of a selection of classical myths begins with a section on the importance of myth for ancient peoples, including as a means to explain aspects of the world and to explain concepts such as deities, who, Husain writes, were taken as ‘seriously’ (p. 4) in antiquity as they are by religious people today. The author states that these stories were transmitted orally until they came to be written down, notably by Hesiod (dated here to c. 700 BCE), Homer (dated to 750-25 BCE), and Euripedes (sic.) (dated 455-408). The stories retold by Husain start with Eurynome at the ‘Beginning of time’ (p. 6) and move to Gaia and then the rise of Zeus. Several stories about heroes’ encounters with magical animals follow. After this, Husain narrates a series of stories with an aetiological significance including Athena’s contest with Poseidon for patronage of Athens (‘how Athena…came to be the most important goddess of the people of Attica’, p. 20) and the kidnapping of Persephone (‘about the seasons of the year’ (p.  26). Textboxes explain various features dealt with in the main text and the book ends with a glossary and index.

The world of classical myth presented in Husain’s text is one where evildoers get their comeuppance, monsters exist to be killed by brave heroes, and powerful goddesses create and sustain the world. 

Although the introduction states that among the earliest authors to write down myths were Homer and Hesiod (p. 4), the book starts with the more esoteric Orphic story of Eurynome, the first ‘who rose out of darkness and disorder’ (p. 6). Furthermore, whereas ancient authors, notably Hesiod, tell of how the first woman (Pandora – not included among the stories narrated here) came to be, in Husain’s account, it is Eurynome who creates the first man: Pelasgus. This focus on the original centrality of goddesses echoes one of Husain’s books for adults: The Goddess: Power, Sexuality and the Feminine Divine (London, Duncan Baird 2000). The emphasis upon goddess power in the text is mirrored in Willey’s illustrations which show, for example Eurymone bringing her serpentine husband, Ophion, into existence (p. 6).  

The depiction of goddesses as powers driving creation continues with the next story, about Gaia, who, having been ill-treated by Uranos, allies with her son, Cronus, and makes him king. The focus then turns, for much of the book, to stories centring on male mythological figures. This starts with the rise of Zeus – whose emergences as a thunderbolt-wielding cosmic ruler is also the subject of the image on the book’s cover, and continues through various heroes, with some exceptions, notably Athena’s contest with Poseidon for supremacy in Attica. The book ends, as it begins, with a goddess-centred story: Demeter’s loss of, then reunion with, Persephone.

The retelling of the Demeter and Persephone story comes close to a depiction of sexual violence: Persephone ‘screamed’ to her mother when ‘Hades…forced her into his carriage’ (p. 26). Nothing is said about Persephone’s own feelings about what goes on to happen to her. Indeed, her eventual fate, determined by Zeus, is presented as a happy ending both for her mother, who is ‘overjoyed to have Persephone back’ and for the Earth, which ‘all the while Persephone was with her…was fertile and fruitful’ (p. 28). The stories about heroes – who ‘use their intelligence and cunning to defeat fearsome enemies’ (p. 14) and who ‘defended the forces of good and evil’ (p. 18) – likewise avoid morally-problematic features. For instance, Ariadne tells Theseus that she will help him because ‘you look brave’ (p. 17), and the story ends with Theseus’s successful return from the labyrinth, omitting the escape from Crete with Ariadne. Indeed, Theseus hides the twine that Ariadne lent him to prevent her from getting into trouble.