The premise that the goddesses are usually overlooked in Greek mythology set me laughing even before I looked inside the covers. Come on! It's the gods who are usually overlooked in Greek mythology, if anything. Who runs the whole show in the Iliad? Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. Zeus is a helpless henpecked husband who does nothing, while Apollo has his hands completely tied because the goddesses always get their way. Athena dominates the Odyssey.

Meanwhile, the monologues really don't work. They just feel weird, having the goddesses narrate their own actions, at times nice, at times evil. Godesses are meant to be looked up at, and talked about. They are also supposed to be somewhat irrational beings. Thus, the first person thing doesn't quite cut it.

Orgel ties together a lot of myth and is amazingly faithful to the ancient sources despite the liberties she obviously takes. The book is a masterpiece. While the Goddesses may play important roles in Homer, too often we're looking from an all too male point of view--- Hera is the shrew, Aphrodite the over-sexed vixen and Athena, the puppet of her Father. Orgel's work leaves the Goddesses more alive, more vibrant, more mysterious than ever.

I fell in love with this book the very moment I saw it. Drawing on the oft-overlooked power and beauty of the ancient goddesses, Orgel spins wonderful tales from the perspectives of Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera. She provides excellent background in her introduction, and additional information at the end. One of my favorite features about this book are the marginal notes to help with pronunciation, which include a brief description of the character or location it describes. And, I should emphasize, the illustrations in this book are absolutely -phenomenal-! This book uplifts the strength and depth of femininity in a positive way, allowing girls to have wonderful, heroic role models missing in the common damsel-in-distress characters, or the over-emphasized feminist roles that I personally feel negate the message that each woman can function from her own personal genius. This book should be read and savored for the brilliant, enchanting work of art it is.

this boook was ok. I decited that It was a little yourg for me. i recomend it to younger readers from 8-10. Doris Orgel conveied the whole cliques and clubs are bad well, but it could have been done better.