Hello Readers,
This is the first book I have read by Natalie Haynes, and
it will not be the last dear Reader. I will admit dear Reader I listened to the
audiobook of this on Spotify using the free audiobook hours you get allocated a
month. I loved that Natalie narrated the audiobook as you could tell how passionate
she was telling this story and it’s hard to not get as excited. In fact, I
loved the audiobook that much that I went out and got a physical copy.
Pandora’s Jar tells us the story of the women in Greek
myths who are often misunderstood or misrepresented and how their roles have
changed over the years and how their stories have changed though modern
interpretations. Each woman gets her own chapter, but many others get mentioned
due to the cross overs between their stories. I thought I knew my Greek Myth not
enough to give a whole lecture but enough to pass by, but I learnt so much in
this book.
Natalie starts with telling us the most popular version
of the myth and then goes back to the earliest available versions of these stories.
As Natalie discusses versions of the myths and how they changed overtime, she
also brings up how those changes reflect the dynamics in our society at the
time. Natalie also shares her depth of knowledge as she analyses the different
kinds of media that mentions the women from Greek myths.
Natalie gave a lot of interesting insights and was just
funny at points. Natalie referenced Jason and the Argonauts and The Clash of
the Titans, and I will say it is true it is mandatory viewing every British
bank holiday. My little black heart couldn’t take the nostalgia at the mention
of Bubo the owl.
We are back talking about my favourite Gorgon. It wasn’t
until this book that I really thought about if Athena did the “Right” thing
turning Medusa into a Gorgon. Did Athena do this horrific thing to Medusa so no
man could ever hurt her again but then I remember she gave Perseus her mirror shields
to use so he didn’t turn to stone… even with this fact I do keep debating the
ifs, buts and what ifs. Natalie gave Medusa a long chapter and discussed the
many alternate Medusa portrayals, through history.
I honestly can’t wait to read more of Natalie’s work.
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