As I listen to the Gloucester History Festival talks online, I’ve added so many books to my reading list. While I initially prioritized the talks on medieval Europe, Vikings, and Anglo-Saxons, I have enjoyed the talks on Classical texts from Ancient Greece by Emily Hauser and Natalie Haynes. Emily Hauser’s work is new to me, but I’ve read Natalie Haynes before. A classicist and stand-up comedian, Haynes is knowledgeable and delightfully irreverent. I loved her book Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, and her podcast episode on women poets in Ancient Greece. At the festival, Haynes discussed her latest novel No Friend to This House, a retelling of the Jason and Medea myth.
Now I’ll confess that I do not have a linear or thorough education in the ancient classics. I’ve read excerpts from Ovid and Homer and a few Roman allegories, but I never took a classics course. So I’ve added Emily Wilson’s translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey and Emily Hauser’s Penelope’s Bones to my Audible library.
I started my classical syllabus with Natalie Haynes’ Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth (Harper Perennial, 2024). Where Pandora’s Jar tracks the mythological, cultural, and historical significance of notable Greek women, Divine Might studies prominent Olympian goddesses. Haynes includes the Muses, Hera, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Hestia, Athene, and the Furies. Here is the book trailer:
Three-Dimensional Myths
In this book, Haynes synthesizes primary sources and contemporary adaptations, rendering each goddess in vibrant detail. She cites Homer, Hesiod, Ovid, and Sappho, as well as Renaissance artists and twentieth-century filmmakers. She explains how we can see the goddesses — translated with varying levels of success — in modern films. The Muses appear in Xaanadu, and Hera’s archetype resonates in Fawlty Towers, albeit commercially reduced. Haynes attends to each goddess’s iconography, even describing the two expensive Barbies that show Athene as goddess of wisdom and goddess of war.
Haynes offers a comparative study of each goddess’s origin story, skills, personality, and devotees. The treatment of each goddess is contextualized based on their location. In her discussion of Artemis, she explains that worshippers in Greece were praying at cross-purposes with the “barbarian” worshipers in other lands. Even sacrificial offerings varied widely depending on region. The Olympians often switched sides, crossed battle lines, or dissolved alliances.
Moved by the Muses
I especially appreciated Haynes’ perspective on the Muses, Hera, and Demeter. Haynes explains how the Muses exhibit a pastoral beauty — their feet never roughened by their constant dancing. But their pleasing appearance belies a fierce pride in their skills. Haynes recounts the mortals foolish enough to challenge the Muses to artistic contests. When (not if) you lose a musical contest with the Muses, they may take your talent, genius, or sight — and they may turn you and your eight sisters into magpies.
Haynes provides insight into Hera’s personality and behavior while accurately detailing this Olympian queen’s spite, deceit, and creative revenge. Though Zeus’s infidelities are well-known, Haynes explains that he has actually been married several times before. Like ancient Greek women, Even Hera, Queen of the Gods, is subject to her husband’s verbal and physical abuse. And she can be replaced. Haynes builds sympathy for Hera when describing how Hera favors certain heroes and tries to protect married women.
Haynes’ treatment of Deemeter is also intense and powerful. She removes any romanticism from the story of Hades’ kidnapping of Persephone and emphasizes Demeter’s profound grief at the loss of her daughter. Haynes praises Demeter’s courage, anger, and resourcefulness which finally lead the Olympians to return Persephone to her mother for a time.
Final Impressions
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Greek myths can be confusing and troubling. The gods enact harsh judgments, the women are treated badly, and the mortals face impossible choices. But Haynes understands why these narratives still compel us. She moves with empathy and care through each chapter, delivering a thorough and human examination of the mythological tradition. This is a wonderfully engaging book — rigorous in its sources and lively in its voice.
Enhance Your Knowledge
Natalie Haynes discusses Divine Might on the Classical Wisdom podcast:
Natalie Haynes analyzes Medusa and the function of monsters in Bronze Age myth:
