by Roger Lancelyn Green
Roger Lancelyn Green is a master storyteller. I recently read his Tales of Ancient Egypt and was thrilled when someone posted Tales of the Greek Heroes on PaperBackSwap.com.
There are plenty of books of Greek myths and heroes, of course, but Green's book does something a bit different. He attempts to weave the disparate tales into a single whole, mingling stories and ordering events as they might have happened in a mythical chronological order.
Before each chapter, Green includes an excerpt from a poem about or inspired by the subject. Some of them are translations of ancient works and some are modern references. It's a wonderful way to subtly imply the vast reverberations of the Greek myths through time and literature as well as introduce some excellent bits of literature.
I was not intending to use this book for our history studies, but it is included in RC History's Connecting with History Volume 1. Rather than rewrite our lesson plans, I've just added it to the optional supplemental reading lists for First Daughter (7th grade) and Second Daughter (5th grade).
I think you could also substitute it for the Greek myth book recommended by Mater Amabilis™ for Level 1A, Classic Myths to Read Aloud. I love that book, but some people find the stories long and these may be a bit shorter. It can also be frustrating if children are confused by the inexplicable switching from Greek to Roman names in Classic Myths to Read Aloud. Green's book uses only Greek names. There is a list in the back showing the Latin name for each Greek one.
Green doesn't include the tales of the Trojan War or of the Odyssey; he has other books for those.
I have the hardcover of the Puffin Classics edition and it's lovely.
I have received nothing in exchange for this post which includes only my honest opinion. Links to Amazon, RC History, and PaperBackSwap are affiliate links.
