The Universe, the Gods, and Men: Ancient Greek Myths Told by Jean-Pierre Vernant – Beloved Figures and Legendary Tales at Civilization's Origins

The Universe, the Gods, and Men: Ancient Greek Myths Told by Jean-Pierre Vernant – Beloved Figures and Legendary Tales at Civilization's Origins

In this enchanting retelling of Greek myth, Jean-Pierre Vernant combines his deep knowledge of the subject with an original storytelling style. Beginning with the creation of Earth out of Chaos, Vernant continues with the castration of Uranus, the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods, the wily ruses of Prometheus and Zeus, and the creation of Pandora, the first woman. His narrative takes readers from the Trojan War to the voyage of Odysseus, from the story of Dionysus to the terrible destiny of Oedipus, to Perseus's confrontation with the Gorgons. Jean-Pierre Vernant has devoted himself to the study of Greek mythology. In recounting these tales, he unravels for us their multiple meanings and brings to life the beloved figures of legend whose narratives lie at the origin of our civilization. “Here, from a master scholar of Greek mythology, religion and society, is a masterly narrative of the ancient Greek world...told with the resonance, verve and passion of a modern bard in action.” - Robert Fagles, Translator of The Illiad and The Odyssey by Homer “An engorssing, stimulating and lively book.” - London Times Literary Supplement “Storytelling at its best … A rich treasury for all readers.” - Library Journal In this enchanting retelling of Greek myth, Jean-Pierre Vernant combines his deep knowledge of the subject with an original storytelling style. Beginning with the creation of Earth out of Chaos, Vernant continues with the castration of Uranus, the war between the Titans and the Olympian gods, the wily ruses of Prometheus and Zeus, and the creation of Pandora, the first woman. His narrative takes readers from the Trojan War to the voyage of Odysseus, from the story of Dionysus to the terrible destiny of Oedipus, to Perseus's confrontation with the Gorgons. Jean-Pierre Vernant has devoted himself to the study of Greek mythology. In recounting these tales, he unravels for us their multiple meanings and brings to life the beloved figures of legend whose narratives lie at the origin of our civilization. Jean-Pierre Vernant is a professor at the Collège de France in Paris and one of the foremost classicists of our time. He is the author of numerous scholarly books on Greek thought, myths, tragedy, politics, society, and religion. Linda Asher, a former editor at The New Yorker , has translated into English many French language writers, including Nicolas Edme Restif de Ia Bretonne, Victor Hugo, Georges Simenon, and Milan Kundera. The Universe, the Gods, and Men Ancient Greek Myths Told by Jean-Pierre Vernant By Vernant, Jean Pierre Perennial Copyright © 2004 Jean-Pierre Vernant All right reserved. ISBN: 0060957506 Chapter One The Origin of the Universe What was there when there was not yet anything, when there was nothing? The Greeks answered that question with stories and myths. At the very beginning, what existed first was the Void; the Greeks say Chaos. What is the Void? It is an emptiness, a dark emptiness where nothing is visible. A realm of falling, of vertigo and confusion -- endless, bottomless. That Void seizes us like the yawning of an immense gullet where everything is swallowed up by murky darkness. So at the start there is only that Void, a blind, black, boundless abyss. Then Earth appears. The Greeks call it Gaia. Earth rises up in the very heart of the Void. And here it is: born after Chaos, and in some respects its opposite. Earth is not that realm of falling, dark and boundless and undefined; Earth has a distinct, separate, precise form. Against the confusion and shadowy vagueness of Chaos stand Gaia's sharpness, firmness, stability. On Earth everything is outlined, visible, solid. Gaia can be defined as the entity upon which the gods, men, and beasts can walk with confidence. It is the floor of the world. The Depths of the Earth: The Void The world now has a floor, born out of the vast Void. At one end this floor rises upward as mountains; at the other it plunges downward as underground. That nether-earth stretches on forever, unbounded -- so that, in a way, what underlies Gaia, beneath the firm and solid ground, is still the abyss, Chaos. Earth arose out of the heart of the Void but still clings to it deep down. To the Greek mind this Chaos evokes a kind of impenetrable murk in which all frontiers are scrambled. At the bottommost reach of Earth there is still that original chaotic element. Though Earth is quite visible, though it has a clear-cut form, and though anything born of the Earth may possess those same distinct edges and boundaries -- yet, in its depths, Earth remains akin to the Void. It is a Black Earth. The adjectives that describe Earth in the stories can be much like those that describe the Void. The Black Earth stretches between the low and the high; between on the one hand the darkness and the rootedness in the Void that its deep places embody, and on the other, the snowcapped mountains that Earth thrusts toward the sky, the shining mountains