More Demeter/Persephone
Oct. 23rd, 2007 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyjadwigaStopped by the Public library today and picked up some more mythology books. (I'll post more on the Norse/Viking ones later). I thought I'd share my thoughts on the other picture books that cover Demeter/Persephone here.
Persephone, retold and illustrated by Warwick Hutton. (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1994).
This version appears to be based on the version in the Homeric Hymns, with the addition of the Ovid's river/spring spirit, Cyane. (http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheKyane.html) The illustrations in this book are, well.. unimpressive, when it comes to human figures, though the watercolor backgrounds are very pleasant and he draws horses quite well. The fact that he can't draw a classical female hairstyle to save his life leaves Demeter looking like a little old lady in a kimono bathrobe wandering the Earth, waiting up for an errant schoolgirl. We won't even talk about how he draws Hermes. But This is one of the best worded retellings I've found. The word choice is age appropriate, but lyrical, and the telling of the story is true to the legend yet sympathetic. Should be excellent for reading aloud.
Daugher of Earth: A Roman Myth Retold and Illustrated by Gerald McDermott. (Delacorte, 1984).
This very colorful and strongly-drawn picturebook is based on the version of the legend in Ovid's Metamorpheses, with Ceres and Proserpina rather than Demeter and Persephone, and the water nymph Cyane. There is a gratifying abundance of Demeter's symbols, such as pigs, poppies, and grain. While Proserpina is depicted as a bit young and not as the radiant goddess of the spring-- more like a handmaiden of Ceres-- there is a wonderful image of Pluto lounging on his eating-couch with his feet up, a pale Proserpina in a chair by his die, and an abundance of treasures and good things to eat before her. The text is good, and should read aloud well. There is a certain amount of cranky sympathy to be had for Pluto, fussing why he cannot make Prosperina happy, and scheming to keep her with him.
The Gods and Goddess of Olympus by Aliki. (HarperCollins, 1994).
This short picturebook would be an excellent introduction to Greek Mythology for readers too young for D'Auleries' longer book. After an introduction explaining the orgin of the Gods of Olympus, Each God and Goddess gets a two-page, brightly colored and smoothly illustrated spread, with a few paragraphs covering their origin, role and attributes. A short summary at the top of the page gives the name, role and mother and father of each deity. Demeter and Persephone are grouped together on one page, though Demeter is the one summed up: "goddess of the Harvest, Grain, and Fertility." There isn't enough about Demeter's powers, but the short retelling of the story is charming. Definitely an excellent introduction to the Greek Goddesses (the author even devotes the same space to Hestia, who is often overlooked).
The Lady of Ten Thousand Names: Goddess Stories from Many Cultures Retold by Burleigh Muten and illustrated by Helen Cann (Barefoot Books, 2001)
This goddess-centric, lightly feminist text covers Isis, Kuan Yin, White Buffalo Woman, Cerridwen, Freya, Ama-terasu, Oshun, and "The Triple Goddes: Persephone, Demeter, and Hekate."
I'm not entirely sure about the mythic purity of the other stories, as I don't know them so well-- I'm especially suspicious about the version of Freya's necklace story told here, since it's diamonds not amber. The Triple Goddess story blends elements from the traditional mythology, including the presence of Hekate-- but the author gives Persephone the choice. Hades tells her that she must eat the pomegranate seeds, and Persephone knows that they will mean returning to him for 6 months of the year-- but she chooses to eat them, in order to combine returning to her mother with ruling over the dead, who needed a queen. The illustrations to each story are strongly colored and attractive, with lots of detail, and each page has floral mariginal illustrations. Very nice; appropriate to share with a pre-teen girl of one's acquaintance.
I've got a few more versions to discuss in a later post, and then I'll touch on the Norse picture books as well.
Persephone, retold and illustrated by Warwick Hutton. (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1994).
This version appears to be based on the version in the Homeric Hymns, with the addition of the Ovid's river/spring spirit, Cyane. (http://www.theoi.com/Nymphe/NympheKyane.html) The illustrations in this book are, well.. unimpressive, when it comes to human figures, though the watercolor backgrounds are very pleasant and he draws horses quite well. The fact that he can't draw a classical female hairstyle to save his life leaves Demeter looking like a little old lady in a kimono bathrobe wandering the Earth, waiting up for an errant schoolgirl. We won't even talk about how he draws Hermes. But This is one of the best worded retellings I've found. The word choice is age appropriate, but lyrical, and the telling of the story is true to the legend yet sympathetic. Should be excellent for reading aloud.
Daugher of Earth: A Roman Myth Retold and Illustrated by Gerald McDermott. (Delacorte, 1984).
This very colorful and strongly-drawn picturebook is based on the version of the legend in Ovid's Metamorpheses, with Ceres and Proserpina rather than Demeter and Persephone, and the water nymph Cyane. There is a gratifying abundance of Demeter's symbols, such as pigs, poppies, and grain. While Proserpina is depicted as a bit young and not as the radiant goddess of the spring-- more like a handmaiden of Ceres-- there is a wonderful image of Pluto lounging on his eating-couch with his feet up, a pale Proserpina in a chair by his die, and an abundance of treasures and good things to eat before her. The text is good, and should read aloud well. There is a certain amount of cranky sympathy to be had for Pluto, fussing why he cannot make Prosperina happy, and scheming to keep her with him.
The Gods and Goddess of Olympus by Aliki. (HarperCollins, 1994).
This short picturebook would be an excellent introduction to Greek Mythology for readers too young for D'Auleries' longer book. After an introduction explaining the orgin of the Gods of Olympus, Each God and Goddess gets a two-page, brightly colored and smoothly illustrated spread, with a few paragraphs covering their origin, role and attributes. A short summary at the top of the page gives the name, role and mother and father of each deity. Demeter and Persephone are grouped together on one page, though Demeter is the one summed up: "goddess of the Harvest, Grain, and Fertility." There isn't enough about Demeter's powers, but the short retelling of the story is charming. Definitely an excellent introduction to the Greek Goddesses (the author even devotes the same space to Hestia, who is often overlooked).
The Lady of Ten Thousand Names: Goddess Stories from Many Cultures Retold by Burleigh Muten and illustrated by Helen Cann (Barefoot Books, 2001)
This goddess-centric, lightly feminist text covers Isis, Kuan Yin, White Buffalo Woman, Cerridwen, Freya, Ama-terasu, Oshun, and "The Triple Goddes: Persephone, Demeter, and Hekate."
I'm not entirely sure about the mythic purity of the other stories, as I don't know them so well-- I'm especially suspicious about the version of Freya's necklace story told here, since it's diamonds not amber. The Triple Goddess story blends elements from the traditional mythology, including the presence of Hekate-- but the author gives Persephone the choice. Hades tells her that she must eat the pomegranate seeds, and Persephone knows that they will mean returning to him for 6 months of the year-- but she chooses to eat them, in order to combine returning to her mother with ruling over the dead, who needed a queen. The illustrations to each story are strongly colored and attractive, with lots of detail, and each page has floral mariginal illustrations. Very nice; appropriate to share with a pre-teen girl of one's acquaintance.
I've got a few more versions to discuss in a later post, and then I'll touch on the Norse picture books as well.
