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[@questristkrystal]

Sarah Ruhl's "Eurydice" is a play that tells the Orpheus and Eurydice myth from Eurydice's perspective and is just SO INCREDIBLE. It manages to reclaim not only her story, but also reimagine what Greek tragedy could look like on the modern stage too. P.S. I'm reading A Thousand Ships now out it and I am super enjoying it!

[@madamevoid1]

Highly HIGHLY recommend Elektra by Jennifer Saint. I read it back to back with A Thousand Ships, and it is almost like it is part of that in that it follows the perspective of multiple women during the events of the Iliad. In particular, the women surrounding Agamemnon.

[@gailgilchrist5421]

I am so glad you included The King Must Die by Mary Renault. I read it years ago and recently acquired a beautiful Folio Society edition. I would like to add two recommendations to your list. The first is Wake, Siren-Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin, which is a collection of retellings of the tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. All the well-known ones are here: Daphne, Arachne, Echo, Io, and Medusa as well as others not so well-known except perhaps to those who are quite familiar with the source material. The second one, though not a retelling, is Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. It places the Olympian gods in modern-day London, where they have had to get day jobs. Artemis is a dog walker and Aphrodite is a phone sex operator. I thought the book was hilarious.

[@wingedvictory72]

As a lover of Greek mythologies I have got some great recommendations! My absolute faves are Circe, Mythos and Heroes.

[@kailamb300]

Oh no. I should not have watched this video, because while I have read most of the retellings listed on here, there are still a few I haven't managed to get my hands on yet. And now, of course, I must check my impulse to splurge and buy all of the ones I don't have yet. Ah, Jean, you just make every book sound so very intriguing. Particularly regarding Mary Renault, though, I can only strongly endorse her works. It is astounding to me how much detail and depth of the ancient world she includes and manages to encapsulate so well in her books despite not having been a classicist. Her prose is also just so very descpriptive and haunting. Definitely on the lyrical side, but I personally love such writing styles. Her trilogy of Alexander the Great is also great, although with the caveat it's obviously very favorable towards Alexander, perhaps to a fault. I can also strongly recommend the Last of the Wine if you haven't read that one yet either!

[@oslivrosdonossobairro5286]

Hi Jean, there is another retelling of the Trojan War by Marion Zimmer Bradley called Firebrand. And I also highly recomend Ransom by David Malouf, a beautiful retelling of Iliad’s final chapters.

[@lauraevans6285]

Getting obsessed with all things greek mythology right now, just started circe after loving percy jackson series so much, and can just tell I'm not gunna stop reading! ❤❤

[@Seolhe]

I've only read a few of these, but a ton of them are already on my TBR. I loved both of Madeline Miller's books, and I quite enjoyed House of Names. Unfortunately didn't like The Penelopiad, and DNF'd The Children of Jocasta, but I would like to give A Thousand Ships a try, hopefully I'll like that one better. The Silence of the Girls is definitely a top priority for me, as is Mary Renault's Theseus duology, seeing as I loved her Alexander trilogy. Also can't wait to get my hands on Ariadne, I've been wanting to read a book based on her story for ages!

[@AnniesBookNook]

Very interesting collection. "Weight" sounds really intriguing

[@JeansThoughts]

It's sooooo good!

[@wittyusernamesareacryforva4748]

You might have heard of it, but A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond is a retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice that I remember reading a while ago. It's told from the point of view of Eurydice's best friend, who is left behind after her death

[@KristinKravesBooks]

A Thousand Ships and The Silence of the Girls are two of my favourite books. I'm so glad that both authors have a book coming out this year!!

[@avrydekazan6016]

I couldn't find any upcoming book by Nathalie Haynes?

[@JeansThoughts]

Ooooh does Natalie Haynes have one too!?

[@KristinKravesBooks]

Pandora's Jar. But it might be out in the UK already. Not out until June here is Canada!

[@chiyapink7607]

The other Christa Wolf retelling is Medea. I really enjoyed both her novels, giving voice to women in mythology.

[@natashasawday3050]

You might be interested in Emily Hauser's books: for the most beautiful (trojan War retelling), for the winner (Jason and the argonauts retelling) and for the immortal ( a Hercules retelling). I also loved circe one of my absolute favourites I also have lavinia, house of names, the penelopiad, the Silence Of the girls and a thousand ships that I want to read this month

[@GirlintheSea]

Your reaction to the Samson retelling actually made me laugh out loud! Another retelling I really liked was "Ransom" by David Malouf based on book 24 of the Iliad.

[@N_Garamond]

same with the samson book part. the way she yeeted that book right off the screen 😂

[@indiaromo]

I read Medea by Christa Wolf and Beloved by Toni Morrison together for an undergrad course, both of which are so so masterful. I can’t wait to pick up Silence of the Girls

[@eve9892]

I'm currently half way through 'Autobiography of Red' and it's stunning. Anne Carson is an amazing writer!

[@JeansThoughts]

Eeeeeh I really need to stop putting it off because I'm sure I'm going to love it too!

[@OhioEddieBlack]

I taught Greek & World Mythology at the high school level for 20 years and I had shelves and shelves of myth retellings from different cultures, but they were 95% YA. It was so interesting to hear/see so many that I had not heard of before since my focus has always been YA. One of the funniest is Zeus is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure by Michael Munz. Also LOVE Mary Renault. The King Must Die is really well written.

[@annajo6576]

It’s WILD that you just posted this. I’ve been going through your old videos trying to make a list of your retelling recommendations and this is just .... 😘

[@JeansThoughts]

Oh my god aha I love it - serendipity at the max!

[@millysbookshelf2101]

Such a great watch. Love anything Classical and some titles here that I've missed. I loved Thousand Ships too.

[@laurab6881]

Thanks for this video! I really want to read more myth retellings, because I've loved the ones I have read, so this is great! Saving the video for a future book buying spree 😄

[@beatingaroundthebooks]

Ohhh so excited for Ariadne! I need to put that on my list. I'm currently planning my BA thesis which focuses on A Thousand Ships, but also thinking about possibly adding another one.

[@KeiraAndGeo]

I wanted to wait with watching this video until I have finished your book, you know, to get all of the references ;) so now I have and enjoyed both your book as well as this video so very much!!! I will sure read it again and also use it as a reference :) thank you for introducing me to greek myths and making me excited about antiquity!

[@inessamaria2428]

I loved the first episode of stereo last week.

[@jenniferf4471]

There are some of my favourites here and some I definitely need to get hold of! The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya is another retelling of Antigone that I really enjoyed.

[@JeansThoughts]

Ooh I haven't heard of that one - will definitely look it up!

[@magdagoliczewska]

hello :) there is a book I think you'd love, namely, Zbigniew Herbert's "The king of the ants". it is not actually a retelling, but rather collection of very poetical essays and author's impressions concerning various myths. it is poetic, it is bitter-sweet, usually quite deep and occasionnaly cutely weird. there also is a good retelling of Odysseus myth by hungarian author Sandor Marai, but I have no idea if it was ever transalted to english...

[@smoffig]

Literally just finished the Penelopiad. It was a great recommendation!

[@JeansThoughts]

Yay this makes me sooo happy!

[@dsarrazin]

A series that I really enjoyed reading was David Gemmell's Troy books. I'm not well versed enough into Greek history and mythologies to be able to judge how accurate the books were (although I really enjoyed them), and they were focused more on history than myths, as I recall. I also recently bought Mythos by Stephen Fry but haven't had time to read it yet -- don't know what you make of that book? On a side note, if you play video games, the recent Immortal Fenyx Rising has a lot of fun with Greek mythologies :-)

[@carolyngardner3299]

I also really enjoyed David Gemmell's Troy trilogy and followed it up with Ursula le guins Lavinia the story of the warriors fleeing Troy and founding Rome written from a woman's story.

[@MCracknell]

I’m going to have to come back and watch this in the morning since it’s so late here, but I’m super looking forward to it!

[@JeansThoughts]

Woohoo! Let me know if you have read any of them when you return!

[@MCracknell]

@@JeansThoughts I’ve recently picked up A Thousand Ships and have been really enjoying it, but this list is brilliant and has so many books that I’d love to read on it!

[@WhimsicalFamilyLife]

I love and I'm so grateful you include so many that focus on women

[@JeansThoughts]

I’m so glad that was appreciated!

[@Pianofurte]

Stereo sounds so cool!! I loved your video as always 😊 I have had Penelopiad on my TBR for a few months now, I bought it after I saw you recommend it in several videos 😸

[@JeansThoughts]

I'm honestly so shocked it hasn't existed for longer! It's like live podcasting that people can engage with in real time and I'm loving it aha. I'm looking forward to my next show. Also, I hope you enjoy the Penelopiad!!

[@Pianofurte]

I'm listening to your recorded show now ~ I've been looking for a platform to launch my podcast so I might give Stereo a go 😊

[@curseofthepirates]

Have you ever read The Trojan War Will Not Take Place/Tiger at the Gates by Jean Giraudoux? It's a French play written in the inter-war period, with the idea that Hector is trying *really* hard to stop the Trojan war. My favourite read of last year (but it's hard to find in English). I've read most of the ones you mentioned and enjoyed them! :D (Apart from Circe, which I really disliked.) But I've never heard of Lovely War, gotta check that out.

[@katieannwicked]

Id love to hear your thoughts on Lovely War, it was one of my favorite books of 2020. ❤❤

[@kxterameddins3285]

'the library of the unwritten' by aj Hackwith is amazing and has a lot of direct and indirect references to greek and norse mythology! the sequel in particular has a lot of greek influence

[@JeansThoughts]

I had no idea! I actually have that book but now I'm even more excited to read it!!!

[@kxterameddins3285]

@@JeansThoughts its honestly my favourite book of all time and I am soooo fussy with fiction!

[@gliterindoenut]

I just couldn't get on with Christa Wolf at all so it would be very interesting to hear what you think about it!

[@RosLanta]

What edition/publisher is that copy of Proserpine and Midas please? It looks lovely and I can't find it on Amazon!

[@abk.92]

I'm so excited for this vedio !

[@JeansThoughts]

Yay - I hope you find some new myth retellings from it ;)!

[@abk.92]

@@JeansThoughts everything other than Circe is new to me ! As I've recently developed a interest in Greek Mythology ! Love how you give snippets of stories ! I wish there was one book where the whole original (as possible) story is told though, with its variations taking up chapters, in brackets. Lol

[@Sasha-oz4dx]

Anyone have any recommendations on where to start with these books like a break down of who’s who Thanks 💕

[@JoshsBookishVoyage]

Love this! I love all your mythos content. Have you read A Thousand Beginnings and Endings? It's asian mythology not greek.

[@JoshsBookishVoyage]

The first greek retelling I read was Piers Anthony's incarnations of immortality. Though it's less retelling than just having greek mythology in the modern day. It's pretty predictable but it did make me fall in love with greek mythology (in addition to PlayStation's god of war).

[@melissamarshall5880]

You’ll enjoy the House of Names if you like Children of Jocasta 😉

[@adecafbookworm6046]

I feel like it’s probably already been recommended to you at some point but just in case it hasn’t, I really love the webcomic Lore Olympus and I think you would like it.

[@JeansThoughts]

It has but I still haven't read it so I still need these reminders, thank you!

[@adecafbookworm6046]

Jean Bookishthoughts I would love to hear your thoughts if you do get to it🤗

[@pendragonianlaw]

Have you read Great Goddesses by Nikita Gill? It's a poetry collection about the Greek gods and goddesses so it might be right up your street!

[@JeansThoughts]

I read some of it and I don't think the style is for me although I love Nikita Gill as a person. I also hate anything that romanticises Hades and Persephone so it puts me on an unfair bias to be honest.

[@pendragonianlaw]

@@JeansThoughts Ohh yes I do get that!! I don't think I have as strong of an opinion on it as you do, but I'm sure it's a very controversial choice. I'm still forming my own opinion about the collection myself, because while I have liked some of Nikita Gill's poetry in the past and I liked some of the poems in Great Goddesses, something about most of this book just didn't quite click. A lot of it felt a little cliche for some reason. But I liked the drawings!

[@ohwellaways]

I’m about to read Song of Achilles and i wanted to hear your opinion on it before i read it but I was surprised to know you haven’t read it yet/not own it. I’m curious to know why? Sorry if this has been asked before! 🙈

[@JeansThoughts]

I just straight up hate Achilles aha so I don't want to read a book about him... although all the rave reviews make me think one day I probably will.

[@ohwellaways]

@@JeansThoughts ahaha understandable! His character in Hades (the video game) was so interesting to me so I wanted read more about him and patroclus, but watching your videos made me want to read Silence of the Girls for a different perspective!

[@kailamb300]

The thing with the Song of Achilles is that it's about a love story. It oversimplifies the Trojan war a lot and at times, sadly, misrepresents it entirely. The characterization is also very...off in many cases, because it feminizes Patroclus to a point where his identity as a warrior in his own right is completely undermined. Of course Patroclus' role does have feminine elements as he dresses wounds and passes the wine, all of which was considered a woman's duty, which in and of itself is very intriguing; but Patroclus is sadly more an extension of Achilles than his own character. I saw you know Hades, too. As somebody who has almost 300+ hours in the game, I will say this about Achilles in the Iliad in comparison to his portrayal in TSOA: you will not find Hades! Achilles in the source material. Achilles, in the Iliad, is a complete and utter bastard who threw a temper tantrum of goldly proportions and was indeed very willing to let Patroclus die instead of putting aside his pride while many of their friends and brothers in arms died in droves. There is some redemption in his scenes with Priam but that's also one of the tragedies of the Iliad. That somebody like Achilles, who was reprehensible in many ways, went on to be lauded as a hero. I will say Hades' focused more on Achilles' short appearance in the Odyssey where he seems at least somewhat self-reflective, yet it's very amplified. It's the same with TSOA. Almost everything that makes Achilles morally grey or bad or even cruel is entirely scrapped in this portrayal. And I must also say, unfortunately, a lot of the women are treated horribly in their new characterizations by Miller. I would say if you enjoy beautiful, lyrical prose and are prepared to read it with a grain of salt, it's definitely worth your time. There's no point in denying Miller is a good storyteller who knows her craft. However, I would also strongly encourage you to read up on the figures after you've read the book, because you will see what I mean regarding the treatment of women, especially so in the case of Thetis and Deidameia. Silence of the Girls, as Jean said, is primarily about Briseis and the other women. Achilles and Patroclus do appear, but they're not the focus of the book. However, I do find Achilles' characterization much more nuanced there, so I would definitely give it a read. I hope this helped? Edit: edited for spelling