Divine Might

Divine Might is a book all about the goddesses throughout Greek Mythology, and how different authors interpreted their stories. I had read and thoroughly enjoyed Pandora’s Jar and knew that I was going to love Divine Might just as much, and I really did. The author is one of my favourites and I love her writing style and the humorous approach to certain situations, with contemporary references sprinkled throughout to draw in a modern reader to an ancient environment and allow us to connect and reflect on the past. I was lucky enough to meet Natalie Haynes in an event a while ago, and I was really excited to hear she was bringing out a new book, so I’m beyond grateful to have been given the chance to read this ARC, because it was definitely one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I can’t wait to get my own physical copy! I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Greek Mythology and the way both women and goddesses are portrayed throughout.

My first love in literature was reading Greek Myths from a young age and the likes of Natalie Haynes just keeps that torch alight as an adult.

Surprisingly this was my first non-fiction book of the year and it was definitely the breath of fresh air I needed after reading fantasy and thriller for the first half of the year.

Haynes intertwines fact (or fiction) with humour effortlessly. Not in my adult like did I think I'd read the line "unexpected snake sex obviously has hormonal effects that science has yet to uncover" but somehow it made sense in the context that she put it in. These are stories that are familiar but never covered in depth with the traditional myth, finally, women get to take the centre stage.

I love this renaissance of Greek Literature in the perspective of women, Natalie Haynes, Pat Barker and Claire North are leading the charge for this and I can't thank them enough.

I will definitely be purchasing a copy when it comes out, I can't wait to see how the illustrations add to the story!

In reviewing one of Natalie Haynes’s books, I’m at risk of repeating myself: watch out for superlatives. I eagerly anticipate new releases and watch out for them on NetGalley. She has a knack of being clever and funny, interrogating the ancient sources yet providing plenty of pop culture comparisons. Divine Might sets out to tell the stories of some of the Greek goddesses, from the more well known Aphrodite and Artemis to the lesser-known Demeter and The Furies. Often I was left wanting more at the end of each chapter – each of the goddesses is interesting enough to warrant a whole book.
Telling their stories is rarely straightforward as different versions reflect the oral tradition of storytelling. As an unexpected overlap in my reading (Frances Yates’s Art of Memory) reminded me, memory is a crucial skill for a poet. I think this lack of one definitive version of the stories is one of the reasons we continue to find them interesting today. For example, in Euripides’ play Iphigenia in Aulis, Agamemnon changes his mind about sacrificing Iphigenia but Menelaus intercepts a letter and tells Agamemnon he’s weak; that’s a dynamic of the brothers’ relationship I hadn’t come across before. Another reason is the resonance they have with moral problems today. Orestes has transgressed by killing his mother but that’s at the end of a generations-long chain of events so what is an appropriate punishment?
True to form, this is a really enjoyable read and one I think is accessible to anyone. I’m persuaded that Athene is the most interesting of the goddesses featured, properly involved in the fighting at Troy rather than just directing affairs from above like some of her fellow Olympians. And I wholeheartedly agree with Haynes that it’s idiotic to set the sciences against the arts; yes, we are all nerds in the end. But happy ones after reading this.