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Pandora's Jar
- Women in the Greek Myths
- Narrated by: Natalie Haynes
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Categories: History, Ancient History
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Summary
The Greek myths are among the world's most important cultural building blocks, and they have been retold many times, but rarely do they focus on the remarkable women at the heart of these ancient stories.
Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from the Trojan War to Jason and the Argonauts. And still, today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost 3,000 years ago. But modern tellers of Greek myth have usually been men and have routinely shown little interest in telling women’s stories. And when they do, those women are often painted as monstrous, vengeful or just plain evil. But Pandora - the first woman, who according to legend unloosed chaos upon the world - was not a villain, and even Medea and Phaedra have more nuanced stories than generations of retellings might indicate.
Now, in Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, Natalie Haynes - broadcaster, writer and passionate classicist - redresses this imbalance. Taking Pandora and her jar (the box came later) as the starting point, she puts the women of the Greek myths on equal footing with the menfolk. After millennia of stories telling of gods and men, be they Zeus or Agamemnon, Paris or Odysseus, Oedipus or Jason, the voices that sing in this audiobook are those of Hera, Athena and Artemis, and of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Eurydice and Penelope.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
"Funny, sharp explications of what these sometimes not-very-nice women were up to, and how they sometimes made idiots of...but read on!" (Margaret Atwood)
"Natalie Haynes is the nation's muse." (Adam Rutherford)
What listeners say about Pandora's Jar
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Paul
- 21-10-20
Superb
I adored this. As a fan of A Thousand Ships and Stands Up For the Classics this encapsulates what makes both of them great. Told with heart, Haynes’ passion and enthusiasm are tangible and its infectious. Heartbreaking at points and funny at others. Can’t stop recommending it to people.
1 person found this helpful
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- Matthew
- 05-03-21
Informative and entertaining
Natalie gives us a very interesting and informative look at the role of women in Greek myth. There are ten chapters, each focussing on a female character. They are: Pandora, Jocasta, Helen, Medusa, the Amazons, Clytemnestra, Eurydice, Phaedra, Medea, Penelope. In addition to retelling the stories, Natalie compares the different versions from ancient times to the present day, what we know and what has unfortunately been lost over time. With each chapter there is a comparison with the way the stories have been treated in other art forms such as painting and opera. While listening I was often googling Pre Raphaelite paintings, etc. In this way we start to get a picture of what the stories have meant to people over the centuries.
It’s extraordinary how the way that women were portrayed has changed due to the varying position that women have held in society and, in the twentieth century retelling in particular, have been edited and censored. The accepted version of the stories that most of us grew up with is frequently very different to the originals. Some of these female characters have had a bad press, to put it mildly, while others have been used to discredit real women generally.
Natalie reads perfectly with an infectious enthusiasm. She is along with us on the ride, sharing our sense of adventure, mystery, magic and at times horror, but most of all the wonder of these timeless tales and their symbolism. She also has a nice line of humour that probably works better in audio than the printed page. Well researched, scholarly and entertaining throughout. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
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- Marina Strinkovsky
- 01-02-21
Enjoyed every minute of this
Just what the title says :) Not one sentence was disengaging, dull, uninformative, or jarring. Well-nigh a perfect book. And very funny!
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- Amazon Customer
- 05-01-21
Excellent
A fantastic new look at the women of Greek antiquity. Well written and read. I would recommend.
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- Deb
- 28-12-20
superb. loved it
loved every minute of this book. well written and researched. beautifully read.will read more by the author. perfect.
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- Dominika Spilarova
- 20-12-20
Book of the year
Having read the Greek myths time and time again when growing up, this book and narration by the incredible Natalie Haynes busts the myths! Deep, thoughtful, funny-dry, with the authors ability to capture and keep your attention, this book/audio book is a literary delight. A must read or listen for every woman especially.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-12-20
Fantastic fantastic fantastic
I loved every second of this book... A refreshingly wholistic look into the lives of some of the most interesting the women from Greek Myth... such brilliant insight and a perspective that I had been craving but hadn’t been able to find until now!!... Keep them coming Natalie
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- bookylady
- 25-11-20
Entertaining, educational, funny. A great listen.
Natalie Haynes really knows how to tell a story and how to find its unusual angles and humour . Told from a feminist viewpoint, Haynes tells the stories of various female characters in ancient Greek mythology/literature and explains how the familiar tales we know today are often inaccurate and unfair to the female protagonists. She also explores the lives of the authors of these tales and how their work was received by the audiences of their day.
There is a wonderful mix of history, classicism, humour and academic knowledge all wrapped up in Haynes' wonderful verbal style. This is one of my favourite books of 2020.
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- Miss G
- 14-11-20
This was fascinating from start to finish!
Excellent narration, thank you Natalie! Thoroughly enjoyed this as an audio book, and it revealed a a different aspect of each of the women featured!
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- Illyrianth
- 22-10-20
Thoughtful, engaging, fascinating
This latest from Natalie Haynes is an absolute masterpiece. A considered, thoughtful study of the myths we think we know so well - but clearly do not.
Bringing in elements that have been lost, or hidden in the more modern versions, we get to see much more of the characters as they were first imagined. As a result, we can engage with the women of these stories, who have been sidelined, losing their vibrancy down the centuries.
Although Greece was undeniably a deeply patriarchal society, there can be no mistake that the women they wrote about were so much more than just bit players or fillers in their stories. The ludicrously brave and remorseful Penthesilea. The vengeful mother, Clytemnestra. Penelope at her loom day and night, weaving her deceit. Medusa, the victim of gods and "heroes" alike.
A fantastic book made all the better by the author's reading of it.