It's All Greek to Me

My kids have been fascinated by Greek mythology from an early age.
I'm not quite sure why; I'll blame it on my husband. I know it wasn't me. For some reason, I was able to graduate from high school and university without any real exposure to the classical gods and goddesses. I think we read part of The Odyssey in high school, but I've retained nothing. I know a little bit about Icarus, probably from one of the hundreds of songs that reference the story. But really, I am functionally illiterate when it comes to the Greek (and Roman) myths.

So now my children have decided to immerse themselves in all things Hellenic. It started with The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, and the Tales from the Odyssey series by Mary Pope Osborne. Tonight they spent an hour pouring over D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths. Their playtime is riddled with references to things that I don't understand. They drop names like Poseidon and Daedalus, Dionysus and Aphrodite. The youngest one teases other in the morning by calling her "Medusa."

Me, I'm lost. I get very few of these references. Maybe Jack Murnighan can help. Here is he is, reading his favorite line from The Aeneid.


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We encourage you to write down or print out the title information and shop at your local bookstore. Titles link to LibraryThing, a social networking site that allows you to catalog your home library. LibraryThing also links to various online purchasing options. Here are the books from this post:

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Miramax trade paperback

Tales from the Odyssey #1: The One-Eyed Giant by Mary Pope Osborne, Vintage trade paperback
D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths by Ingri D'Aulaire, Delacorte Books for Young Readers trade paperback
The Aeneid by Virgil, Bantam mass market

(all information is for the U.S. editions).