Literature review: Attractive rascals of antiquity

That Tantalus should serve the gods a son, young and delicate, like venison at the banquet – a scandal. Meanwhile, Icarus learns that flight comes before the fall. Maybe Pandora shouldn’t take that lid off the box, that’s too bad business! Oedipus marries his mother and has a number of brothers and sisters. Prometheus is recorded as a fire thief. Jason and the Argonauts – a bravado – embark on a bloody crusade just to capture a piece of sheepskin known as the “Golden Fleece”. Heracles, also known as Hercules, turned out not to be the brightest star in the southern sky, but a descending fighter who reliably beats everything.

Heroes of Greek mythology – some with good intentions, some against their best knowledge – commit crimes of all kinds. The recently published volume “The Most Beautiful Epics of Antiquity” provides eloquent information on the subject. When it comes to love, action, and crime, these stories can hardly topple – the primal landscapes of literature!

The master of illegal reproduction

You can count on the chief gods Zeus. The notorious slanderer practices intercourse with mostly unsuspecting females in a frenzy, as if it were Olympic discipline. The master of illegal reproduction! The characteristics of many legendary heroes are united in this multiple father: fallible, good, cruel, selfless, weak, generous, cold, kind-hearted, contradictory.

Matthias Reiner is the re-narrator of this selection of ancient epics, and he eschews poetic acrobatics. These are utterly dusty, purgatory stories that focus on events that speak for themselves: there is always something (sneaky) going on in Heaven, Heraklion, and Hades.

It’s all about six packs and it’s all female beauty

Bombast and Pity – Reiner left the stage for the painter Burkhard Ney. In his own way, Neie seems to have succeeded in turning every book into a deluxe edition.

In this case, too, he presents – in front of the bronze backgrounds – a lot of powerful images and symbols with modern refractions. A great mix of medieval elements/monsters, gothic birds flapping, superhero comic combos, all-round six packs, all of female beauty, and otherworldly beauty. These deities, giants, titans, and earthly species are simply able to take the reader’s eyes off.