Homer and the Homeric Hymns

Helaine L. Smith has taught English in grades six through twelve for over thirty-five years at Hunter College High School and The Brearley School. She is the author of Masterpieces of Classic Greek Drama, journal articles for CANE and CAMWS, and pieces about teaching The Odyssey for Literary Matters. She was a reader of AP English exams for The College Board and is currently completing a book adapting Aristophanes' comedies for middle school performance.

• IntroductionPart I: The Gods in The IliadChapter 1: Hera's Seduction of ZeusChapter 2: Aphrodite, Athene, and Ares on the BattlefieldChapter 3: Hephaistos at Feast and ForgeChapter 4: Apollo at the RampartsChapter 5: Athene and PeithoChapter 6: Destiny and the Limits of Zeus' PowerChapter 7: Hermes EriouniosPart II: The Gods in The OdysseyChapter 8: Poseidon's AngerChapter 9: Athene's Humor, Chapter 10: Calypso and Hephaistos, Unlucky in LoveChapter 11: The House of HadesPart III: The Gods in The Homeric HymnsChapter 12: Aphrodite and AnchisesChapter 13: Demeter, Persephone, and HadesChapter 14: DionysosChapter 15: The Birth of Aphrodite, Athene, and ApolloGlossaryIndexIndex of citations,

I know of no Greek mythology textbook to rival Homer and the Homeric Hymns. Helaine Smith has dipped her net into Homer's epics and the Homeric Hymns and pulled out the stories, alive and flashing, fresh from the Greek, which Smith has translated with loving sensitivity. This book will teach students how to read, analyze, and write. It is a treasure.