In traditional retellings of the Greek myths, the focus is invariably on gods and men, but in Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths, Natalie Haynes refocuses our gaze on the remarkable women at the centre of these ancient stories.
‘Beyoncé, Star Trek, Ray Harryhausen ... the most enjoyable book about Greek myths you will ever read, absolutely brimming with subversive enthusiasm.’ Mark Haddon
‘Natalie Haynes is beyond brilliant. Pandora’s Jar is a treasure box of classical delights. Never has ancient misogyny been presented with so much wit and style.’ Amanda Foreman
‘Witty, erudite and subversive, this takes the women of Greek myth—the women who are sidelined, vilified, misunderstood or ignored—and puts them centre stage.’ Samantha Ellis
‘Reading Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths by Natalie Haynes: 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, on Twitter
Pandora’s Jar
Women in the Greek Myths
By Natalie Haynes
Picador / hardback / 1st October 2020 / £20
Stories of gods and monsters are the mainstay of epic poetry and Greek tragedy, from Homer to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, from Jason and the Argonauts to the wars of Troy. Today, a wealth of novels, plays and films draw their inspiration from stories first told almost three thousand years ago. But modern tellers of Greek myth have usually been men and have rarely shown 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 to the Greeks, Helen didn’t always start a war, and even Medea and Phaedra have vastly more nuanced stories than generations of retellings might indicate.
Now, in Pandora’s Jar, Natalie Haynes – broadcaster, writer and passionate classicist – redresses this imbalance. Taking Pandora and her jar (the box was a mistranslation by Erasmus) 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, Odysseus or Oedipus, the voices that sing from these pages are those of Clytemnestra, Jocasta, Eurydice and Penelope.
'Natalie Haynes is the nation's great muse' Adam Rutherford
ABOUT NATALIE HAYNES
Natalie Haynes is the author of five books. A Thousand Ships, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020. Her earlier books include: The Children of Jocasta (2017), The Amber Fury (2014), and The Ancient Guide to Modern Life (2010). She has written and recorded six series of Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics for BBC Radio 4. Natalie has written for The Times, The Independent, The Guardian and The Observer.
@officialnhaynes / https://nataliehaynes.com/
https://www.facebook.com/watch/nataliehaynesstandupclassicist/1649832641846815/
SELECTED PRAISE FOR A Thousand Ships
‘With her trademark passion, wit, and fierce feminism, Natalie Haynes gives much-needed voice to the silenced women of the Trojan War. Her thoughtful portraits will linger with you long after the book is finished’ - Madeline Miller, author of Circe
'A gripping feminist masterpiece' Deborah Frances-White ‘The forgotten women are vividly brought to life in this moving, intelligent and witty book.’ - Martha Kearney, BBC Radio 4
‘Here, in this treat of a book, the women take centre stage - and how brilliantly . . . Natalie Haynes brings them to witty, lyrical, scintillating life . . . A book to both savour and devour.’ - Suzannah Lipscomb
‘Breathtaking . . . Her writing isn’t merely clever, or elegant, or (at times) extremely funny - though it is all of those things. It’s also viscerally vivid.’ - Catherine Nixey
‘Haynes is master of her trade, crafting perfect sentences and believable characters who speak and think in delicately nuanced language. [She] succeeds in breathing warm life into some of our oldest stories to show how remarkably little basic human relationships and emotions have changed’ - Daily Telegraph
’Absorbing and fiercely feminist.’ - Guardian