John Spurling

The Classical Greek intellectual and mythic tradition pervades nearly every aspect of our modern Western civilization. We see its ideas in our logic and our approach to science, as well as our politics, architecture, and art. And the fundamental myths of the Greeks, as refined by Homer, Hesiod, Herodotus, and others, still resonate even thousands of years later as ageless stories at the core of our literature and culture. They teach us about heroism and mortality, human behavior and motivation; they are fictional tales that show us our humanity in ways reality never could. In Arcadian Nights, novelist John Spurling revisits many of these crucial myths, retelling them and bringing them to new life. Spurling, a resident of the Peloponnesian Coast himself, shows us his reimagining of the stories of classic characters like Agamemnon, Theseus, and Apollo, among others. Where details of certain stories have been lost to time, he's infused them with his own; where discrepancy and obscurity cloud the narratives, Spurling has added scene, dialogue, and context, while always staying true to the spirit of the original myth. The result is a vibrant collection of old tales made new again by a gifted author, who shows us that Greek myths hold as much power and resonance today as they ever have.

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