Blog Entry 8: Mythology Parts 3 & 4

I loved reading about the ancient heroes. The only one familiar to me was Hercules. I had always loved Hercules as a child and even enjoyed playing the game on PlayStation. Some of the stories reminded me of different levels in the game. I was pretty bad at it though. My younger brother always beat me. Reading about the other three heroes (Perseus, Theseus, and Atalanta) gave me more insight into the heroic adventure stories the Greeks and Romans wrote. I really enjoyed reading the story about Perseus and how he kills Medusa without getting turned to stone. Theseus' ordeal with the Minotaur was also an interesting read. I like the mythical creatures that are introduced in this part of the book and throughout. I have heard of most of them but reading their stories has been insightful into the ideas of the ancients. Atalanta's story with the golden apples was wonderful and humorous. I also really enjoyed reading about the Trojan War. Many of the events made me remember watching the movie, Troy which focused on the events leading up to Achilles' death. Odysseus' ordeal of not reaching home after the Trojan Wars for year is unfortunate but I liked how the gods and goddesses help him get home and finally reunite with his wife and son. Magic plays a big role in these stories, it enchants and weaves interesting twists and turns between characters. The adventures of Aeneas are wonderful and I especially enjoyed the love story that develops, unfortunately ending in his lover's death. I cannot wait to read the rest of this book!