mythology
An exhilarating chase: The Runner, by Scarlett Thomas, reviewed
Modern capitalism is this philosophical thriller’s dominant theme, with the protagonist on the run from assassins chasing a Bitcoin bounty
An ill-fated romance: Dark is the Morning, by Rupert Thomson, reviewed
In Italy’s rugged Abruzzo, prone to superstition and magical thinking, a doomed couple are bound together in a covenant ‘written in the stars’
Stuff of legends: the surprising truth about old myths
I visited Mycenae for the first time this autumn. While the ruins of classical Athens can seem almost familiar, the…
The juicy history of the apple
Greeks, Romans, Norse and Celts all rooted their fertility myths in the apple – and through its association with the Garden of Eden it came to symbolise irresistible temptation
All or nothing
Pan’s name is thought to derive from ‘paean’, the ancient Greek verb meaning ‘to pasture’. His half-man, half-goat form reflected…
Making a killing
What happened in the rites of Eleusis is a mystery. So are all the unwritten parts of human history. Our…
Deep in the forest’s mysteries: The Cloven, by Brian Catling, reviewed
Brian Catling’s great trilogy takes its title from The Vorrh, his first volume. This final book fulfills all the promises…
How scary is dairy?
For tens of thousands of years, humans have been domesticating other mammals — cows, buffaloes, sheep, goats, camels, llamas, donkeys,…
A mix of myths
With ‘both arms stretched out like a starfish, her long hair floating like seaweed at the sides of her body’,…
Flower power
After the success of their animal series of monographs, Reaktion Books have had the clever idea of doing something similar…
