Books, Puzzles, and a Game to Enjoy Ancient Greece and Rome

Spotlight on Ancient Greece and Rome

Books, Puzzles, and a Game to Enjoy Ancient Greece and Rome

Have you seen The Odyssey  yet? We went last weekend and LOOOOOVED it. All three of us agreed that it was an excellent adaptation, but we all were disappointed with the same omission - Odysseus doesn't call himself "No One." To get in the mood for the movie, we've been reading ancient Greek and Roman mythology, playing Pandora's Box, reading The Odyssey in different forms, and building Thames and Hudson's puzzles featuring The Odyssey and the story of Rome's establishment a la Virgil's Aeneid. Here are Mom's and Son's takes on the different media we've been consuming...

 
The Odyssey in 1,000 Pieces and The Story of Rome in 1,000 Pieces
From Thames and Hudson Gift Lab (link takes you to their site)

Son's Review

I will admit that I didn't build all that much of the Odyssey puzzle because at the time I got it I didn't really like puzzles. However, I did build the Roman one, and I thought that it was okay. The Roman puzzle itself was okay, but I really liked the artwork for it. 

Mom's Review

Each is a nicely sized puzzle with an art style quite to my taste. I love how you have the whole story laid out in a curving path or concentric circles (depending on the puzzle), with a guide to the images and story on the back of the poster-sized image of the puzzle. Son has pointed out to me and Dad that the poster is a 1:1 scale and you could build the puzzle right on top of it if you wanted. The puzzles are a satisfying level of difficulty - Son and I can easily work in tandem on more and less challenging sections. June also got into puzzles. Quite literally. She tried to hide under the poster we had leaned up against the couch! She also apparently decided that puzzle was too easy and we needed the additional challenge of finding pieces she had knocked off the table and batted across the floor. 

Pandora's Box

Also from Thames and Hudson Gift Lab 

Son's Review (written by Mom this time)
After the first game:
"Can we play it again?" (Mom said, "No"...) "Awwww."
The next day:

"That Pandora's Box game was fun. We should play it again." (We did.)

Mom's Review

This card game, reminiscent of Exploding Kittens or Unstable Unicorns, is easy to learn, easy to play, and a lot of fun. You play action cards that might mean getting the coveted Hope card or eliminating another player until you are the last one standing or the player to reveal Hope at the bottom of the draw pile. A little book with myths accompanies the box, so you can learn about different gods and monsters. We have played dozens of times, and Son has played with his friends as well. It's a quick, easy, fun choice for game night. 

The Odyssey: A Graphic Adaptation

Adapted by Gareth Hinds

Published by Candlewick Press

Son's Review

This was a very good book. I liked it so much that I decided to read some of Gareth Hinds' other books. The only thing I disliked was that you could get along fine with just the words, and you didn't need the pictures to help, whereas the literal definition of graphic novel is a story where the words and pictures depend on one another and the story can't be understood with just words or just pictures. I did read it in just one sitting. It was amazing and I really liked it; I recommend it.

Mom's Review

I agree with Son on the artwork wholeheartedly! I was eager for him to read this graphic adaptation  because I thought it would help him better enjoy and understand listening to Dad read The Odyssey aloud. 

The Illustrated Odyssey

Translated by Samuel Butler (1900)

Published Fall River Press

Mom's Review

This prose translation was a gift from Son to Dad. Dad is now reading it aloud to us, and has been, as we built/build puzzles, crochet cryptids, and build LEGO. It is a very smooth read-aloud translation, easy to follow and enjoyable for the reader and the listeners. We all enjoy the myriad illustrations which are not illustrations as such, but rather scenes from the epic that have been depicted by different artists in different media in different centuries. You get images from red figure pottery and all kinds of paintings. It is a delight to see so many artists' interpretations of the tale! 

Mom's go-to books if you want Greek mythology: 

Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey is my favorite of the different versions I've read/listened to/watched,  and D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, which you can see in the picture up top, is my lifelong favorite retelling of the core mythology.

 

You have now hit the end of the reviews. Enjoy June enjoying a puzzle.