70. Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor

Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess by George O'Connor (US) - (Canada)
Olympians, Volume 2

Pages: 77 pages
Ages: 10+
Finished: Apr. 21, 2010
First Published: Apr. 13, 2010
Publisher: First Second Books
Genre: graphic novel, Greek mythology
Rating: 4.5/5

First sentence:

All of us are born naked, helpless, and defenseless. Not so Pallas Athena.

Acquired: Received a review copy from the publisher, First Second Books.

Reason for Reading: Next in the series.

This second book starts off with a one page summary of volume one. It also introduces The Fates who are the storytellers of this issue. Different from Zeus, this volume is not one singular story but a collection of vignettes of Athena's creation and birth story and her other adventures. Each story, in the end, tells how Athena added to her Aegis, which became her most powerful weapon. Plus there are two versions of why she took the name Pallas Athena and of course no collection of Athena would be complete without the story of Arachne.

A superb follow-up to Zeus and I'm definitely hooked on this series. The myths are brilliantly told, following mostly exactly as I expect them to with a few exceptions plus I'm also finding a few new-to-me tales as well along the way. One thing I didn't mention in my review of Zeus, which became an invaluable resource in this issue is the Genealogical Chart on the inside cover which starts with Gaea goes straight through to the Olympians and then ventures off to show the lineage of the gods and demi-gods who one presumes will be seen in future volumes. Many characters are introduced in this volume from The Fates and The Gigantes to Pallas and Medusa and I loved being able to flip to that chart to see where everyone fit in!

I'm loving the artwork. I really appreciate the facial expressions and the uniqueness of the creatures, it really brings the myths to life in a way that an all-text version just cannot accomplish. There is a lot of violence in this volume, considering Athena is the Goddess of War, but there is no bloodshed shown, (unless you count a puddle of green Medusa blood) in keeping with the age appropriateness of the series. The only thing I'd consider of concern to parents would be their comfort level with the word "lover". Looking forward to the next volume which will concentrate on Hera.