Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory by George O'Connor. (Canada) - (US)The Olympians, Vol. 3
Pages: 77
Ages: 12+
Finished: Aug. 16, 2011
First Published: Jul. 19, 2011
Publisher: First Second Books
Genre: Children, graphic novel, Greek mythology
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
In all the cosmos, there is only one being that Zeus, the King of the gods, is afraid of ...
Acquired: Received a review copy from First Second Books.
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
This much awaited 3rd volume in The Olympians series was quickly read up. I'm quite familiar with the contents of this one and enjoyed the author's presentation of events. There are many stories and versions the author had his pick of which way he could go with these characters and he's chosen an age appropriate story and one which connects Hera and Heracles together perfectly. While the book does tell the story of Hera, there does come a point went it becomes the story of Heracles (ie. Hercules) whose name "Heracles" means "Glory of Hera". The book has mild violence, mythological creatures are killed but it never enters into the truly gruesome or s*xual nature of the original myths, keeping the material age appropriate. Hera and Heracles both have stubborn natures and as the book progresses one can tell they are more alike than they would freely agree. Hera's main story is told here but Heracles doesn't leave much more left to tell so I won't be surprised if he doesn't get his own book. But I do expect that Hera will keep popping up in future volumes to throw her curses or sympathies around and now we understand why she's been given such a bad rap all these years. It's all your fault, you philandering, Zeus!
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