From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-This beautiful, creative family tree has been ingeniously bound to be shelved and read as a book or unfolded into a dazzling 17-foot-long table. The book/chart begins with the earliest surviving account of the creation of the universe from Chaos and quickly covers the children of Gaia, the rise of the Titans, and the triumph of the Olympians. The origins of each of the Olympians, their symbols, and their characters are briefly described. James does not neglect the less-well-known deities. The gods of wind, rivers, and oceans are included, as well as other immortals, such as Atlas and Medea. Lists of the gods' children are followed by an index of 3000-plus individuals. When the book is turned over, it opens to a large map of the Aegean Sea, showing the places associated with mythic heroes. This begins the genealogical chart of the mortals who participated in the Trojan War, starting with their immortal ancestors and concluding with their descendants. A map of the Mediterranean Sea shows the routes of the Argonauts, Aeneas, and Odysseus. Lists of Helen's suitors, the 12 labors of Hercules, and more conclude the volume. James used a variety of Greek and Roman sources. When presented with conflicting accounts, she gave preference to Greek writers. The retellings are necessarily brief, and there are omissions. This book would supplement standard guides such as those by Edith Hamilton and Thomas Bulfinch. Traditional mythology books include modern engravings or no art at all.The appeal here is in the beauty of the more than 125 color photographs of Greek and Roman artwork, the concise biographies, and the elegant ordering of a complex topic.-Kathy Tewell, Chantilly Regional Library, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
A stunning, fully illustrated and comprehensively annotated genealogical map of the universe of Greek myth, presented in a unique, easy-to-use format. From the television hit Xena, to the Oscar-winning box-office smash Gladiator and to Broadway's Medea, the sagas of antiquity continue to attract avid audiences. Now the lore and legend of Ancient Greece have been distilled into one spectacularly illustrated resource. The Genealogy of Greek Mythology brings to life the complete cast of characters, mortal and mythic alike. Accompanied by more than 125 captivating full-color photographs of art and artifacts, the narratives and bloodlines mapped out in The Genealogy of Greek Mythology are wonderfully user friendly. Beginning with Chaos-the period before the Earth was born-Vanessa James traces the succession of gods and titans through to the first generations of historically verifiable people of the ancient Aegean. Packed with over 3,000 entries, this incredibly detailed resource also features a star chart, regional map, and who's who guide to the Olympian gods. Each side of the book's unique accordion-paged design can be perused section-by-section or fanned out to reveal the entire genealogy in more than seventeen elegant feet. Published just in time for the holidays, The Genealogy of Greek Mythology will be a necessity for all students and fans of the culture and literature of Ancient Greece, and a delight for anyone who enjoys an adventure.

About the Author
Vanessa James is an associate professor of theater at Mount Holyoke College, and has served as an art director for film, television, and stage productions, as well as shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work has garnered three Emmy nominations and an Emmy Citation, and she has received several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A stunning, fully illustrated and comprehensively annotated genealogical map of the universe of Greek myth, presented in a unique, easy-to-use format.From the television hit Xena, to the Oscar-winning box-office smash Gladiator and to Broadway's Medea, the sagas of antiquity continue to attract avid audiences. Now the lore and legend of Ancient Greece have been distilled into one spectacularly illustrated resource. The Genealogy of Greek Mythology brings to life the complete cast of characters, mortal and mythic alike. Accompanied by more than 125 captivating full-color photographs of art and artifacts, the narratives and bloodlines mapped out in The Genealogy of Greek Mythology are wonderfully user friendly. Beginning with Chaos-the period before the Earth was born-Vanessa James traces the succession of gods and titans through to the first generations of historically verifiable people of the ancient Aegean. Packed with over 3,000 entries, this incredibly detailed resource also features a star chart, regional map, and who's who guide to the Olympian gods. Each side of the book's unique accordion-paged design can be perused section-by-section or fanned out to reveal the entire genealogy in more than seventeen elegant feet. Published just in time for the holidays, The Genealogy of Greek Mythology will be a necessity for all students and fans of the culture and literature of Ancient Greece, and a delight for anyone who enjoys an adventure.

Author Biography: Vanessa James, Ph.D., is an associate professor of theater at Mount Holyoke College, and has served as an art director for film, television, and stage productions, as well as shows at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work has garnered three Emmy nominations and an Emmy Citation, and she has received several grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

FROM THE CRITICS

The New Yorker

You wait thousands of years for a family tree of all the Greek gods, and then two come along at once. The first, A Genealogical Chart of Greek Mythology, began in 1964 as the hobby of the late Harold Newman and was recently completed by Jon O. Newman, his son. An enterprise of Daedalian complexity, the complete chart spreads along seventy-two huge pages and contains 3,673 mythological figures, all interrelated and ultimately descended from Chaos, a primal force mentioned by Hesiod who is the great-great-grandparent of Zeus. The sexual activity of classical deities does not lend itself to neat tabulation; Zeus and Apollo, notoriously promiscuous, appear with alarming frequency. Undeterred, the Newmans (both lawyers) list alternate kinships in the index and maintain that there is a "high degree of generational consistency," so that, for instance, many of the participants in the Trojan War seem to be "within just two generations of each other." A less forbidding version appears next month in the form of The Genealogy of Greek Mythology, by Vanessa James (Gotham). James eliminates some of the more arcane characters and includes illustrations and short explanatory paragraphs alongside the names. Printed on one long concertinalike page, the table can be read like a book or unfolded into a seventeen-foot-long frieze -- gods on one side, mortals on the other. Simplification has its benefits; the knotty ways of Greek heredity can ensnare even the most organized mind. As James comments with tactful understatement, "The Greek practice of marrying nieces to their uncles further confuses strict distinctions between generations."( Leo Carey)

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