Olympians: Athena

Can't say the cover is the most inviting, but Athena would be good with the stories.

This is just about the best realization of Greek mythology storytelling and the graphic novel format. George O'Connor does such a wonderful job of using the illustrations and narrative in a compatible way that it actually makes the myths come alive for me in a way they never have (and I've been reading them for about 25 years). He also does a great job of illustrating the historical chicken vs. egg arguments about the name "Pallas" without belaboring them. I especially love the way that he tells the stories of the Moriae and Perseus so efficiently. Great character development all around.Btw, my 6 yo kids love this series, and I highly recommend it to parents interested in introducing their kids to graphic novels and the tales of legend!

This was a great book, I love greek mythology

The art style coupled with the writing and layout make this a great book. I love the stories relating to Athena he chose to retell. It's clear the research work that went into this in the first place, and it reaps results. I can't wait for my nephew to be old enough for these stories, so I can share this particular book with him. It's great, and I'm dying for the rest now.

This book is a fantastic deal for such an exceptional quality book (this is my translation of what my 9-year-old son said "this book is so cheap for being so good!"). These are instant favorites for my 3rd grade twin boys and are a great supplement for their love of the Percy Jackson series. Great, super speedy, delivery of high quality books.

I picked this book up for my 8th grader for an English assingment on Athena. As a history teacher, I love finding things for struggling readers, this and other graphic novels fit the bill for many who needs the visuals while reading. There are a few "inaccuracies" (again I am a teacher) but I will not highlight those. I am thinking of getting the rest of the series for my daughter/classroom, again there are a great introduction into a subject that is close to my heart. Thank you.

Bought this on a whim. My 5 year old insisted I read this to him. My 4 year old came along (she has no patience for anything she's not interested in) and they both fell in love with this book. Great, clear storytelling about the Greek Gods. We've bought all of them in the series!

Great way to introduce Greek mythology to school age kids. The artwork is really cool and the text isn’t overwhelming for kids. My daughter was really excited to read these!

The book is a good introduction to Athena. Perhaps one of the best compliments for a writer is to observe that their work left the reader wanting there to be more.The book includes some of the darker aspects of some of the stories surrounding Athena so parents of younger children might wish to read it first.

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.

Come il primo, anche questo secondo volume mantiene lo splendido livello sia artistico sia narrativo che già s'intravedeva nel primo volume della serie. Il fumetto è in inglese molto semplice, niente di troppo complicato che chiunque con una minima conoscenza della lingua può leggere senza problemi.Se il primo volume era dedicato a Zeus, il secondo racconta diverse storie conosciute o meno che aiutano a comprendere la figura di Atena, figlia primigenita di Zeus, tentando anche di dare diverse risposte a comuni domande su di lei, tipo perchè è nata già adulta e dalla testa di suo padre? Chi è sua madre e perchè è anche conosciuta con il nome di Pallade Atena?In particolare, quest'ultima storia è molto interessante, poichè mostra quasi un lato di Atena mai visto nella mitologia, ovvero quello di fanciulla giovane, fragile e inesperta, alla continua ricerca di un suo posto nel vasto mondo divino, e che paga con la vita di una cara amica un errore dovuto all'irrazionalità e alla gelosia.Interessante è anche la storia dell'egida di Atena che si intreccia a doppio filo con il destino Perseo, il fratellastro mortale con cui la dea verrà in contatto e che aiuterà nella celebre impresa contro Medusa, la gorgone che pietrifica con lo sguardo.Ma Atena non è solo questo. Lei è la dea della guerra e questo suo aspetto verrà mostrato nella parte dedicata alla Gigantomachia in cui guida gli dei senza paura al contrattacco contro gli invasori (mostrando anche la sua diversità dal fratello Ares), ma è anche la dea delle arti femminili, come la tessitura, che la porterà a conoscere e a sfidare la giovane Aracne, ragazza molto abile ma superba verso gli dei.Un ottimo volume, ricco di contenuti che ci racconta il quasi paradossale destino della figlia prediletta di Zeus che, diversamente a quanto successe, era destinata a far ripetere nuovamente la storia e quindi a detronizzare il padre.Una serie che si legge tutta d'un fiato, consigliatissima!

Der Krieg der Titanen hat ein Ende gefunden und Zeus herrscht nun auf dem Berg Olymp mit seinen Geschwistern über das Universum. Doch trübt eine düstere Prophezeiung das junge Glück des Gottes mit seiner Frau Metis, derzufolge sein Kind ihn entthronen wird wie er es vor kurzem mit seinem Vater tat und er begehrt heimlich seine Schwester Hera. Also verschlingt er Metis mit einem Trick und hofft nun dem Schicksal ein Schnippchen geschlagen zu haben.Doch aus seinem Kopf entspringt sein ungeborenes Kind schlussendlich doch und kurz darauf ergänzt seine Tochter die Reihen der immer größer werdenden göttlichen Familie.Ihr Name? Pallas Athene(auf englisch Athena), Göttin der Weisheit, der Wissenschaften und des Krieges!Mit "Athena" setzt George O'Connors seine in "Zeus" begonnene Reihe um die zwölf Olympians fort und damit auch zum Teil den Plot im Vorgängerband. Allerdings liegt hierbei der Fokus tatsächlich mehr auf Athena selbst, wobei auch die Persönlichkeit des Zeus selbst wesentlich vertieft wird.Interessant ist hierbei die Erzählweise, die die Göttin auf wenigen Seiten zu einer komplexen, wenn nicht gar tragischen Figuren machen: Vier Kurzgeschichten(ihre "Geburt" nicht mitgezählt) erzählen von ihrer Jugend und auch von ihren Aspekten als Kriegs- ,deutlich gemacht durch einen Kampf gegen die Giganten und auch als kluge Göttin des Wissens, indem sie dem jungen Helden Perseus hilft sein Schicksal zu erfüllen, wodurch der Band noch um eine weitere Geschichte in der Geschichte bereichert wird.Dadurch findet die vorliegende Ausgabe genau den richtigen Weg zwischen Action, (ein bisschen) Humor und vor allem nachdenklichen Charaktermomenten und machen ihn wesentlich ausgereifter, als seinen guten Vorgänger.An den Zeichnungen hat sich nichts geändert(was gut ist), im Anhang befinden sich wieder interessante Fußnoten und Informationen zu Athena und anderen Figuren aus dem Comic und der Spaß ist ungebrochen.Die Harcoverausgabe ist vom Inhalt her gleichauf mit dem Softcoverheft, von der Bindung her natürlich besser verarbeitet(auch wenn die Papierqualität dieselbe ist). Die wenigen Euro mehr sind auf jeden Fall gut investiert, aber man wird auch vom Softcovergegenstück nicht enttäuscht werden.

The gods come to life in a totally new and fresh way in these animated books that are not just for children, but very much for adults also. You can tell that deep research into the mythological stories has been made, and attention to detail brings the old stories to life once again.Highly recommend!