I’m always on the look out for new compendiums of Greek mythology. What I like about the genre, and specifically contemporary publications, is that each author highlights a different set of characters, and for each of them they choose to subscribe to one source or another, which makes the stories always slightly different and ever interesting. John Spurling did a great job in selecting great personalities and expanding their stories with a lot of details that are often overlooked for the sake of simplicity. The 5 figures chosen are Agamemnon, Apollo, Herakles, Perseus and Theseus, which are of course some of the most prominent figures in Greek mythology, with extensive lore to their names. I liked this selection a lot, as well as the writing, which is engaging and easy to follow. I would recommend this book to a beginner because it treats the myths with the maturity they deserve, but also sticks to the essential heroes that everyone should know. I’m very excited to read the sequel, Arcadian Days, which will surely complete the picture further.