Book Review: ‘Pandora’s Jar’ by Natalie Haynes

I’ve had a life-long fascination with the Greek myths which probably stemmed from the (at the time terrifying) ‘Clash of the Titans’ film that made up a chunk of my 80s childhood – very much like Haynes herself, it turns out!

Nowadays, my job as an English teacher sees me teaching Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘The World’s Wife’ so I’ve become a lot more au fait with the details of the women in the ancient texts – especially Medusa, Penelope and Eurydice – which is what brought me to Haynes’ excellent book.

This book takes a closer look at what we know about the women of the myths – some very familiar (Helen, Pandora, Medusa) but others possibly much less so (the Amazons, Clytemnestra, Phaedra). Often the stories about them are complex and varied – and often contradictory in different versions of the myths passed down through the ages. Haynes reminds us that there is no definitive ‘truth’ – and in doing so, opens up some unusual and varied takes on the stories; her background as a Classicist allows her to move seamlessly between texts and stories with an authority and deftness which is impressive.

This is also a feminist book, so it is unsurprising that Haynes brings empathy and an often more sympathetic reading to some of the characters than they have traditionally received. For example, everyone knows about Medusa as a monster, but Haynes draws out her back-story as a plaything of capricious gods to explain why her tale is much more nuanced. Helen is commonly recognised as the beautiful but dangerous cause of the Trojan-Greek war, but she was also a child bride who was probably abducted. Phaedra is usually seen as a seductress and known for shocking lie about being raped by Hippolytus (who rejected her); an alternative version once again places the blame at the feet of the gods who caused her obsession and rejection. This isn’t a book for someone who wants to just know the popular narratives as there is never a clear answer, but it is fascinating.

One of the strengths is how Haynes has made this book so accessible. She doesn’t pre-suppose any knowledge so even those new to the myths or characters won’t feel out of their depth at all. That’s not to say that this is a simple book – it’s far from that, but always explained in terms that make sense and include modern frames of reference. It helps that Haynes is also a comedian so the explanations and analogies are often humorous or unexpected – ‘The Lego Movie’, ‘Pulp Fiction’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ are thrown into the mix alongside more erudite explorations of Victorian art and biblical parallels.

However, there is an undisputed academic rigour to this book – Haynes knows her Hesiod from her Homer – and it is really interesting to follow the narratives about how the characters have been interpreted and reinterpreted over time. Haynes’ discussions of the language of the myths is also interesting – how and why Pandora seems to now have a box rather than the original jar (a mistranslation, it seems) to the patriarchal nature of the language which doesn’t have a word for a group of women.

This is a dense book – it is absolutely packed with information and Haynes moves with breakneck speed between versions of myths, art and popular culture. There is an awful lot to read and absorb! For this reason, I actually found the audiobook really helpful as Haynes’ own lively reading brought it to life for me – and especially highlighted the humour and surprising colloqualisms and analogies that made me smile.

I’d recommend this to anyone who wants to know more about Greek mythology, especially the often-overlooked women. It would be particularly interesting to anyone who has read and enjoyed any of the popular myth retellings of recent years – Jennifer Saint’s ‘Ariadne’ (sister of Phaedra), for example, or Madeline Miller’s ‘Circe’. It’s endlessly fascinating and gives readers a whole new perspective on the old stories.

Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in excahnge for an honest review – apologies that this review has taken so long to produce. That’s more a reflection on this forgetful reader rather than the excellent book.

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Recommendations for Further Reading:

If Greek myths are your thing, I can recommend the following. Some of these are mentioned in Haynes’ book, others are books I read out of pure interest! Purchase links are affiliate ones:

Some of my favourite takes on women in mythology are provided by Carol Ann Duffy in her poetry collection, ‘The World’s Wife’, in which she gives a voice to the forgotten or silent women of history and myth. Medusa, Penelope and Eurydice are here (alongside other mythological Greek women), but so are Mrs Darwin, Frau Freud, Salome, Queen Kong and the Kray Sisters. Always fiercely feminist, these poems are also often very funny and surprising – I love this book!

For a more detailed feminist retelling, Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Penelopiad’ is a vivid and lively version of Penelope’s story from ‘The Odyssey’. Penelope – Odysseus’ wife who is sat at home while he is away for 20 years fighting a war and womanising his way home – is given a strong and compelling voice and her story is interspersed with the story of the palace maids who don’t have the relative advantages of money and status that Penelope does. A short but powerful book.

A more recent feminist retelling is ‘Ariadne’ by Jennifer Saint – my review is here. This tells the story of Ariadne, princess of Crete, who helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur. However, her most famous action forms merely the start of this engaging story which also features Phaedra (discussed in Haynes’ book).

If all this sounds quite heavy, then Susie Donkin’s ‘Zeus is a Dick’ is one for you! This is a lively exploration of why Zeus may well be King of the Olympian Gods, but is also a Very Bad Person. It’s funny and entertaining but also enlightening – my review is here.

Finally, if you want an overview of the stories and characters of the myths, Stephen Fry’s ‘Mythos’ is a great place to start. His narrative pulls together the strands of mythology into a more coherent whole – and the audiobook (charmingly narrated by Fry) is really helpful with the pronunciation of some of those names!

Header photo – of Medusa – by deepigoyal on Unsplash.