Pandora’s Jar by Natalie Haynes

The intrigue with words and how one simple word can change a story had me from the start.  In PANDORA’S JAR, @nataliehaynesauthor  takes a historical look at 10 women featured in Greek mythology.  I loved her book A Thousand Ships and I’m hoping the research in this book on Medusa inspired Natalie Haynes to write a book featuring the snake-headed femme fatale.  Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @harperperennial  Synopsis: In Pandora’s Jar, the broadcaster, writer, stand-up comedian, and passionate classicist turns the tables, putting the women of the Greek myths on an equal footing with the men. With wit, humor, and savvy, Haynes revolutionizes our understanding of epic poems, stories, and plays, resurrecting them from a woman’s perspective and tracing the origins of their mythic female characters. She considers Helen of Troy, whose marriage to Paris “caused” the Trojan war—a somewhat uneven response to her decision to leave her husband for another man. She demonstrates how the vilified Medea was like an ancient Beyonce—getting her revenge on the man who hurt and betrayed her, if by extreme measures. And she turns her eye to Medusa, the original monstered woman, whose stare turned men to stone, but who wasn’t always a monster, and had her hair turned to snakes as punishment for being raped.

Pandora’s Jar brings nuance and care to the millennia-old myths and legends and asks the question: Why are we so quick to villainize these women in the first place—and so eager to accept the stories we’ve been told?

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