D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths

The book’s final section retells three of the most enduring quest tales from Greek mythology: the quest of Jason for the Golden Fleece, the Caledonian Boar Hunt, and the Trojan War.

As occurs throughout the book, the myths flow one into another, underscoring their interconnection through the heroes who participated in them. Both Orpheus and Heracles, whose myths appear earlier, join the Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Meleager also was on the quest, and he lies at the center of the Caledonian Boar Hunt. Atalanta joins him on the hunt and then has her own hero journey, but only after she saves the life of Peleus, the father of Trojan war hero Achilles, during the hunt. Trojan prince Paris kills Achilles, but he dies in the fall of his city. However, the one survivor, Aeneas, went on to found a great empire, Rome, which left a legacy that continues to this day. In this way, the D’Aulaires suggest, the interconnections of the myths spin outward, stretching even to the present moment, when so many of the stories continue to impact language and phenomena in the modern world.

The interweaving of the heroes’ myths reinforces their common fate. Their gifts, desires, and skills too often tip into excess, and each must reckon with the consequences of these excesses and other failures of wisdom, balance, and/or restraint. The lesson that the D’Aulaires reinforce throughout the collection is the importance of practicing balance, self-discipline, and self-restraint—and of having the wisdom to foresee the consequences of failing to do so. Though they may begin effectively and successfully, the heroes of these quests ultimately suffer because they misuse a great skill, gift, or desire. At the beginning of his story, Jason secures the favor of Hera, who ensures his success throughout his journey to recover the Fleece. However, after he breaks his oath to Medea, he loses her regard and is ultimately destroyed, fittingly, by the sacred oak that was meant to advise him. Breaking his oath destroys him figuratively in the loss of regard others had for him and literally in that the sacred oak falls on his head, ending his life.

Meleager’s death follows a similar pattern. After successfully subduing the Caledonian Boar, Meleager flies into a rage in response to his uncles’ insults and murders them. His mother then throws the log representing his lifeline into the fire, ending her son’s life. Thus, the uncles’ unwise insult leads to Meleager’s impulsive and fatal response, which provokes his mother’s rage. Thus, when heroes indulge in excess, they can create a chain reaction that quickly spirals out of control.

The myth of Peleus and Thetis follows a modified version of the pattern. As a mortal married to a goddess, Peleus is unable to understand the actions she takes to immortalize their son. As she holds him over the fire, burning away his mortality, Peleus “rushe[s] into her room and snatche[s] the child away” (234). Thetis is so “hurt and disappointed” (23) that she returns to the sea forever. In the D’Aulaires’ retelling, the price of Peleus’ lack of faith in the goddess is the mortality of his son, who goes away to war and never returns home. Achilles dies at the hands of another hero famed for taking things too far. Paris loves beauty so much that he steals another man’s wife and sparks a 10-year war. Helen, too, becomes so wrapped up in Paris that she fails to heed Nereus’ dire warning.

Thetis, Helen, and Medea are all goddesses married to mortal men: Eos marries the mortal Tithonus, and her sister Selene marries the mortal Endymion. Just as mortal women who consort with the gods come to bad ends, mortal men who marry goddesses suffer from close proximity with immortal power. Semele spontaneously combusts at the sight of Zeus in his full form. Danaë’s father places her in a box with her infant son by Zeus and sends them out to sea. Tithonus withers away until he becomes a grasshopper, and Endymion sleeps through his entire marriage to Selene. Peleus is left to grieve eternally for his only son. Menelaus must launch an invasion to recover his wife. Jason dies under the weight of the object meant to advise him. Though their suffering varies in degree, each of these mortal heroes who consorts with a god or goddess endures negative consequences as a result of their exposure to more powerful beings.

The D’Aulaires’ book, like ancient sources, portrays immortal power as too great for mortals to reckon with. The myths are thus fantastical, but hold an underlying message to tread carefully around powerful beings and recognize that their limits differ from one’s own. However, because they descended from immortals, heroes have the capacity for excess, and thus some part of them remains eternal forever. D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths represents a part of that immortal power through stories that continue to be relevant for both their engaging plots and the timeless meanings within them.