Aphrodite's Blessing

The goddess Aphrodite was adored and feared by gods and mortals alike; none were immune to her power. Young lovers offered gifts and prayers to her, the goddess of love and beauty, in hopes of receiving her blessings....

Content as one of the best athletes in her father's kingdom, Atalanta rebels against attempts at an arranged marriage. What she doesn't know is that Aphrodite has given her blessing to a race that will change everything.

Then there is Andromeda whose beauty rivals that of any goddess. She is devastated by her father's choice of a husband but Aphrodite has another plan for her too.

Finally, nobody wants to marry the beautiful Psyche. A mysterious suitor is finally found, but Aprhrodite decrees that Psyche must descend into Hades to earn his love.

In three love stories spun from Greek myths, Clemence McLaren, author of Inside the Walls of Troy and Waiting for Odysseus, presents these new retellings — with all their longing, hope, fear, and love — from the woman's point of view.

Atalanta, Andromeda, and Psyche, three female characters in Greek mythology, tell the stories of their marriages. Includes information on love and marriage in ancient Greece.

The goddess Aphrodite was adored and feared by gods and mortals alike; none were immune to her power. Young lovers offered gifts and prayers to her, the goddess of love and beauty, in hopes of receiving her blessings....

Content as one of the best athletes in her father's kingdom, Atalanta rebels against attempts at an arranged marriage. What she doesn't know is that Aphrodite has given her blessing to a race that will change everything.

Then there is Andromeda whose beauty rivals that of any goddess. She is devastated by her father's choice of a husband but Aphrodite has another plan for her too.

Finally, nobody wants to marry the beautiful Psyche. A mysterious suitor is finally found, but Aprhrodite decrees that Psyche must descend into Hades to earn his love.

In three love stories spun from Greek myths, Clemence McLaren, author of Inside the Walls of Troy and Waiting for Odysseus, presents these new retellings — with all their longing, hope, fear, and love — from the woman's point of view.

Publishers Weekly

In this trilogy of love stories Greek myths expertly retold with a feminist slant McLaren (Waiting for Odysseus) brings to life three heroines, Atalanta, Andromeda and Psyche, and shows how each obtains a worthy mate. Romance links the stories, but it is not of the hearts-and-flowers variety. Themes regarding the repression of women and their secret yearnings for independence add an element of sharpness even as happy endings prevent these sagas from becoming unpleasantly bitter. In "Running from Love," for example, Atalanta's athletic skills and unorthodox views earn her a reputation as "a freak of nature." Caring more about self-preservation than others' opinions, she literally outruns her suitors to avoid the prison of marriage. Andromeda and Psyche are less rebellious. They reluctantly succumb to grim fates of loveless unions until supernatural forces unexpectedly intervene. McLaren endows her classical protagonists with new dimensions, making them vulnerable yet courageous, compassionate yet steel-willed. She artfully preserves the ambience of myth while offering an insightful glimpse of women struggling in a male-dominated world. A thoughtful afterword explores the status of upper-class women in real-life ancient Greece, identifies some of McLaren's sources and explains her variations on them. Ages 12-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

These three love stories were my first retellings from Greek mythology, written when I was teaching on the island of Maui," Clemence McLaren says. "At the time, I was telling my Hawaiian students these myths from other islands half a world and three thousand years away, and they encouraged me to write them down.

"Now, fifteen years later, I find that the best thing about being a writer is getting letters from young readers, especially young women. They often find in my retellings the voices of those that were silenced in the ancient stories.