Greek Myths for a Post-Truth World

This book examines what ancient Greek myths can teach us about the troubles and challenges of our 'post-truth' times: environmental degradation, mass migration, war, inequality, exclusion, authoritarianism, and perplexing technological possibilities. It shows how Greek myths assume new meanings in contemporary culture but continue to stir emotions and shape experiences. They offer a diversity of possible answers to questions that preoccupy us and act as fountains of meaning in our times when meaning becomes precarious and fragmented.

Across centuries and millennia, David defeats Goliath and Cassandra makes her unheeded prophecies. Yet, each age discovers new meanings in old stories and different myths come into prominence as they address the aspirations and fears of each. Our many contemporary retellings of the Odyssey and Iphigenia's sacrifice from the perspective of the female characters draw out different aspects of the myths, revealing as much about our contemporary sensitivities, anxieties and desires as about the inner lives of the myths themselves.