oh gods!

O’Connor, G. (2015) Ares Bringer of War. New York, New York: First Second

This graphic novel is basically the tale of the Iliad, but from the gods’ point of view.  Particular attention is paid to Ares.  The beginning of the book details the difference in how Ares and Athena play their parts as gods of war.  Certain scenes of the war are shown, like Paris vs. Menelaos, Pandaros vs. Aeneas, Achilles vs. Hektor.  Each scene one in which a god or goddess is involved.  We see how the gods slowly lose interest in the war, all but Ares.  We also see how there is another side to Ares.  He is the only one who seems to genuinely care for his mortal children.  In the end though, he is still bloodthirsty, conflict loving Ares.

I liked the unique perspective of this book.  Most retellings of the Iliad focus on the human components, but this gives you another view.  In the story, there are times when the gods are gathered around a miniature battlefield in which they can watch the war.  It reminds me of the movie Clash of the Titans, which had similar scenes.  I did feel wishing there was more to read by the end of it though. So good thing there is!  O’Connor has written a whole series about the Olympian gods.   I know after reading this one, I’ll definitely be checking the others out.

I read this book to satisfy the requirement of reading from the Great Graphic Novels for Teens list