Briefly Noted

Coming of Age in Ancient Greece

Jenifer Neils and John H. Oakley (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003) 384 pp., $65

Greek artists were the first in history to depict children and their activities in naturalistic detail. The lives of ancient Greek children are wonderfully illustrated by the many artifacts in this book—baby bottles, potty chairs, toys, marble grave markers and terracotta figurines of nurses and their charges—and explored in essays by scholars of Greek culture.

The Complete World of Greek Mythology

Richard Buston (London: Thames & Hudson, 2004), 256 pp., $39.95

This glossy reference book doesn’t only retell Greek myths; it also provides family trees of mythological characters, photographs of the sites associated with the ancient tales, and images of paintings, sculptures and coins. It is also organized by themes, such as “Divine Sexuality,” “Family Sagas” and “Strong Bonds: Love Between Spouses.”