A FALL FROM THE SKY

The gods and near-gods whom the ancient Greeks believed once moved among men had basically clear stories going for them. By the time the Victorians got through translating them and the anthropologically inclined re-tellers came along to over-explain them, there were a multitude of versions in print to bore and confuse. Serraillier's clarity can be traced to his strict adherence to the storyline and his use of unadorned dialogue. The story of Daedalus, the originator of the practical arts, has never been told more clearly for this age level. By mentioning, without detailing, the part that Pasiphae played in Daedalus' history, the author reclaims the major strengths of the myth -- genius turned destructive through jealousy escaping a just death at the even greater sacrifice of his beloved son, Icarus. This reads with a mounting sense of fate, and you can't do better than that in re-telling a myth.