- Circe by Madeline Miller
Miller gives the famously marginal sorceress of Greek myth a vivid inner life in this lyrical, character-centered retelling.
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
This intimate reimagining of the Trojan War centers the bond between Achilles and Patroclus.
- The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
Atwood revisits the Odyssey through Penelope and the twelve maids whose story the epic leaves at the margins.
- Grendel by John Gardner
By retelling Beowulf through the monster’s eyes, Gardner turns an epic confrontation into a provocative study of meaning.
- The silence of the girls by Pat Barker
Barker retells the events of the Iliad from the perspective of Briseis and other women caught in the war.
- by Jennifer Saint
This novel brings Ariadne and her sister Phaedra to the center of familiar Cretan and Athenian myths.
- by Jennifer Saint
Saint traces the consequences of the Trojan War through the perspectives of Clytemnestra, Cassandra, and Electra.
- by Maria Dahvana Headley
Headley relocates the Beowulf story to a contemporary community, connecting its legendary tensions to modern life.
- Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes
Haynes reframes the story of Medusa by examining the gods and mortals who shape her legend.
- A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
A chorus of women affected by the Trojan War gives this retelling a broad, many-voiced perspective.
- The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec
Gornichec builds a tender, atmospheric story around Angrboda, Loki, and the prophecies of Norse myth.
- by Sarah Diemer
This queer reimagining of the Persephone myth foregrounds the relationship between Persephone and Hades.
- by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Mahabharata is reimagined through the voice of Draupadi, with its epic conflicts grounded in her experience.
- by Vaishnavi Patel
Patel gives the much-criticized queen from the Ramayana a nuanced account of her ambitions and choices.
- by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
This retelling of the Ramayana follows Sita’s story in her own voice.
- The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Arden draws on Russian folklore and household spirits to create an atmospheric tale with the texture of myth.
- by Natalie Haynes
Haynes revisits the Theban myths through the intertwined experiences of Jocasta and Ismene.
- by Mary Renault
Renault presents the legend of Theseus as a grounded, vividly imagined coming-of-age adventure.
- by C. S. Lewis
Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche from the perspective of Psyche’s sister, Orual.
- Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
Two figures from distinct folkloric traditions meet in a richly rendered immigrant New York, offering a fresh path into mythic fiction.
- Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
Le Guin expands the brief, largely silent role of Lavinia in Virgil’s Aeneid into a richly reflective life story.
- by Marion Zimmer Bradley
This expansive retelling of the Trojan War follows Cassandra, whose prophetic vision sets her apart.
- Mythos by Stephen Fry
Fry retells a wide range of Greek myths in an accessible, conversational style.
- by Angela Carter
Carter’s incisive transformations of fairy tales connect myth retelling to a more unsettling, symbolic storytelling tradition.