Written and Illustrated by Korwin Briggs
Meet the Original Superheroes.
Before there was Batman, Wonder Woman, or Black Panther…there was Indra, Hindu king of gods, who battled a fearsome snake to save the world from drought. Athena, the powerful Greek goddess of wisdom who could decide the fate of battles before they even began. Okuninushi, the Japanese hero who defeated eighty brothers to become king and then traded it all for a chance at immortality.
Featuring more than 70 characters from 23 cultures around the world, this A-to-Z encyclopedia of mythology is a who’s who of powerful gods and goddesses, warriors and kings, enchanted creatures and earthshaking giants whose stories have been passed down since the beginning of time—and are now given fresh life for a new generation of young readers.
Plus, You’ll Learn All About:
Dragons: The Hydra, St. George’s Dragon, and the Australian Rainbow Snake
Giants: Grendel, Balor of the Evuil Eye, Polyphemus, and the Purusha with the thousand heads
Monsters: Manticore, Sphinx, Minotaur, Thunderbird, and Echidne, mother of the Nemean lion that nearly killed Heracles
Underworlds: Travel to Hades, Valhalla, and the Elysian Fields
Q&A with the Gods and Heroes of Gods and Heroes
Q: Apollo, you rock the lute, but how do you feel about guitars? Better than the lute? Worse?
A: While it’s true I can rock any instrument, I prefer the tortoiseshell lyre that my brother Hermes gave me. Lutes are fine, if you’re into checkered shirts and toe bells. As for guitars . . . well, if you aren’t blessed with perfect pitch like me, I can see why you’d need a fretboard.
Q: Coyote, what’s your favorite prank?
A: Pffffft. You guys don’t know how good you have it. In my day, all we had to work with for pranks were plants, animals, and mud huts. And people were so gullible, they often didn’t even realize they’d been pranked! Thank gods that changed, or I’d be bored out of my fuzzy gourd. I spent most of the last century making prank calls. You ever hear the question “Is your refrigerator running?” Yep—that was me.
Q&A with Korwin Briggs, author and illustrator of Gods and Heroes
Q: Who is your favorite god, hero, or creature?
A: I love the Coyote stories from the American Southwest. I’d like to tell you it’s because of the metaphors and symbolism, or the broader importance of trickster figures in various world mythologies. But when you’ve spent month after month reading serious stories about serious gods, it’s nice to go back and reread the story where Coyote gets smooshed by a sentient boulder.
Q: What is your writing Kryptonite?
A: There’s nothing quite like settling into the flow of writing, losing track of everything except ideas in your head and words on the page. And there’s nothing quite like being yanked out of that reverie by some guy who thinks traffic has stopped because it wants to hear his car’s horn.
About Korwin Briggs :
Korwin Briggs is a writer and illustrator who grew up in a small town halfway between Philadelphia and Amish country. He went to an old Quaker boarding school where he shot lots of nerf guns and then to the Rhode Island School of Design where he drew lots of chickens. Since graduating, he’s been working as a professional freelance artist in a couple of different cities (currently New York).
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