Greek myths are the key to understanding the entire European culture. And even to an understanding of the human psyche. Since Sigmund Freud came to this conclusion, ancient mythology has determined our ideas about ourselves. The figure of Prometheus inspired Mary Shelley and Ridley Scott to create fantastic stories. The tragedy of Medea has had a profound impact on theatre, feminism and even criminology. The mythical Amazons became the prototype of the most famous warriors - from Xena to Wonder Woman. In this book, Professor Richard Buxton shows how the key stories of Greek mythology have been reinterpreted century after century and how they continue to live today. Who is this book for: Connoisseurs of history, mythology and their place in modern times. For everyone who wants to immerse themselves in the life of the peoples of the past. From the author Today it is difficult to imagine an intellectual dispute, a moral dilemma or a political crisis that would not give rise to a reason to remember one or another Greek myth. As soon as the hypothesis about the mutual influence of living organisms and their inorganic habitats appeared in the 1970s, its name was naturally taken from the name of Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth. When one fine morning in the mid-2010s the British Prime Minister took it into his head to organize a referendum to decide whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union, many commentators drew an analogy with a reckless Pandora who released all the world's ills by opening her box (although in the Greek version of the myth it was not about a box, but about a large vessel). If the ocean liner Titanic, the Apollo space program, the international corporation Amazon, the sportswear brand Nike, the disinfectant manufacturer Ajax, the silk scarves of Hermès and the Heracles General Cement Company, headquartered in Athens, decided to do without the names of their mythical ancestors, who knows what they would have been called. Greek mythology remains a treasure trove of names for business, advertising and marketing to this day. Add to this the prominent presence of Greek myths in almost all artistic phenomena of our time - from plays and poems to comic books and video games - and it becomes clear: ancient stories have not yet lost their strength, surprising for their venerable age. Published in Russian for the first time.