My general rule of thumb is that if it's a half-god/half-human hero, it's Zeus' kid. :P
As to where to start... I have no idea. Definitely not Herodotus, as he talks about Alexander the Great more than anything. (And I only ever read one of the five 'books' of his. Also, he's extremely long-winded.) If you aren't interested in taking Classical History too far, I'd start with one of those thick Greek Mythology books (from the adult non-fiction section) that isn't laid out like a kids one and then maybe from there read The Odyssey and Jason and the Argonauts. Those two are the epics and contain the more famous heros. (Although I would just opt for an abrigded version of The Odyssey at least, simply because the story covers something like 30 years od adventures, 10 of them being the Trojan war.)
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winterfish
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Date: 2010-05-04 11:24 am (UTC)As to where to start... I have no idea. Definitely not Herodotus, as he talks about Alexander the Great more than anything. (And I only ever read one of the five 'books' of his. Also, he's extremely long-winded.)
If you aren't interested in taking Classical History too far, I'd start with one of those thick Greek Mythology books (from the adult non-fiction section) that isn't laid out like a kids one and then maybe from there read The Odyssey and Jason and the Argonauts. Those two are the epics and contain the more famous heros. (Although I would just opt for an abrigded version of The Odyssey at least, simply because the story covers something like 30 years od adventures, 10 of them being the Trojan war.)
Errr... I hope that helps?