10 Of The Best Books About Women In Greek Mythology

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“Which of us can resist the temptation of being thought indispensable?”

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Greek mythology is brimming with powerful, brilliant, and complex women – yet for centuries, their stories were overshadowed by the heroes and gods who dominated the ancient tales. Today, readers are looking for books that finally place these women at the centre, from bold feminist Greek mythology retellings to lyrical novels that reimagine the lives of goddesses, heroines, and forgotten mythological figures. If you love Greek mythology books or want to delve deeper into stories inspired by ancient Greece, this is the place to start. Here at What We Reading, you’ll find the best books about women in Greek mythology, including modern retellings that explore characters like Circe, Ariadne, and Medusa. These novels bring timeless myths to life through female voices – rich with emotion, agency, and depth. So, whether you’re new to myth retellings or looking for your next adventure, these books with captivate you from the first page.

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I, Medusa – Ayana Gray

First up on our list of books about women in Greek mythology is Ayana Gray’s new 2025 novel, I, Medusa. Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. So, when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home. In Athens’ colourful market streets, Meddy flourishes as Athena’s favourite acolyte. Yet, when she catches the attention of Poseidon, a drunken night upends Meddy’s promising future. 

Her locs transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity – not as a victim, but as a vigilante – and with it, the chance to write her own story as a mortal, martyr, and myth. Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa depicts a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play. 

Circe – Madeline Miller

Undoubtedly one of the most acclaimed Greek mythology books in recent times, Madeline Miller introduces readers to Circe in her 2018 bestseller. Having turned to the mortals for companionship, Circe learns she possesses the power of witchcraft. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous in all of mythology. 

But there is danger too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves the most, Circe must summon all her strength and decide, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love. 

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Check Out The Best Books Like Circe 

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The Penelopiad – Margaret Atwood

In Homer’s account in The Odyssey, Penelope – wife of Odysseus and cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy – is depicted as the faithful wife, her story a salutary lesson through the ages. Left alone for two decades while Odysseus goes to fight in the Trojan War, Penelope manages to maintain the kingdom of Ithaca, bring up her wayward son, and keep over a hundred suitors at bay. When Odysseus finally comes home, he kills her suitors and – curiously – twelve of her maids.

In a splendid contemporary twist to the ancient story, Margaret Atwood has chosen to give the telling of it to Penelope and to her twelve hanged maids, asking, “What led to the hanging of the maids, and what was Penelope really up to ?” In this dazzling, playful ancient Greek retelling, the story becomes as wise and compassionate as it is haunting, as wildly entertaining as it is disturbing. 

Ariadne – Jennifer Saint

Ariadne, Princess of Crete, grows up greeting the dawn from her beautiful dancing floor and listening to her nursemaid’s stories of gods and heroes. But, beneath her golden palace, echo the ever-present hoofbeats of her brother, the Minotaur, a monster who demands blood and sacrifice. 

When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat, but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne’s decision lead to a happy ending? Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint’s Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story. 

The Heroines – Laura Shepperson

In Athens, crowds flock to witness the most shocking trial of the ancient world, which is about to shake the city to its very foundations. A scandalous accusation has ripped through the royal family in Athens. The king’s son stands accused of a violent assault. 

On the one side, Theseus: hero, king, slayer of the Minotaur, father of the accused. On the other hand, Phaedra: foreign queen, daughter of an adultress, sister of a monster. Now the men of Athens must decide the truth. But what of the women? They have been silent. Until now. 

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Check Out The Best Ancient Greek Historical Fiction Books

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The Silence Of The Girls – Pat Barker

Another one of the most iconic books about women in Greek mythology, Pat Barker whisks readers to the heart of the fabled Trojan War in The Silence of the Girls. The ancient city has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage bloody war over a stolen woman – Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman – Briseis – watches and waits for the war’s outcome. When Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, the hero Achilles refuses to fight. Briseis finds herself witnessing the two men as they come to determine the fate of not only her people, but also the ancient world at large. 

Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes of this war – all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp vividly to life. 

Clytemnestra – Costanza Casati

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. He wages a war on foreign shores, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. So, you begin to plan…

But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice. Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods’ hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that others never did. If power isn’t given to you, you must take it for yourself. Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Cyltemnestra is a stunning debut by Costanza Casati that follows the most infamous villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen. 

A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes

In the middle of the night, a woman wakes to find her beloved city engulfed in flames. Ten seemingly endless years of conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans is over. Troy has fallen. 

From the Trojan women whose fates now lie in the hands of the Greeks, to the Amazon princess who fought Achilles on their behalf, to Penelope awaiting the return of Odysseus, to the three goddesses whose feud started it all, these are the stories of the women whose lives, loves, and rivalries were forever altered by this tragic war. A woman’s epic, powerfully imbued with new life, A Thousand Ships puts the women, girls, and goddesses at the centre of the Western world’s great tale ever told.

Ithaca – Claire North

Seventeen years ago, King Odysseus sailed to war with Troy,  taking with him every man of fighting age from the island of Ithaca. The women have been left behind to run the kingdom. Penelope was barely into womanhood when she wed Odysseus. While he lived, her position was secure. But now, years on, speculation is mounting that her husband is dead, and suitors are knocking on the door. 

No one man is strong enough to claim Odysseus’ empty throne – not yet. But everyone waits for the balance of power to tip, and Penelope knows that any choice she makes could plunge Ithaca into civil war. Only through cunning, wit, and her trusted circle of maids can she maintain the tenuous peace needed for the kingdom to survive. 

Song Of Sacrifice – Janell Rhiannon

As the Age of Heroes wanes, the gods gamble more fiercely with mortals’ lives than they ever have before. Women must rely on their inner strength and cunning to survive the wars men wage for glory and gold. Clytemnestra struggles for control of her life after Agamemnon ruthlessly rips it apart. Leda of Sparta survives a brutal assault by Zeus, shouldering a terrible secret in silence. 

Penelope raises Ithaca’s sole heir alone, praying for Odysseus’ return. Thetis, the sea nymph, despairs of her son’s destiny and resorts to forbidden magic to save him. Hecuba of Troy mourns the loss of her second son to a dark prophecy. And Shavash of Pedasus prepares her daughter to marry the greatest warrior who ever lived. In a world where love leads to war and duty leads to destruction, the iron hearts of heroines will conquer all. 

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