The Junior Classics, Volume 3: Tales from Greece and Rome

These are the stories that made us. The Greeks and Romans understood something essential about what it means to be human: that courage matters, that the gods are dangerous, that fate can be defied but never entirely escaped. This collection gathers the most powerful myths from antiquity and retells them for young readers with clarity and vigor. Here you'll find Theseus descending into the labyrinth to face the Minotaur, Bellerophon taming the winged horse Pegasus, and other heroes whose bravery and folly shaped the ancient world. These aren't gentle tales. The heroes face real consequences. Lovers die. Cities burn. Even the gods are petty, jealous, and merciless. But within that danger lives something a child needs to understand: the world is vast and mysterious, and human courage is the only light against it. This volume has introduced generations of young readers to the foundational stories of Western literature. Whether you discover it at ten or return to it at fifty, these myths will rearrange something permanent in your imagination.