"Adkins, Patrick H - Titans 01 - Lord of the Crooked Path" - читать интересную книгу автора (Adkins Patrick H)

is still more scanty. The only work of appreciable length dealing
directly with it, the Titanomachia, failed to survive the collapse of
classical civilization. What we know of the Titans is drawn from short
summaries in the Theogany of Hesiod and the Bibliotheca of Apollodorus,
and from brief references that must be sifted from works devoted to
other, often nonmythological subjects.

Although a work of fiction, Lord of the Crooked Paths is based upon
extensive mythological research. My purpose has been to shape a new,
fictional story around these scattered fragments, many of which are
quite esoteric and no longer have a true story context of their own. In
the process I have attempted to form a coherent fantasy world from the
sometimes confusing and contradictory elements of Greek mythology. Like
the historical novelist, I have felt free to pick and choose among
conflicting evidence, expand upon tantalizing hints that lack full
documentation, and extrapolate freely within the established confines of
my subject. Nevertheless, accuracy of mythological detail has been my
goal, and I have sought to remain faithful to classical authority
throughout.

The reader's forbearance is requested for any seeming contradictions of
the mythology of the Age of Zeus. The gods willing, these will be
resolved in future volumes. Only one such point need be mentioned here.
The Muses are generally said to be the daughters of Zeus and the
Titaness Mnemosyne (Memory), a genesis that is more allegory than myth.
For this reason and others, I have overruled both Homer and Hesiod in
favor of the nearly as ancient testimony of Mimnermus and Alcman, who
deem them the children of Ouranos and Gaia.

The nature and manner of the gods is based primarily on Homer, while the
milieu of Kronos and the intricacies of divine relationships are drawn
principally from Hesiod. Latin authors have been consulted only to
elucidate matters left unclear by the Greeks. The title is loosely
derived from the Homeric epithet Kronos agkylometes. With a single
exception the names of the gods have been directly transliterated from
the Greek; as an aid to the reader, however, I have partly Latinized
Krios to Crios, that he might not so easily be confused with Koios, his
brother.

--Patrick H. Adkins

ONE

"Come, Kalliope! Melpomene--Thalia, come on!" Metis scowled, tapping her
foot impatiently as she waited for the three Muses to catch up with her
and Lachesis.

For more than half an hour the five goddesses had been making their way
across rugged mountains and rambling foothills, walking with an ease and
suppleness that belied their towering size. They seemed to glide over