''Gods Behaving Badly'' is a novel by the British author
Marie Phillips. It was first published by Jonathan Cape in 2007. Set in
London, it tells the tale of the twelve gods of
Mount Olympus living in a rundown flat as their powers wane. It was selected for
The Atlantic's 1book140
Twitter book club's book of the month for August 2011.
Synopsis
A young woman named Alice finds a job as a cleaning lady in a
London flat. She is unaware that the tenants are Greek gods, fallen into disgrace because nobody believes in them anymore.
Apollo falls in love with Alice, but when he discovers that she is already in love with a man named Neil, he tricks
Zeus into killing her with lightning.
Feeling guilty, he tries to apologize to Neil, but winds up blocking out the sun in a fit of anger. At that moment, Apollo loses his energy and dies, leaving the world without a sun. Neil descends into
Hades
Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...
in search of Alice's and Apollo's souls, intent on resurrecting his beloved and saving the world.
Characters
Gods
*
Aphrodite
*
Apollo
*
Ares
Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war b ...
*
Artemis
*
Athena
*
Eros
*
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
*
Hephaestus
*
Hermes
*
Zeus
*
Hera
In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...
*
Poseidon
*
Demeter
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...
*
Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
Humans
* Alice
* Neil
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted into a 2013 film directed by
Marc Turtletaub. The setting was changed from
London to
New York City; it starred
Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further prom ...
,
Sharon Stone, and
Oliver Platt. The film premiered at the 2013
Rome Film Festival, but received negative reviews and was never distributed.
References
External links
*Maslin, Janet
Has-Beens "Has-Beens From Olympus Downgraded to Mortals " ''
The New York Times''. December 6, 2007.
*
2007 British novels
Classical mythology in popular culture
Novels set in London
Low fantasy novels
Jonathan Cape books
Greek and Roman deities in fiction
British novels adapted into films
2007 debut novels
2007 fantasy novels
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