Ruskin takes the Greek myths of Athena and reads them as myths of the air: first the goddess in the heavens, as cloud, wind and storm; then in the earth, as the breath that drives plants, birds and serpents; and last in the heart, as the source of craft and moral wisdom. The lectures range from Homer and Greek vase-painting to wild hyacinths and the state of Victorian art and labour.
A characteristic late Ruskin book, where mythology, natural history and social criticism run together. Download the free EPUB.