theories and conclusions, outlandish as they seemed to his contemporaries (or may appear to us), were the result of careful observation." H. J. Rose, agreeing with several of the above critics, questions the scholarship of the retellings. Graves presents The Greek Myths as an updating of William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (originally published 1844), which Graves calls "the standard work in English", never brought up to date; Rose is dismayed to find no sign that Graves had heard of the Oxford Classical Dictionary or any of the "various compendia of mythology, written in, or translated into, our tongue since 1844". Rose finds many omissions and some clear errors, most seriously Graves's ascribing to Sophocles the argument of his Ajax (Graves §168.4); this evaluation has been repeated by other critics since. Graves himself was well aware of scholarly mistrust of The Greek Myths. In a letter to Ava Gardner, he wrote: Editions In two volumes (Penguin Books nos 1026 and 1027), 370 pp. and 410 pp. respectively, with maps in each volume and an index in Vol. 2; Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1955; reprinted with amendments 1957; revised edition 1960; numerous reprintings in one volume (Penguin Classics) 793 pp, 2012. . ePub References Ancient Greece studies Books by Robert Graves 1955 non-fiction books References on Greek mythology Penguin Books books Pelasgians