Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

The Greek myths. Retold. By Stephen Fry.

They are all here. All our favorite characters. Zeus. Apollo. Poseidon. Aphrodite. Athena. Ares. Sisyphus. So many more. You know them all. But do you know their stories? And, even if you do, do you know them Stephen Fry's way?

This is a book I lingered over for almost two months, and it was well worth it. I didn't know half of the stories; if I'd heard them before, it seemed like I was hearing them for the first time. The stories feel so real you'd swear they were true. And they are. In a way. In the most important way.

I must admit I had trouble with this. This is likely because I need my books to have long arching hooks to draw me back in.

Unfortunately this is nigh on impossible to achieve that with what is essentially a collection of short myths. (Nor, I believe, should it have been attempted.) It's arranged in a chronological manner so you do get the essence of a start and a finish (and this is likely one reason I stayed with it).

Still, I did finish it, and it's obvious many others have enjoyed it, and will do so in the future. It's put together nicely and told in an interesting way.

Finally got around to this book - I've had it on my to-read list for a while now.

The first half of the book mostly focuses on the gods themselves, their origins, personality and any other key details. The second half mostly focuses on mortals, minor deities, nymphs, etc. which I found less enjoyable.

I particularly enjoyed the etymology, as Fry often points out words of our modern English that came from ancient Greek language and myth. I also enjoyed Fry's retelling of these myths.

However, the topic is one that didn't inspire nor interest me as much as I would've thought (enough to still get through the book though). So I'm giving this one a very subjective 3-stars.

Excellent and well-told stories of Greek mythology come together to almost form a full narrative – the original myths themselves are almost entirely self-contained, so to have a narrative stringing them together is a breath of fresh air. There were some myths (those of Herakles, Icarus and Jason) that I wish were told here, but as Fry states in the afterword, that would have been a MUCH longer book. Stephen Fry takes some liberties with the story-telling to add the proper depth of character and breath of real life, and with his English wit and some tongue-in-cheek wordplay, this really is a marvelous retelling of the myths I learned as a child.

A hint – find the audio format of this book narrated by Fry himself, it adds a lot of character.

Very interesting and very enjoyable. Stephen Fry writes it in a very entertaining way, and the way he tells the stories makes it even better.

Toen ik als kind de Griekse mythologie ontdekte, kreeg ik er maar geen genoeg van. Ook nu ben ik nog steeds fan van deze bekende verhalen en hou van hun hervertelling.
De versie van Stephen Fry is een absolute voltreffer. Vlot geschreven, met een snuif Brits absurdisme en een genereuze portie humor. Zalig!

The audiobook is read by Stephen Fry and he does a great job!

[Audiobook narrated by the man himself]

Trust Fry to keep you engaged as he goes on about something as tangled & bizarre as Greek mythology. Makes you wish you had better retention abilities.

i think my next business venture is going to be writing humorous versions of wikipedia articles.

Really loved this book (Stephen Fry's writing style is so enjoyable!), it taught me many words and whetted my appetite for more Greek mythology reading.

It took me just under a month to read, which for it's page size and count, I am very pleased with. This slow reader is getting better!

Read it the first time and listened to it for my second reading, he is such a delightful storyteller. The footnotes of the book become these charming asides that Stephen delivers with genuine pleasure.

Love these stories, looking forward to experiencing them again soon.