Mythos

 Stephen Fry is a British actor, director, broadcaster, comedian, and writer. Given that he narrated his book, Mythos, the term narrator should be added to that list. On some book jackets, there is a subtitle, The Greek Myths Retold. Many years ago when I got my bachelor’s degree (to my children, those were ancient times), I found myself entranced by ancient Greek literature, and I took enough classes to get a minor in that topic. While I had some familiarity with the myths, those courses were mostly about reading the Greek Playwrights: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes. Of course, we read Homer, Plato and Aristotle, and some other authors I no longer remember. In this book, Fry uses his writer’s license to retell some of the stories in his own spin. But, I did not find anything problematic about his version of the stories. His book is also a good place to learn about the stories of Narcissus, Prometheus, and more.

 

I loved this epic work, especially the organization of the book. He covered all the Olympian gods and so much more. He began with Kronus and the Titans. He then told of the creation of Zeus and the other 12 main Olympic gods, from Hera, Athena, Apollo all the way to Hermes. He clarified the stories by mentioning those characters in Roman mythology. If you have any inkling of wanting to read about these ancient myths, I can’t think of a better place to start. Given that Fry is an actor, director, writer, and narrator, listening to his self-narrations was quite wonderful.

 

I looked at some of the criticisms of Fry’s writing which seem to come primarily from academics who found fault in some of his stories for accuracy. Perhaps as once having been a student of ancient times, I should be offended by the moments when he strayed from a rigorous path. But, I’m not in the least bit critical. This book was nothing short of fun. In one review on Reddit, a critic wrote that Fry was not a Hellenist, rather a “humanist atheist.” (There are several possible definitions Of Hellenist, but it mostly refers to a student or scholar who studies the Greek language, literature, history, or culture. I take it that a human atheist means a human who does not believe in the existence of God or gods.) I don’t find those words as cause for criticism of the book. Fry notes that he does not try to interpret the myths, but rather just tell the stories, and he does beautifully. Since this is actually a four-book series, next up for me will be Heroes.