Mythos

"Their myths understand that whoever created this baffling world, with its cruelties, wonders, caprices, beauties, madness and injustice, must themselves have been cruel, wonderful, capricious, beautiful, mad and unjust". The Greeks created gods that were in their image: warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate but vengeful". (Prologue)Stephen Fry is one of the most versatile and multi-skilled artists of our time and his work as an author, actor, producer, director, presenter, etc, has won both critical acclaim and people's deep respect. From a man of this stature, one could expect nothing less than bold artistic creations that dare to approach grand themes and subjects through an innovative perspective. In Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Fry attempts to retell the Greek myths, in chronological order, beginning with the existence of the primordial Chaos -the Greek equivalent to the scientific "big bang" theory- and the birth of the first order of divine beings such as the Nychta, Erevos, Gaia, Ouranos, Eris,and many others. These primordial deities were called the Titans, the word meaning "the striving, straining one", and the most notorious of them was Cronos, the titan who conspired with his mother to kill his father, Ouranos, and thus became the first among them. Cronos is known to the masses for the fact that he ate his own children to remain the king of the universe, but he finally took a taste of his own medicine as his wife, Rhea, deceived him and kept her last child that was called Zeus. Zeus grew up in Crete, far away from his wicked, cruel father and when he was in the appropriate age took revenge on his father and dethroned him from his regal status.As we are all well aware of Zeus was going to be the first among the twelve gods of Olympus, but this would not happen until this new order of divine entities, the second order, have removed once and for all the remaining titans from the face of the Cosmos. It should be mentioned that for ancient Greeks the word Cosmos meant what we call today the universe. What followed was a ten-year brutal war, an "earth-shattering conflict", known as the "Clash of the Titans" or "Titanomachy", and by the end of it, the Dodekatheon (meaning the twelve gods) was established as ruling the universe and everything in it. The new gods took the place of the titans through the use of excessive violence during the Titanomachy. Fry continues with the story of the creation of mankind by Zeus and the betrayal of Prometheus who stole fire and gave it to humanity as civilization. Zeus, enraged by Prometheus' treachery punished him severely as he was sentenced to eternal torment. Prometheus would be bound to a rock and each day an eagle would eat his liver which would then grow back only to be eaten again the next day. This process would continue ad infinitum. The reader can observe how the Greek perception of the creation of humanity shares many similarities with later religions like Christianism. One example would be seen as being created in the image of God both in Greek mythology and Christian tradition.Furthermore, we learn about the creation of the first woman, named Pandora, and her infamous box that contained a vast number of human vices that would torture mankind for the centuries to come. The author then mentions the story of the god Eros and his relation with Psyche. It is worth noting that ancient Greeks had four different words for love: Agape, Eros, Storge, Filia and each one of them had a distinct meaning. Eros was the son of the two Olympian gods, Aphrodite and Ares. Psyche was a lavishly beautiful young woman, daughter of a king, who made Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality, to become jealous of her due to her incredible attractiveness. Eros fell in love with her and took her with him in an enchanted place where everything was dazzling, but under one condition. Psyche was not allowed for any reason to see her lover. But, as it always happens in Greek mythology, Psyche was unable to resist the temptation of looking at her gorgeous partner and attempted to light a candle to see him as clearly as possible when he was sleeping beside her. The result was that Eros, devastated by Psyche's betrayal, flew away from her. It was only after the intervention of the first among the twelve gods, Zeus, that Aphrodite became convinced to accept Psyche as her bride. There are more captivating chapters on the complex relationships that formed between gods and humans, the divine punishments, the metamorphoses of mortals to animals either as torture or as an act of compassion, and the great Greek lesson about Hybris that can be boiled down in this sentence: how pride comes before a fall.There are so many stories in this (mid-length) book that I was forced to incessantly keep notes during the reading. I have to admit that, even though I am a proud Greek, I remembered a tiny percentage of the stories cited in Mythos. In his foreword note, the author stresses his fascination with Greek myths as"the Greeks were the first people to make coherent narratives, a literature even of their gods, monsters and heroes"., even though their mythology is not the oldest in the world. The Greek gods owe a lot to the deities of Mesopotamia while the stories of Babylonians, Sumerians, and Akkadians preceded the Greek ones. Fry stresses out that his only intention is to simply retell the -already known- stories, and not to offer any kind of explanation or interpretation of their possible hidden meaning. There are some minor differentiations in their details, and Fry justifies himself by writing "in tinkering with the details I am doing what people have always done with myths". On another page, he quotes: "I think however that it is best told like all myths, not as an allegory, symbolic fable or metaphor, but as a story". Nevertheless, Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold attempts to establish a coherent timeline regarding the "ages of man" which is different from that of the Greek poet Hesiod who wrote the iconic Theogony. The readers who will read the book without skipping chapters will manage in the end to achieve some clarity regarding the chronological order of the genesis of both Cosmos, gods and mankind.In conclusion, I have to admit that this was by far the most compelling book I've read the last twelve months -or even more- and I cordially recommend it to everyone who has specific -academic or other- interest in Greek antiquity, mythology, literary theory and so on. Mythos doesn't require any prior knowledge on the subject and as the author writes in his foreword note: "You don't need to know anything to read this book; it starts with an empty universe". Stephen Fry is one of the most brilliant artists today and if you are not familiar with his body of work, then you ought to check him out immediately. He has also written another book, Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures, which is a kind of continuation of Mythos as in that book, the author dives into the world of ancient Greek Heroes. Some claim that those two books should be read in a row and I'm seriously considering starting it at once.

I am absolutely as amazed by the scholarly approach to this book on Greek mythology as I am how entertaining the work is. Congratulations to Stephen Frye for a glimpse into the creation of myths and the brilliance of Stephen Frye.

Steven Fry brings his usual fry wit to the topic of Mythology. As stated in his Afterword, this is not an academic study - it is a retelling if the Greek myths with some anachronistic language. But it’s in good fun. In truth, Mr Fry HAS done his research. He has picked from the salad bar of various interpretations and chosen his favorite Point of View. And made no bones about it.Good for tweens and above looking for the history of the Greek Gods and associated some fun tales.In Audible: his voice is always easy and entertaining to listen to. I particularly enjoyed his reading of the footnotes - I love good footnotes and his are him-dingers.

Don’t be fooled, this is a thoroughly researched and carefully written overview of the Greek gods. But you will be laughing the entire time you’re reading it. If you liked these stories as a kid, you will like them ten times more as an adult.

Easy reading. For someone who knows little about Greek myths, like me, it was perfect. Love Steven Fry. He is much more than a great actor.

I loved Greek myths when I was a child, but I was far along in life when I discovered that children's versions are REALLY sanitized. I had been meaning to read adult versions of the myths for years and when I found this one by Stephen Fry, I knew that I was in for a great romp from the Elysian Fields to the House of Hades. This is a very witty and compelling retelling of the exploits of the deities, with footnotes and side comments that indicate how much Greek mythology continues to inform our lives today. How marvelous it must have been to have lived in a world where no matter how ghastly you might have been in your life, it is not a patch on what the gods have done and where you are expected to fall in love with the beautiful no matter what sex or species. Some pedants have complained that Mr. Fry has been selective in the stories he presents, but frankly what he gives us is far more than we mere mortals can be expected to absorb and remember on our first journey into this strange and marvelous world.

The book is great. I loved the audible version, and I'm excited to have a hardcover book to put on my shelf. Unfortunately the book came without the dust jacket, which was disappointing.

It started out as a good read but I am not a fan of reading about pedophilia, incest, or gay love so I didn't finish. The 3 stars were only for the beginning of the book. I lost interest after about 55% of the way in. Sorry. This type of story is not for me.

I enjoyed reading this book. Fry followed his own path to the Greek mythology, adopting certain versions of the original myths that suit him to deliver an attractive story for the lives and struggles of titans, gods and first humans. The main concepts and ideas of the Greek mythology are there, adding a comedic element to the presentation.

I loved this book. It was so informative and educational. I never realised how many modern sayings, words and concepts have their origins in Greek mythology. At times it was laugh out loud hilarious. I particularly enjoyed Stephen Fry's description of Hermes stealing Apollo's cattle as a newborn baby! The whole book is imbued with Fry's erudition and humour. I heartily recommend it!

una síntesis entretenida

Mit MYTHOS: THE GREEK MYTHS RETOLD ist Stephen Fry ohne Frage ein ganz großer Wurf gelungen!Vielleicht ähnlich, wie es Neil Gaiman bei den nordischen Sagen vollbracht hat, versteht es Fry, die klassischen Sagen der griechischen Antike dem Leser neu zu erzählen - lebendig, dynamisch, lehrreich und dabei enorm unterhaltsam. Durch die Art der Erzählweise wird (einmal mehr) deutlich, wie sehr diese Mythen auch unser heutiges Denken und die heute von uns erzählten Geschichten prägen - denn die Kraft der Mythen ist zeitlos.MYTHOS: THE GREEK MYTHS RETOLD ist genau die Art von Buch, mit dem man es sich bei einem schönem Nachmittag oder Abend gemütlich machen kann... und stellt auch eine ideale Urlaubslektüre das. Vorkenntnisse setzt Fry eigentlich keine voraus, und so ist dies ein Buch nicht nur für Freunde der Mythen empfehlenswert, sondern auch für alle, welche diese Geschichten kennenlernen wollen.Für meine Begriffe eines der schönsten Bücher der letzten Zeit!

As a comedian and witty commentator with an unparalleled breadth of knowledge and command of the English language, Stephen Fry needs no introduction.Not surprisingly, he happens to be a talented author with exquisite style.An avid defender of freedom of Speech, Fry is an atheist and considers himself an empiricist. Empiricism is the idea that what we can know about the world is bonded to what we can observe. We sometimes see patterns within our observations and derive hypotheses that help us describe and, hopefully, predict natural phenomena. Empiricism is also about accepting that reason alone cannot explain everything; there are many things that we can predict with incredible accuracy but which still elude explanation.So how can an empiricist like Fry explain his devotion to Greek mythology?Because myths are narrative metaphors that teach us about human nature. They show us who we are at our worst and how we can be at our best.Midas teaches us about the unintended consequences of our decisions;Sisyphus's story is a masterclass in hubris, vanity, and the meaningless arrogance of believing that one can escape fate;Prometheus' punishment is a symbol of the price of free will.Speaking of metaphors, Greek gods are metaphorical archetypes.They are not the perfect, idealized, all-powerful beings one can find in Judeo-Christian religions. They are divinely flawed and profoundly human, which make them relatable. By any standard, they are a bunch of a**holes. Loudly proud, petty, envious, unreasonably vengeful, and with a very nasty sense of humor, they painstakingly render our lives miserable and futile.I guess that is one important lesson we can learn from Greek mythology; we may have free will, be decent people and work hard toward happiness, we will always be at the mercy of selfish gods (misfortune) and their agenda (entropy).Fry's enthusiasm is palpable in his prose and will put a smile on your face.