Name: Vincent Osvald's review of Mythos by Stephen Fry
Item: Mythos
Rating: 4
Author: Vincent Osvald

Stephen Fry

**STEPHEN FRY'S SPELLBINDING NEW BOOK 'TROY' IS COMING SOON** STEP INTO ANOTHER WORLD - OF MAGIC, MAYHEM, MONSTERS AND MANIACAL GODS - IN STEPHEN FRY'S MOMENTOUS SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER, MYTHOS 'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased' Times Discover Stephen Fry's magnificent retelling of the greatest myths and legends ever told . . . ___________ No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses. In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds. Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance. If you're enthralled by the magic of Greek mythology you'll love Fry's follow-up book HEROES, with tales of mortals and monsters, quests and adventures . . . ___________ NOW THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MYTHOS SUITE, STEPHEN FRY AND DEBBIE WISEMAN'S MUSICAL PRODUCTION OF FRY'S THRILLING RETELLINGS 'A head-spinning marathon of legends' Guardian 'An Olympian feat. The gods seem to be smiling on Fry - his myths are definitely a hit' Evening Standard 'An odyssey through Greek mythology. Brilliant . . . all hail Stephen Fry' Daily Mail 'A rollicking good read' Independent SHORTLISTED FOR A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

The Greek Myths Retold

Mythos

'A romp through the lives of ancient Greek gods. Fry is at his story-telling best . . . the gods will be pleased'

No one loves and quarrels, desires and deceives as boldly or brilliantly as Greek gods and goddesses. In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling, we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds. Mythos captures these extraordinary myths for our modern age - in all their dazzling and deeply human relevance.

A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece

Rina

Jeff Johnson

Vincent Osvald

The Greek myths are the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney. They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. In Stephen Fry's hands the stories of the titans and gods become a brilliantly entertaining account of ribaldry and revelry, warfare and worship, debauchery, love affairs and life lessons, slayings and suicides, triumphs and tragedies. You'll fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia's revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis. Thoroughly spellbinding, informative and moving, Stephen Fry's Mythos perfectly captures these stories for the modern age - in all their rich and deeply human relevance.

Teresa Bonifácio

"it starts with an empty universe"

I just loved this audiobook. Stephen Fry is an amazing narrator and tells the stories collected in a way that you can just stay listening for hours. 

This audiobook is great for those that want to learn, learn more or remember the greek mythology.

Marie

While I love this book - it's a very lively and imaginative retelling of the Greek myths - I was struggling a bit to get through it because it's so incredibly dense and is more like a short story collection, and I'm just not a fan of short story collections. Perhaps I should have a look at all those novelizations of Greek myths that are so popular now, because I think that would make it easier for me to to not lose track. 

Having said that, it's still a really great book that gives a great overview of the most well known myths and it's super interesting to learn more about them, because my knowledge of Greek mythology was rather superficial so far. I also found it particularly fascinating to realize how much of our modern society and our language has its origin in Greek mythology. 

I'll definitely read Stephen Fry's other books in this series eventually, and I think they should also be easier to read for me as they're telling more coherent stories (as opposed to the 1-6 page stories in this book).

The Greek myths are amongst the greatest stories ever told, passed down through millennia and inspiring writers and artists as varied as Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce and Walt Disney. They are embedded deeply in the traditions, tales and cultural DNA of the West. You'll fall in love with Zeus, marvel at the birth of Athena, wince at Cronus and Gaia's revenge on Ouranos, weep with King Midas and hunt with the beautiful and ferocious Artemis. Spellbinding, informative and moving, Stephen Fry's Mythosperfectly captures these stories for the modern age - in all their rich and deeply human relevance.

Stephen Fry breathes new life into Greek myths in this book, giving depth and personality to mythical characters and moments like I’ve never seen before. I enjoyed this a lot!

Ben Myers

The audiobook was great. I have been on my greek mythology wave and this has really helped explain some of the myths I have never heard and gave more insight into the myths I really enjoy. 

🌞Laur🌞

(Bre)anne✨

Shareca

If you are interested in Greek myths and constructs, this is the book for you. I found the narrative and prose was fantastic to read and interesting. Fry truly makes the content interesting and not dry or dense, to say the least. In many of these books, the narrative can be dry and underwhelming. You don't get the sense of "intriguing" when you read them, but I didn't get that here. It was written very nicely. The illustrations are beautiful as well.

Anna

Ce livre c’est absolument le must have de la mythologie. Qu’on soit expert ou total débutant dans le monde des mythes grecs, il FAUT le lire si on est un tant soit peu intéressé par eux. La façon d’écrire de Stephen Fry, sa façon de raconter les mythes à sa manière sans les changer ni les revisiter c’est juste dingue. Il arrive a ajouter une touche de modernité et de rire dans des mythes vieux de plusieurs millénaires. Sa façon d’écrire est incroyable et totalement entraînante. C’était mon plaisir de chaque jour de lire ce livre.

Ce livre englobe absolument tout ce qu’il y a à savoir et plus encore sur les mythes qui touchent aux dieux (création à partir du Chaos, rivalités avec les humains, amours, etc…). J’ai vraiment hâte mais alors vraiment vraiment que les tomes suivants sortent afin de pouvoir compléter tout ça, puisque le tome 2 est sur les héros des mythes, le 3 sur la Guerre de Troie et le 4 sur l’Odyssée. Avec ces 4 livres on englobe de A à Z les mythes grecs !!

This book is perfect for anyone who is interested in Greek mythology. It’s also perfect for long car rides or doing chores you’ve been putting off. Many stories I knew, but there were plenty I’d never heard of or only partially knew. I also recommend the audiobook as its narrated by the author and Stephen Fry has such a great voice. I really enjoyed broadening my knowledge of the Greek myths and I have the next book in this series on standby for my next long drive. 

Katie Allard

Megan Johnson

Stephen Fry has a read knack for storytelling and retelling suck complex and detailed stories in such a compelling way. The audiobook gave me a great understanding of greek gods and the mythology around them.

Losbandigheid, lust en liefde, moord en doodslag, triomfen en tragedies; de Griekse mythen en sagen zijn wilder en woester dan het leven zelf. Deze verhalen bieden alles wat een lezer zich kan wensen. De oude Grieken inspireerden onder anderen Shakespeare, Michelangelo, James Joyce en Walt Disney. In de handen van Stephen Fry komen de verhalen opnieuw tot leven. We worden verliefd op Zeus, we aanschouwen de geboorte van Athena, we zien hoe Kronos en Gaia wraak nemen op Ouranos, we huilen met koning Midas en we jagen met de even beeldschone als meedogenloze Artemis. Stephen Fry haalt deze verhalen op uit de oudheid en geeft ze hun welverdiende plek in onze moderne tijd.

Wouter ter Keurs

Prachtige hervertellingen door de heerlijke zijdezachte klanken van Fry.

Charles Siboto

The manner in which Stephan Fry retells the Greek myths is quite charming and accessible to those who might not know the stories. I did find some parts tiresome, though. If you've read Neil Gaiman's Norse Gods you can't help but compare the two books and Gaiman's effort is superior by a stretch. Stephen Fry has made jokes that when Norse Gods got published he wanted to scrap his project thinking that Gaiman might also write a book about the Greek gods. I would have had a harder time getting through this book if I didn't go with the audio option narrated by Stephen Fry himself. One could listen to the man read the ingredients that make up shampoo and have a great time. It's not a terrible book but it's also not a great one.

Fraser Simons

While it glosses over some of the intricacies and brutal aspects of the mythology, it gains in brevity, excellent authorial voice, and a proclivity for actually landing jokes—a too rare thing. Narration from Fry is, of course, perfect. I’ve never heard a poor performance from him and this is his own material. It’s the most accessible way to consume this stuff imo.

Rachel ✨

Kelly Macquire

Cariena

Wat vind ik de Griekse mythologie toch mega interessant en leuk!! Stephen Fry schreef het leuk. Ik was ergens in het midden wel een beetje het verhaal kwijt, waardoor ik dat stuk wat minder leuk vond. Later kreeg ik de smaak weer te pakken en las ik het binnen een paar dagen uit. Ik ga zeker deel 2 lezen. Maar eerst even wat anders.

Demi Dörenberg

With my love for Greek mythology I had to read it. In this book Stephen Fry retells the myths in a humorous and easy to read way. It contains some of the most famous stories, but also the ones you might’ve never heard of.  

Iris

Tobias. Just that.

This was probably the book that got me into Greek mythology as much as I am into it now lmaoo

Katto

A nice and quick overview of some tales in Greek Mythology!
I liked the humor and learning about all of the linguistic stuff but it also feels like something was missing. 
I'm not really a non-fiction reader and expected something more fiction-y (for some reason) and so reaading this was a really draining experience (except some tales). Getting through the stories I really wasn't interested in also was hard, it didn't feel like there was anything inside them to make them more enjoyable. 
I'd even go as far and say most of the book lives because you already know certain stories and just want to read them again rather than learning new tales.

taryn

Love Greek mythology and Stephen Fry has done an incredible job of making these really interesting and fun. Listening to the audiobook could be a bit tricky since a lot of the names sound familiar, but if you have any knowledge of Greek mythology you should be able to keep up.

Rose Stanley

1. Greek mythology
2. A reteller who clearly enjoys Greek mythology
3. Plenty of asides about etymology
4. Encountering stories, or details that I hadn't previously
...obviously I devoured this.

Jade Flynn

Whether you're a Greek Mythology veteran or a newcomer, Stephen Fry gives a new and refreshing perspective on tales that have captured our hearts and most importantly, our imaginations through the ages. I read along with the audiobook, it is a must. Witty and accessible.

Jasmine Aviet

I love Stephen Fry and I love Greek mythology (can you tell?), so I really wanted to love Mythos, but I found it was just okay. I tried reading a physical copy myself and I was really struggling to get through it. The audiobook was a much more pleasant experience as Fry is such a talented actor and raconteur. 

I enjoyed that there was a story weaving the events of Greek mythology together. I feel like I understand the twelve olympians better from Fry’s description of their birth/origins and several myths related to each immortal. 

I found it difficult to stomach the way certain events were told, in particular stories where Zeus (among other gods) raped women and it’s just glossed over or excused away. This perpetuates an archaic way of thinking about women where their resistance is overlooked and their story not explained. So many women fled from Zeus in fear and yet he had his way with them. We can’t mistake this for anything but rape. 

This book is an okay starting place for first learning about Greek mythology, but be wary that it is Fry’s imagination that has added dialogue and weaved the stories together to make a larger collection of myths in the form of the book.

Jeff Johnson &
Mythos by Stephen Fry

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Jeff Johnson &Mythos by Stephen Fry

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

Jeff Johnson &
Mythos by Stephen Fry