Name: Matthew Jackson's review of Mythos by Stephen Fry
Item: Mythos
Rating: 3
Author: Matthew Jackson

Stephen Fry

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.

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

Matthew Jackson

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 Greeks created gods that were in their image; warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate, but vengeful.”
--------------------

Who among us hasn't been completely obsessed with Greek mythology at one point or another in our lives? It seems to be a common point with most people, and with good reason too. Incredibly fascinating, entertaining and brutal in equal measures, Greek gods and the mortals entangled in their webs make for one chaotic cosmos to lose yourself in.
This book handles the vast subject just as it should be: with so much expertise, humor, and lighthearted commentary that is sure to make you laugh and cringe at the same. It was very easy to read and filled with very interesting information, from the origins of the deities and the heroes, to the evolution of their names that have made a place in our language today. I would recommend it to all the fellow mythology-lovers and word-nerds with enthusiasm.

4.5/5

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.

Aamna

[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.

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

vincent osvald

a hilarious retelling of my favourite topic

**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

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.

Jessica

Fun! If you can listen to it in an audiobook, Stephen Fry is an amazing story teller!

Ben Jenkins

A little unconventional, especially if you've read older collections of myths but the style, when you got used to it, of telling the myths I already knew very well (at least most of them) made it very accessible. I think this might be the go to for people who don't like the pretentious, swollen type of language but really want to know more about the myths. I also did try out the audiobook and i love the narration so that is a recommendation i'd gladly make, too. 

I'm happy to still have Heroes to read even though I do slightly prefer the traditional way of telling these myths - just for the feeling. And the ego, to be honest. 

Leonie

A little unconventional, especially if you've read older collections of myths but the style, when you got used to it, of telling the myths I already knew very well (at least most of them) made it very accessible. I think this might be the go to for people who don't like the pretentious, swollen type of language but really want to know more about the myths. I also did try out the audiobook and i love the narration so that is a recommendation i'd gladly make, too. 

I'm happy to still have Heroes to read even though I do slightly prefer the traditional way of telling these myths - just for the feeling. And the ego, to be honest. 

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

Haley Murray

*3.5. Will definitely use this as one of my comfort audiobooks to listen to before bed.

found it a little bit drawn out but was a great introduction to greek mythology. portrayed the goddesses and gods in such a cool way, i was always daunted by the sheer volume of greek mythology that there is but this book did a fantastic job at not overloading you with names and info.

Megan Paterson

Every single bit as wonderful and witty as you would imagine.

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.

Wouter ter Keurs

Prachtige hervertellingen door de heerlijke zijdezachte klanken van Fry.

Celeste Richardson

Mythos is practically perfect in every way. 

I’ve adored Greek mythology since I was a child. I’ve also always been utterly charmed by Stephen Fry. The combination of these two things was an absolute delight. Fry’s writing is a perfect marriage of class and sass, and he gives the original source material tremendous respect while never taking those sources or himself too seriously. Take this line, for instance: “Gaia visited her daughter Mnemosyne, who was busy being unpronounceable.” Isn’t that just the right mix of informative and snarky? And the amount of word origin Fry included in this book was absolutely perfect. I learned tons of fun facts to share with friends and family but was never inundated to the point of boredom.
“Even meaning and destiny themselves can be read in ordinary things, if you have the gift.” 
These are pretty much all stories with which I’ve familiar since childhood. My editions of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology and Bulfinch’s Mythology are both ragged from countless rereads. But it’s been a few years since I spent time in Greece’s brilliant myths, and Fry’s Mythos looked like just the right way to revisit them. I couldn’t have been more right. Fry managed to breathe new life into these myths while still staying incredibly true to them. It requires a very deft hand to so impeccably balance freshness and timelessness, but that’s exactly what Fry managed to accomplish in this collection. Fry claims that: “The Greeks created gods that were in their image; warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate, but vengeful.” And I think that sentiment exactly captures why their myths are so much fun to read. They have all of the character flaws and failings of humans, but on a much grander and more eternal scale. Without these faults there would have been very few stories to tell.
“It is their refusal to see any divine beings as perfect, whole and complete of themselves, whether Zeus, Moros or Prometheus, that makes the Greeks so satisfying.” 
I can’t sing this book’s praises enough, and thus I’m going to keep this review short so I’m not just repeating said praises over and over again. Every single minute spent with Mythos was a pure and unadulterated delight. And getting to hear it read in Fry’s own superb voice made an already wonderful experience into something amazing. If you’re an audiobook listener, please give this one a try in that format. It’s one of the few books I’ve ever listened to that I know for a fact I’ll be listening to again and again. I had actually borrowed it from the library and returned it before I hit the halfway point, because I knew I needed to own it and have it downloaded on my phone forever. If you love mythology or Stephen Fry or both or even neither, you’ve got to give Mythos a read.

You can find  this review and more at Novel Notions.

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.

Catherine Matheson

I listened to this as an audiobook and Stephen Fry does such a good job (no surprises there). You don't need any previous knowledge of Greek mythology and it goes way back to the start and introduces you to all the gods. Recommend for anyone with a basic level of knowledge in greek mythology and is wanting to learn more!

Marloes

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.

Matthew Jackson &
Mythos by Stephen Fry

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