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Mythos: (Ancient Greek Mythology Book for Adults, Modern Telling of Classical Greek Myths Book) (Stephen Fry's Greek Myths, 1) Hardcover – Complete, August 27, 2019
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This stunning book features classical artwork inspired by the myths, as well as learned notes from the author.
• Each adventure is infused with Fry's distinctive wit, voice, and writing style
• Connoisseurs of the Greek myths will appreciate this fresh-yet-reverential interpretation, while newcomers will feel welcome
• Retellings brim with humor and emotion and offer rich cultural context
Celebrating the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, Mythos breathes life into ancient tales—from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire.
This gorgeous volume invites you to explore a captivating world with the brilliant storyteller Stephen Fry as your guide.
• A collectible volume complete with a textured case, a foil-stamped jacket, and full-color art throughout
• The perfect gift for Greek mythology and history buffs, lovers of ancient Greece, art aficionados, and devoted fans of Stephen Fry
• Add it to the shelf with books like Circe by Madeline Miller, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, and Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton
- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherChronicle Books
- Publication dateAugust 27, 2019
- Dimensions7.75 x 1.45 x 9.6 inches
- ISBN-101452178917
- ISBN-13978-1452178912
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Here are the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, stylishly retold by Stephen Fry. The legendary writer, actor, and comedian breathes life into ancient tales, from Pandora’s box to Prometheus’s fire, and transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder. Classical artwork inspired by the myths and learned notes from the author offer rich cultural context.” - Thought Catalog
Holiday Gift Guide Pick "Mythos is filled with all their favorite Greek myths, along with stunning illustrations and notes from the author. It's a quick-witted retelling so beginners and experts can both get something from it."
-Buzzfeed
"If you ever thought Greek mythology was intimidating, Stephen Fry’s approach will appeal to you, as he explains the myths in casual terms relating them to modern-day people or events (yes, there’s even a reference to Morrissey). There is also plenty of just generally funny commentary that had me laughing out loud and sharing passages with my family."
-GeekDad
"[Stephen Fry's] gloriously imaginative, erudite, warmhearted, and subversively funny retelling of the classic Greek myths...thoroughly enchanting and elucidating"
-Brain Pickings
Holiday Gift Pick "Let waggish comic actor Fry be your ferryman as he retells, with the aid of eminent classical artwork, the ancient and strangely au courant Greek legends. Among them: Zeus and Hera's coupling of which Cry writes, 'Crackling with tension, impatience, and disgust, theirs was nonetheless a great marriage.'"
- O, The Oprah Magazine
"Reading Mythos is like attending an ancient Greek class by your favorite, quick-witted British professor. "
―The Mary Sue
About the Author
Stephen Fry is an award-winning writer, comedian, actor, and director. He rose to fame in A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster. He hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and narrated the audio versions of the Harry Potter novels. His books include four novels and three volumes of autobiography. He lives in Los Angeles and London.
Product details
- Publisher : Chronicle Books (August 27, 2019)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1452178917
- ISBN-13 : 978-1452178912
- Item Weight : 2.45 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.75 x 1.45 x 9.6 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #10,896 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in Folklore & Mythology Studies
- #229 in Folklore (Books)
- #365 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
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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.
Top reviews from other countries
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.
Reviewed in Mexico on August 18, 2023