Mythos

By: Stephen Fry

Narrated by: Stephen Fry

Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Step into another world - of magic, mayhem, monsters and maniacal gods - in Stephen Fry's momentous Sunday Times and Audible best seller, Mythos.

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.

Shiver in fear when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments.

Listen with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds.

Read by Stephen Fry himself, 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 books Heroes and Troy, with tales of mortals and monsters, quests and adventures.

©2017 Stephen Fry (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A head-spinning marathon of legends." (Guardian)

"Wit and erudition are impressively evident in Stephen Fry's idiosyncratic retelling of the myths of the Greek gods.... He adds fascinating philological glosses and cultural references." (The Times)

"Fry exhibits prodigious learning, a great facility with words, and enormous erudition and enthusiasm." (Mail on Sunday)

Modernized easy-listening version of old tales

Do not expect anything "new" about the well-known Greek myths that are retold here. But do expect them to get a slightly "updated" tone, modernized pace and some tongue-in-cheek side-comments by the story-teller (or "author" if you will).
Stephen Fry does a nice job on that. He is not the world's greatest dramatic writer, so some of the stories come with quite some lengths that make you wish for an editor to cut, cut, cut. But Stephen's enthusiasm well carries you through it. That is if you like his style ...

The book starts with the creation of "the world" (universe, actually) and ends with the story of Midas (the guy with the "Golden Touch"), so it is NOT a "complete" collection of all the myths and stories available in the vast pool of Greek mythology. It is a good enough excerpt, though, if you want to grasp the patterns and the overall "tone" of those stories (most of which can be found in other peoples' mythologies in respective form anyway).

What I liked about this approach is the complete neglection of any academic expectations. Stephen Fry makes it quite clear that you neither need any prerequisites to enjoy the book nor will you gain any "insight" into the stories' "meaning", be it literary or sociological or etymological. He does hint at some words or expression derived from character names mentioned in the stories, but does not go into any further depths. This gives the book a "light-hearted" touch and makes it easy to listen to while on the road or in bed or under the shower or ...

Brilliant!

A wonderful read. Brilliantly narrated, informative, but ammusing. Will listen to again at some point.

Perfectly told Greek myths

I loved listening to this book. Stephen Fry is the perfect voice to bring the stories to life and I highly recommend listening till the end. There's something special about listening to these myths that I've been reading all my life.

Great book

I strongly recommend this book to anyone seeking to rediscover the beauty of Greek myths. I know I will go back and reread it many times.

Brilliant and the best 'creation' stories around.

Thank you Stephen for the hours of pleasure. Looking forward to listening to Heroes .

Wonderful

As Mr Fry says himself in the afterword -- he is doing his bit to keep these myths alive, just like so many did before him. This version is PG-13, but also mischievous, subtly cultured, and the lively embellishments are fantastic! Also, the rendering is superb, and I'm quite sure that to continue the oral tradition that first characterized such works, the audiobook form is the best!

Mythos

Loved it! Both the content & the reading of it. I would highly recommend it

Simply Amazing

Both the storytelling and the narration are other-wordly. I just can't get better than this.

Written to be read

In Mythos, Stephen Fry reinterpreted the most famous stories of the old Greek gods.

I was hoping for a Greek version of Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology. In the beginning, I was disappointed. While Neil Gaiman’s stories are dark and stern, Stephen Fry keeps it light and jovial.

I’m happy to say, that over time his style grew on me. The stories are well written and excellently read. I would even argue that they were written with the intent to be read. Getting the Audiobook version was the right choice.

Fry’s knowledge of the myths and their backstories is impressive. Often, he mentions anecdotes and modern references.

Can’t wait to listen to the sequel “Heroes”.

Humorous listening

The man could read a phone book and I’d listen. The only reason for the four stars is that I’m unsure why these exact versions of the legends were selected, and very rarely other versions are even mentioned. This will only be mildly bothersome if you’re already familiar with the stories.