Mythos

Title: Mythos

Author: Stephen Fry          

Year of original publication: 2018

Points:                       3 (according to the Literature List)

Title explanation: 

Mythos is a story in which parts of the Greek mythology are told and rewritten. The word mythos is simply Greek for ‘story’ or ‘word’. The book consists of Greek stories.

Setting and time:

Because the book a collection of different stories is, it does not have one exact setting and time. Most of the stories find their origins in ancient Greek. A lot of them take place here, from fictional (or should I say mythical?) to real places. Athens, Crete and Mount Olympus, the mythical house of the Gods, function as scenery for different myths. The stories start before time, the birth of time, the god Kronos, is even described. So, about the time nothing can be said.

Characters:

Zeus: Zeus is the sky and thunder god and king of the Gods. He rules over Mount Olympus. He is often described as a mature, big man with a beard. You can recognize him by the thunderbolt he holds. He is known for his wisdom, authority, and his romantic adventures. He is married to Hera, his sister and Goddess of marriage. But this doesn’t stop him from seeing other women and men. He is the son of Kronos and Rhea. The story of how he overthrows his father is told.

Athena: Athena is the goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft. She is the patron of the city Athens. Her symbols include owls, olive trees and snakes. She is often depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear. She embodies wisdom, strategy, and courage. Her birth and heritage differ but in Mythos she is born from the forehead of Zeus after he swallows his consort Metis, who was pregnant with Athena. Athena is first born in Zeus and then escapes through his forehead.

Prometheus: Prometheus is a titan known for his intelligence, cleverness, and compassion for humanity. He was the one to give fire to the humans after stealing it from the gods. The fire can represent real fire, or the gift of knowledge and enlightenment. Prometheus was punished for this act by Zeus. He was chained on a cliff and everyday two vultures would come and eat out his liver. Every night it would grow back. Prometheus role in bringing fire and knowledge to humanity are key themes that are revisited in different myths.

Storyline/plot

‘Mythos’ by Stephen Fry is not a traditional book with a single continuous plot. It is a collection of retellings from various Greek myths and legends. Each chapter focuses on a single myth. The chapters follow each other in a logical order. Sometimes ‘chronological’, and sometimes it tells a different myth about the same heroes or gods. The structure is episodic. Every chapter has his own narrative. The book is written in a third-person perspective, as Fry serves as a storyteller and guide, presenting these timeless tales to the reader.

Genre

The genre of ‘Mythos’ is of course mythology. But it can also be categorized as folklore and non-fiction. The book explores various themes:

Power and Authority: The book delves into the power struggles the Greek gods face. Zeus constantly has conflicts with other deities about power. The authority of the world has also changed a couple of times, and these are also described.

Hubris and Consequences: Hubris is the key of almost every Greek myth. It means something like arrogance, in these cases arrogance against gods. In these myths the consequences of hubris are described in extent. Think of Icarus who thought he could fly, just like the gods.

Opinion/judgement

I can definitely be called a Mythology nerd. As a kid I have read every book written by Rick Riordan about Percy Jackson and al the adventures he lives in the Greek world. Latin is one of my most favourite courses. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Mythos by Stephen Fry has been on my TBR for quote some time. When I saw it standing in the bookcase of one of my old hook-ups, he told me to take it home. (Thank the gods I didn’t see him again). So, this summer I began reading it. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I was addicted.

Fry explains the strange and sometimes difficult world of the Greek Myths in such an easy way. He handles the difficult beginning, how do you tell that everything started with nothing?, so well that it almost sounded normal. I found the way he keeps reminding the readers that there are different telling’s of myths, and his aren’t the ‘right’ ones nice. Sometimes people tend to forget this.

Greek mythology can be confusing with al the different gods and goddess who are married to their sister who is actually also their niece, but they have children with five other deities and their child is also their arch nemesis. Fry writes all the family bonds and love affairs in a manageable way. The family tree at the start of the book and the name list in the back are helpful tools.

Fry’s passion for the subject shines through his writing. You can feel his enthusiasm. How he uses wit and humour makes the book so much more enjoyable and engaging than every other Greek myth book I have read (except for Percy Jackson of course, but that is a whole different genre).

The critics call Mythos “the retelling of the Greek mythology of the century”. And I agree with them. The book offers such and accessible introduction in a rather elite subject. If you start the book with no background information you can still understand it. The most important myths are told. If you end the book, you have a good base of knowledge on the subject.

This is one of the books I enjoyed reading the most in the last couple of years. The Greek myths made me feel like a little kid again and gave me comfort. I am definitely going to read the other books written by Fry about the Greek mythology. I would recommend the book to everyone who needs an escape from reality, because the book offers this.

Quote analysis      

“The Greeks created gods that were in their image; warlike but creative, wise but ferocious, loving but jealous, tender but brutal, compassionate, but vengeful.”
― Stephen Fry, Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

This quote from Stephen Fry from Mythos is one of my personal favorites. It summarizes the essence of Greek mythology and beautifully captures the nature od the gods. It illustrates how the Greek gods, like their human counterparts, were a complex mix of virtues and flaws, embodying the entire spectrum of human emotions and characteristics.

The Greeks were always at war. It was part of their culture, if there wasn’t war, they got bored. It played a huge part of their daily lives. So, it was understandable that there were multiple war deities. After Ares, the most prominent one was Athena. She was the goddess of wisdom, warcraft and handicraft. There was a whole city dedicated to her. Athens was her city. She won the favor of the city by gifting them the olive tree. It was not only a symbol of peace, but it also functions as a source of oil and food. This was a creative and practical gift. The heroes Achilles and Odysseus were favorites of Athena. She supported them with advice on strategic warfare and battle tactics.

An example of wise but ferocious was the centaur Chiron. He was a teacher of different Greek heroes such as Hercules and Achilles. When he got hit by a poisoned arrow from Hercules, on accident, he was unable to heal himself despite being peaceful and wise. This demonstrates that even the most enlightened beings in Greek myths were not immune to the ferocity of fate and the unpredictable twists of life.

The goddess of love, Aphrodite Is often depicted as loving and passionate. But just like humans, this comes with jealous tendencies. This becomes evident in the myth of Psyche. She becomes jealous of her beauty. This leads to a series of trials for Psyche to be together with her love, Cupid.

Aphrodite depicted also both tenderness and brutality in the story of her relationship with her lover Adonis. She adored Adonis, who was a handsome mortal, with great tenderness. Their love story took a brutal turn when he was killed by a boar while hunting. The goddess was devastated by his death, and her grief reveals the brutal and tragic aspect of her love.

An example of a character in Greek mythology who was both compassionate and vengeful is the goddess Demeter. She showed great compassion when she mourned the abduction of her daughter Persephone, causing the earth to wither. Her vengeful side became evident when she punished the world by creating the seasons in response to her daughter’s time spent in the underworld with Hades. This resulted in the cycle of nature’s renewal and decline, reflecting Demeter’s dual nature as both a loving mother and a deity capable of wrath and vengeance.