Reviews with content warning for Infidelity - Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

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Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry

43 reviews

annakh16's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I mean, this was just great. Fun (albeit disturbing at times, as myths tend to be), well-told and very informative. This is an accessible book for anyone who wants to get into Greek myths or already loves them. Also, if I ever need to win an alliteration contest, I know where to go for inspiration.

Part of what makes this so informative is Fry‘s attention to detail, always citing his sources when there are divergent versions of a myth, among other things. I also really appreciated his many references to the etymology of everyday words and their links to Greek myths, as well to the reception of some stories in classic and modern literature. It really helps bring the stories to the present.

The characters are vivid and memorable, and the audio narration (which was great, as expected) enhanced this, too.

I do think some of the very short stories could’ve been cut (especially in the Metamorphosis part). It all became a bit too fast paced and confusing for me then.

Overall however I loved this, would definitely recommend, and will definitely read the next book in the series!

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majestictrilobite's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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annick's review against another edition

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adventurous informative lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

I would recommend this as a book and as audiobook. fry has a great pace and style with reading his stories.

I think it’s best read in small parts. I finished the last third over a few days and I lost interest in the work. Because of this binging.

I also like how fry highlights the homoerotic and trans representation in the ancient myths. I wish he’d picked up the systemic misogyny and racism
Laced into the cultures and myths. I recommend Natalie Haynes for addressing the sexism and misogyny in Greek myths.

I don’t plan to re read this book and there are some things I’d want to change - this is why it’s only four stars.

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The Details:
Narrated by author
Unabridged

What a great retelling of the origins of Greek Mythology. Fantastic storytelling with a background on more than just big players, which I really appreciated.

Fry enraptured with his storytelling and captured the legends perfectly for new learners to myth, and old.

Looking forward to continuing on with this series.

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richardw2024's review against another edition

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adventurous informative lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was brilliant! A great introduction to Greek mythology, well written and very easy to read. I loved how the book showed how Greek mythology has influenced our language and literature.

The first quarter was essentially a genealogy of the ancient God's, setting up the Titans and Olympians. It was necessary but definitely slower and read more like a presentation of facts rather than story.

I found that it got much better after the first quarter.

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idkwhosara's review against another edition

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adventurous funny informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

I chose to listen to the audiobook narrated by Stephen Fry.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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informative slow-paced

3.0

I’ll start off by saying Mythos was an interesting read but kind of overwhelming or annoying at times.

The first part was the worst as I had trouble wanting to read it with the overwhelm of facts. As another reviewer put it, and I can’t word it any better myself, it was like reading a Wikipedia entry!! It’s so much information being thrown at you in a straightforward way (which is fine), but it got tedious and boring at times. I had to set it aside multiple times and focused on other books instead. And when it’s not info overload, Fry uses so much alliteration I began skimming. It was like he was trying to reach the word count by adding in as many adjectives possible 😬

This book is categorized as fiction so I think I was expecting more depth and better story flow. But it’s a lot of who’s who and who hated who without a real story/long lasting impact. But then when it was more of the storytelling writing I was looking for, the irritating amount of adjectives came in (Stephen I don’t need a run on sentence giving all the synonyms for sad) 🙈

Writing especially the dialogue can be a bit much-I will just never understand British humor 🙈 I cringed at the parts that I think were meant to be funny?

The last two parts were much better! Part one did have new info that I didn’t know about so I did appreciate that. The writing was just so dry and mainly an info dump. Once we get to parts 2 and 3 with the “lesser” gods and mortals (Persephone, Eros and Psyche, etc) it flowed much better and was an easier/more enjoyable read for the most part!

I own the other two books in the trilogy already and loved hearing Stephen Fry do a reading for Troy so I pushed myself through. Partially glad that I did but by the end I was so over it 😂 I’m hoping what I’ve seen from other reviewers is correct in that Heroes is way better than Mythos! 🙈

If you know nothing or very little about Greek myths then I’d recommend this for the pure amount of info you’ll get on the gods and background stories. You may enjoy this if you love Greek mythology too, I love the topic but sadly this one didn’t do it for me but I know others enjoyed it.

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