Heroes: The myths of the Ancient Greek heroes retold (Stephen Fry's Greek Myths, #2)

by Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry (Narrator)

Penguin presents the CD edition of Heroes written and read by Stephen Fry.

Mortals and Monsters. Quests and Adventures . . .
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There are Heroes - and then there are Greek Heroes.

Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes.

In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta - who was raised by bears - outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera.

Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of - at our worst and our very best.
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'Ebullient and funny' The Times

'Entertaining and edifying' Daily Telegraph

'A rollicking good read' Independent

'Fry exhibits enormous erudition and enthusiasm' Mail on Sunday

'The Greek gods of the past become relatable as pop culture, modern literature and music are woven throughout. Joyfully informal yet full of the literary legacy' Guardian

• ISBN10: 1405940565
• ISBN13: 9781405940566
• Publish Date: 1 November 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 15 hours
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Heroes is the second volume of embellished retelling of the heroes of the Greek myths by the inimitable Stephen Fry. Released 2nd June 2020 by Chronicle Books, it's 352 pages and available in hardcover, audio (narrated by S.Fry himself), and ebook formats.

Stephen Fry is simply a treasure. He's erudite and genuinely funny, urbane but not stuffy. He's self deprecating and frighteningly intelligent but not above being naughtily delighted over a raunchy pun. No surprise, then, that he turned his prodigious writing talent to Greek mythology, this time the heroes of the myths: Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Orpheus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus and Theseus. Readers will certainly be familiar with the basic stories; what's new are the asides and footnotes. There are comments on etymology and how the genesis of these stories disappears into our human prehistory. There are also plenty of linguistic asides, showing the threads between the origins of words which are used down through history to today.

There is plenty of truly bloody horrifically violent material in the Greek mythos, but he manages to extract the absurd, the comedic, the ridiculous, and give it his own twist, and in a few cases he left me gasping with laughter. There was a lot of obscure information with which I was unfamiliar, despite my unhealthy obsession with Bullfinch and Graves.

Loved this. Laughed so much. This would make a superlative classroom support book or recommended text for history, classics, group read, home library, etc. Good, well written, worthy historical commentary doesn't have to be boring. What a treasure Mr. Fry is.

Five stars. I'll be revisiting this one and the first volume, and I can't wait to get my grubby little paws on the next one.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.