MEGALA KAZANIA

…….. “Twere hard to say who fared the best:

     Sad mortals! thus the gods still plague you!

He lost his labour, I my jest:

     For he was drowned, and I’ve the ague.

-        Lord Byron

“At some point, myth becomes cult becomes religion,” opines Stephen Fry, the author of Mythos. The only things Greek I had encountered before reading this book were the yogurt and the Percy Jackson series, so I wouldn’t claim to be au courant about the Greek Gods and their myths.

Even for an amateur like me, Mythos is an enriching experience. It is a book filled with Greek names and Greek stories, and Fry begins from the very beginning. It begins from Gaia and Ouranos, and ends with an explanation of feet and toes. Fry’s trademark repartee shines through. He is a story teller, and he sticks to his guns. He doesn’t try to interpret them. That is our job. He tells the stories, and he does a good job at that. 

Greek mythology, like any other, is a complicated beast. Confusion reigns often, as names and actions clash with each other. It is a labyrinth-like no other, and just as Dante needed Virgil to guide him through Hell and Purgatory, and Beatrice to guide him through Heaven, Fry acts as our guide to get us out of this mythical and literary labyrinth. Retelling mythological stories can be tricky, and in the wrong hands, torturous. And while I won’t claim to remember every name and every story in the book, it is a credit to Fry that I have been able to emerge with that little bit more knowledge (non-existent, as I mentioned, before this).

The book begins with the First Order, and ventures its way through the antics of Kronos, (and his scythe), and talks about the way Zeus was born. It tells us about Prometheus and the creation of the homo-sapiens, and the fire which ultimately spelled doom for poor Prometheus. It talks about Aphrodite and Adonis, Eros and Psyche, and how Athena emerged, straight from the split head of Zeus. An intriguing story tells us about how the bee got its sting.

The famous story of Arachne and Athena, and that of Midas, also finds a place in the book. Fry also explains the origins of various English words through stories; his footnotes are as interesting to read as the story itself. Various words that we use on a regular basis, like tantalized and guitar, all have origins in Greek, or have Grecian connotations, apparently.

STEPHEN FRY

As all myths go, Greek myth is too vast to be restricted to a mere 400 pages. Fry has released another book detailing the adventures, (and the misadventures), of the Greeks, “Heroes”. I look forward to reading it.

Ovid, Homer, and Hesiod are all listed as sources by Fry, and more often than not, the stories that he has chosen are taken from their works. Thus, Fry has written a jolly, if limited book, and the hope is that he expands his work in “Heroes.”

But for those looking for their initiation into the Greek lore and the Greek world, “Mythos”, should be a good way to start.