nasamuffin, book enjoyer reviewed Mythos by Stephen Fry
Charming but ends somewhat with a fizzle
4 stars
The entire book feels like your charming retired-English-butler uncle telling you about all the stories he learned studying classics up at Eton, with dry jokes throughout. I enjoyed Fry's explanations of Greek and Latin etymology stemming from the various stories through the footnotes (and, occasionally, in the main text). I agree with other reviewers who mention that the storytelling kind of fizzles out; we get a few allusions to so-and-so who will be freed from torment by A Great Hero, but we don't cover any of those great heroes here. I guess it's because there are two more books in the trilogy.
Anyway, a charming and very approachable overview of the Greek mythology, which lent a bit more color to what I half-remember from high school.
The entire book feels like your charming retired-English-butler uncle telling you about all the stories he learned studying classics up at Eton, with dry jokes throughout. I enjoyed Fry's explanations of Greek and Latin etymology stemming from the various stories through the footnotes (and, occasionally, in the main text). I agree with other reviewers who mention that the storytelling kind of fizzles out; we get a few allusions to so-and-so who will be freed from torment by A Great Hero, but we don't cover any of those great heroes here. I guess it's because there are two more books in the trilogy.
Anyway, a charming and very approachable overview of the Greek mythology, which lent a bit more color to what I half-remember from high school.
