Have you ever wanted to read Greek Mythology that is funny and relatable to your life?
Heroes by Stephen Fry does this perfectly. In the book Fry goes through the stories of what are probably the most influential Greek heroes: Hercules, Perseus, Jason, Theseus, Orpheus, Bellerophon, Oedipus and Atalanta. The core ideas of the book are just to refamiliarize the reader with the ancient Greek myths which is good for both general knowledge and classical understanding. Moreover, Fry manages to tell each story in incredible depth while also providing some modern allegories that allow the reader to understand the novel when things get too complicated.
For example, one of my favourite parts of the book illustrates this perfectly. While discussing how Hercules had to complete each labour instead of simply trying it, Fry uses Yoda’s famous line: “Do or do not, there is no try”. This is amusing, but also the use of a commonly understood pop culture reference further adds to the reader’s understanding of the myth. Another great thing about this book is Fry does not go off on tangents – every chapter’s content is always relevant to its title. Above all, I feel that the book gives a very valuable insight into Greek mythology in a fun and engaging way that is sure to stick in the reader’s mind.
In conclusion, Heroes was a very interesting read and it rekindled the joy of Greek myths in me. It is a relatively basic book to read in terms of vocabulary so anyone can read or understand it. There is perhaps one drawback that I would mention – all of the stories are written in a very similar manner and this might get monotonous at times. It would have been nice to see the writing style diversified more throughout the book. But in the end, what makes Heroes worth the read (I feel) is Fry’s way to tell the ancient myths in a modern and comical way. It’s fun and lively mythology, not drab and boring like the ones you are accustomed to in your (boring!) Greek classics lessons!
