Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

15 hrs. 41 min.

Popular Science

Language Russian

Author Stephen Fry

Narrator Alexey Bagdasarov

Description

Someone might ask: why do we need yet another retelling of Greek myths and legends? First, old stories live on in retellings, meaning they don’t turn to stone and don’t become dogma. Second, Greek mythology is rich in material that up until the second half of the 20th century—even among those praising antiquity, artists, sculptors, poets—sometimes made even young women blush. Now, at last, it’s time to take in the myths of the ancient Greeks in an adult way—with interest and, importantly, with healthy perception—without cuts and without turning your eyes away. And who, if not Stephen Fry, should do it?

Third, Fry doesn’t try to interpret the stories he retells. And not because he has no opinion about them—he simply tells them honestly, leaving the search for meaning to anthropologists and philosophers. Fourth, yes, all these plots can be found in hundreds of books about Ancient Greece. But Fry composes a new bouquet from them—his book is a kind of ikebana. You can look at flowers, branches, sticks, and vases separately in a flower shop, but humanity still makes and buys bouquets. Reading this book is worth it not only for its obvious entertainment and relaxation value, but also to shake the dust off children’s memories of Coon and his “Legends and Myths of Ancient Greece,” to put your family trees of gods and heroes in order—surely long ago mixed up in your head— and to remember the mythogenic geography of Greece: where what was located, who ran where, and where they hid. Fry’s book is a wonderful way to get to Ancient Greece, and at the same time to have a good laugh: Fry’s style is an unchanging guarantee of a real reader’s adventure.