Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures

[Jonathan]

Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures

[Andrew]

Alright,

I'm not even halfway through this one (I'm going to finish it, I swear!), but I feel like I have to have some sort of discussion before I move on to The Terror, and whatever comes next. This is the second Stephen Fry book that we have read in this series, and I assume we will read the third when it comes out as well. All I can say is that Fry is the right man for the job. You can feel the love and understanding he has for these stories. I've taken classics courses, and read many of these myths before, but only someone who has really lived with these stories can breathe life into them in this way.

Besides the passion that Fry brings to these stories, he also brings his sharp with and English humour. The stories are certainly Anglicized, but this only serves to make them more relatable for a western audience. These qualities all point to Fry's experience as an entertainer, and this book certainly entertains, but he also stands out as an educator. The meticulous use of footnotes gives context to a wide variety of cultural practices, historical events, and the pronunciation of names.

In many ways, the stories are beside the point. We are all somewhat familiar with Heracles, and Odysseus, and Jason, even if our cultural adaptations have been watered down. The point of stories, as the Greeks knew full well, is in the telling. These ancients tales once again feel fresh, and relevant. Fry brings the themes and the lessons of the ancient world to us. What a gift he has given us.

[Jonathan]

Stephen Fry does an excellent job of setting the stage for each story, a story as complex as Jason with a long list of characters and a complex family tree, Stephen is able to break it down so the important bits of the story are retained while keeping the backstory intact.

One thing that struck me was the Greek Hero's weren't as cut and dry as I thought. I always thought hero's like Hercules resembled the standard fantasy trope of the chosen one (due to Disney/pop culture possibly), but you read these stories and realize even someone as brave and strong as Hercules is flawed deeply with anger. The story of Hercules is instead a tragedy, Hercules kills his own wife and child due to Hera's jealousy of her husband Zeus's wild sexual nature. It seems that Hera and the other Gods seem to punish us mere mortals instead of the ones actual responsible. The ones born out of sin seem to receive the harshest punishment, then the ones guilty.

Have the stories changed today when we look at superhero's today (Marvel/DC Universe/Hollywood)?

I also think the myths of these hero's shows a stance on destiny (and perhaps free will) within Greek Mythology. Prophecies always came to pass, no matter what you did to try to alter them, such as trying to kill the child of destiny that would end there demise, that child would always survive and end up killing them. This also applied to the Gods, as they were not above fate either (Heracles would save Olympus). It leaves a theme of no matter what you do, you are doomed to your fate, you cannot escape your fate, you can not change destiny. You can try as hard as you can to change your fate, but it is already written, all that will come to pass will. Maybe this is something the Greeks at the time also believed, so it was best to always try and be in the Gods favor.

Favorite Monster?
The variety of different monsters within the Greek world is amazing. One of my favorites that stand out in this series are The Grey Sisters, were they all share one eye and one tooth between the three of them.

Favorite Hero/story?
It is hard to pick a favorite among the stories, the Greeks truly understood the human condition. Every story seems morally grey, there are moments of greatness but there are also moments of our downfall, which make these stories feel more real. For example, the story of Bellerophon reminds me of the quote in Roman times "Remember Caesar, thou too art human." It reflects the endless struggle to control ones ego, even in all our greatness we can still fall from it. If I had to pick I guess I would choose the story of Orpheus as my favorite. A story of following ones heart, through the very depths of the underworld itself and conquering it, only to fall to your own haste.

The Heroes for reference
Perseus
Heracles
Bellerophon
Orpheus
Jason
Atalanta
Oedipus
Theseus

[Andrew]

Favorite Monster?
The variety of different monsters within the Greek world is amazing. One of my favorites that stand out in this series are The Grey Sisters, were they all share one eye and one tooth between the three of them.

My favourite monster was Medusa for sure. She didn't really do anything, but I love the scene where she dies and simultaneously births Pegasus and Chrysaor from her neck wound. What an acid trip that was. I feel like there should have been some badass guitar solo wailing in the background while Perseus chops her head off and all these monsters start flying around.

[Andrew]

Alright, I just have to update quickly because I have finally actually finished reading this book. I don't have too much to add, but I am blown away by how good Fry's Greek series is. The only frame of reference I have is Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology, which I thought was great, but I found Mythos and Heroes to be far more enjoyable to read.

One final note. In the afterword, Fry discusses the metaphorical nature of these stories. He asks the reader what they interpreted the myths as being about, or to try and glean some lesson from the story. I went about this in an entirely different way. I read each hero story as a piece of fiction. I derived my enjoyment from that fantastical nature of each hero, and from Fry's witty writing style. Looking back there were certainly metaphors and morality tales, but frankly, it was all lost on me. I feel like reading this book a second time (which i hope to do at some point) would allow me to move past the veneer of "story" to reach the underlying message.

5/5