Mythos, Stephen Fry, 2017

Rating: 5/5

For someone like me who had little knowledge of Greek mythology, Mythos is the perfect introduction to this subject. Fry covers it comprehensively, even if not in great detail, and his easy and humorous writing style makes the book an easy read.

The book tries to be as comprehensive as possible, commencing from the origins of the titans and the gods, and concluding with several fables. It also discusses the origin of many words commonly used today — euthanasia coming from Thanatos, Kronos contributing to chronometers, and tantalised from Tantalus for example. As Fry puts it, this “splendidly exemplifies the continuing relationship between Greek myth and our language”. There are interesting origin stories as well — the creation of peacocks or the Sahara desert and icy polar regions or a swan song for example. The book also provides insights into the linkages between Greek (and Roman) mythological characters, even minor ones — an interesting bit of trivia is that Apollo was the only Greek god worshipped by the Romans under the same name.

This book is essentially a dummy’s guide to Greek mythology. If your objective is to learn more about the subject, “Mythos” is a great read.

Pros: A great introduction to Greek mythology, easy writing style

Cons: In his attempt to be comprehensive, there is a bit of an overload of characters