Heroes: The Greek Myths Reimagined

“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; They kill us for their sport.” - King Lear, Shakespeare

That line kept ringing in my head a whole lot when I was reading this book. It would be impossible to really recount all the Greek heroes and their doings, so Stephen Fry has picked out some of the most iconic ones and laid out their adventures here, retold in a modern, Fry-esque tone to make it simple and digestible for the modern reader.

Some of the stories were a lot sadder than what pop culture usually depicts them to be, like that of Oedipus, and that of the Minotaur. Almost all of them were extremely violent, sexist, and misogynistic. Whatever Fry's views are on the subject, he doesn't let it interfere with his retellings, and he simply lays it out for you the reader to see and judge for yourself.

It is perhaps not surprising that almost all the Greek heroes related in this book are male, though Fry does attempt to add in at least one woman, Atalanta, even though she is eventually bested by a man and he gets to marry her as a reward. The only other intriguing female figure here is Medea, sometime lover of Jason and later stepmother of Theseus. She's depicted as power-hngry, passionate, and often ruthless in achieving her aims. While she can't escape the thrall of being subject to a male influence, she comes the closest to holding her own imo.

Overall, I appreciated this book for giving a comprehensive summary of the iconic myths that pervade pop culture. We've all heard of the Labours of Hercules, or the Ship of Theseus, or of Pegasus, and Medusa, and Perseus, but this book tries its best to put everything into context without confusing the heck out of its readers, especially to those like me who are completely unread in Greek literature. My favourite parts of the book is actually the last chapter of each story where Fry gives us a bit of his own analysis and insights as to the particular hero he just wrote about.