Ancient Greeks sure loved their sprawling soap opera dramas, didn’t they? Game of Thrones can shut up and sit in the corner quietly and take notes and learn from those epic bloody myths.
“How strange is our mortal zest for fame. Perhaps it is the only way humans can be gods. We achieve immortality not through ambrosia and ichor but through history and reputation.”
Before Stephen Fry my memories of reading The Iliad were mostly of frustrated boredom and some good quality naps. I bet Homer was a hoot back in his days, but to me watching paint dry had about the same entertainment level as his epics (I’m uncultured like that). But Stephen Fry’s reinterpretation of Greek myths made them unexpectedly fun for me before, so here we go.
(That damned apple that sparked the trouble. A truly dangerous fruit in mythologies.)
And Stephen Fry is awesome. With his dry humor and charmingly common sense wry wit he not only unites a bunch of story threads and side stories into a coherent, mostly linear and very readable narrative (going way beyond the events covered in The Iliad) but also seemingly easily manages to make sense of the who’s who of the sprawling cast of characters (with handy reminders and refreshers along the way) so that you never really feel lost. Achilles, Hector, Paris, Helen, Cassandra, Priam, Odysseus, Agamemnon, Menelaus and the entire pantheon of pettily vengeful and vain Greek gods — all of them become easily familiar here, warts and all, like a quarrelsome extended family or a weird bunch of neighbors. And Fry does not shy away from pointing out not just the good bits but also all the vanity and cruelty and stupidly poor judgment that make this story a fascinating trainwreck of an entertaining mess with a tragic bloody ending.
“The gods had watched in helpless horror while the scenes of violence and devastation had unfolded. Zeus had forbidden interference, but he feared he had been wrong to do so. “What did we see last night?” he asked. “It wasn’t warfare. It was madness. Deception, savagery, dishonor, and disgrace. What have the mortals become?” “Terrible, isn’t it? Who do they think they are—gods?”
The audio is my go-to when Stephen Fry is concerned. His narrative delivery is simply perfect. And yes, I’m eagerly waiting for his version of The Odyssey. tapping foot impatiently
5 stars.
Zeus sighed heavily. “I wish, all those years ago, Prometheus hadn’t persuaded me to make mankind,” he said. “I knew it was a mistake.”
books are life 
One hour to go…
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