Heroes Hardcover – International Edition, November 1, 2018

A great way to introduce these myths to your kinds with out the confusing period dialect. Well written, with some great information you may have missed reading the original texts

You must buy this book. This is the second volume. Mythos is the first. The most enjoyable and least dry rendition of the Greek Myths... See Neil Gaimen for the Norse myths...

Stephen Fry has done it again in this very engaging, humourous set of tales of the Greek heroes. He takes the time to give each person a unique voice and makes these tales accessible to everyone.

Great book, a little cheesy at times when he adds in his own stuff but usually enjoy it. Also if recommend reading the afterword first. It greatly impacted how I saw the stories and wish I would have read it first as something to think about while reading them

I great book to read if you're a fan of mythology. Although I will say that when I opened the package, the paper sleeve of the hardcover did have rips, bends and scratches. Not a huge issue, obviously, but It definitely took away from the "brand new" experience as I was expecting it to be flawless.

Stephen way of putting words on paper reminds me so much of my favorite late mythologist, Joseph Campbell. It's a must-read for anyone who likes Joseph;s works.

enjoyed learning about the gods and their history. little confusing with all the names to keep to remembering

Entertaining, but too many names in some chapters

This is a lively, light-hearted, clever and camp telling of the Greeks myths. There are people on here whinging about this book being for 'beginners' - these bores couldn't be further from the spirit of Greek mythical storytelling. Fry is a compelling narrator, embellishing the tales with interesting cultural vignettes. Bravo!

Every few generations so someone gives us a newer retelling of the Greek myths. Language changes and accordingly older written tales do not always engage the reader as they may of once had done. With this in mind Stephen Fry has already given us Mythos, which helped many to know the creation myths of Ancient Greece, and with this book he now takes us into the Age of Heroes, with a set of retellings of famous tales.Here then we have Jason and the Argonauts, and their quest for the Golden Fleece, the Labours of Heracles (better known to many as Hercules), Theseus, Atalantis, Perseus, Oedipus, Bellerophon and Orpheus amongst other incidents and characters. Of course along with that we have the Gods helping or not certain people, along with all the different monsters and other elements of the tales.I know that some people advise people to read the book by Robert Graves, and yes it is good for all the different variations to stories, however at the same time Graves tried to force down our throats his theories on religion and such like, which do not stand up to scrutiny – and have never done so. With a book like this you get the stories in an easily digestible form for those who are always rushing about, and also at times it is mentioned about variations from other sources. By keeping to the stories Fry obviously doesn’t make the mistakes that Graves made, and with regards to thoughts on myths and legends, there is a little piece at the back of this book where the author gives us some basic ideas on the theories of myths and the different ways they have been interpreted.Along with maps, and other illustrations including paintings and pottery and sculpture this book has a lot to offer the general reader and is sure to do well with younger and older readers. The Greek myths are a part of our heritage, as indeed for all of Western Europe, and plays, films, books and games are still inspired by them, so they are important to know and sometimes I am surprised by the ignorance of them even by older people. Saying something the other month about the riddle of the Sphinx, which is told here, I was surprised that my parents did not know the most famous of all riddles.Giving you some hours of reading pleasure there are lists of various characters and so on here, as well as other books mentioned that you may wish to peruse if you wish to find out more about the stories that are retold here, which at times you will notice, the author has injected some humour into.

I am a big fan of a Greek myth and Stephen Fry is an excellent storyteller. This is a fairly straight telling of the ancient myths with an injection of irreverent humour here and there – it is very much in the tone we would expect from the good-naturedly learned Mr Fry.I have to admit though, that my attention started to flag as we reached the halfway point. Too many of the stories selected followed a very similar narrative pattern (evil uncle/dashing young hero), and with no overarching story thread to pull it all together it does not seem to be going anywhere. It is a book best read in small bursts so you don't start thinking it dull.As I said I am a big fan of Greek myths (especially Homer – but if I get started on that we will be here all day, the interest lies, perhaps, in not just the story being told, but what the way the story is told tells us about how people long ago thought and felt), and I love the more involved, relaxed storytelling of Madeline Miller or Margaret Atwood (The Penelopaid), this seems thin and dry in comparison, just skirting the surface of these complex and interesting tales.

I wanted an easy to read selection of some of the most popular Greek myths for my wife who has never read them. I also wanted to read them again. I should have checked the reviews before I bought this and the first book Mythos. There is a particularly accurate one in the Guardian. It is basically whether you like Stephen Fry's writing style (drole, Wodehouse-like) and whether you feel this style brings the myths to life and into the modern age.Unfortunately I do not like this writing style at all - I prefer simple and direct rather than verbose - and in particular I hated the attempt to be drole with such ancient myths that have survived so long. So I purchased Edith Hamilton's famous version Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. This is much more what I was after. Simple prose, sensitive to the original poet's style, and a great range of stories.My mistake - should have read the reviews before buying. Each to his own. Some people will love it.

These are absolutely wonderful retellings of Greek mythology. I’m now ordering the first volume, Mythos, to get some of the earlier tales, and I’m hoping Stephen Fry doesn’t stop here with Heroes but goes on to give us retellings of Homer’s Odyssey & Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid, stories I’d certainly look forward to reading in the future.I don’t think I’ve read retellings this good for a long time, perhaps since David Kossoff retold the Bible stories, which now seems very long ago indeed. Highly recommended.I hope you find my review helpful.