9 members of our group met to discuss the Greek Myths as retold by the actor, comedian, writer: Stephen Fry.
We were bowled over the by the sheer volume of stories. Not everyone had finished the book but we agreed it didn't matter as there was plenty to talk about without giving anything away. It is indeed a big read and with so much to take on the reader must travel back and forth within the book to keep on top of it all. The book itself helps with comprehension by offering a family tree of the Gods, and foot-notes that share useful information to supplement each story.
This is a really well written book but you need your wits about you to keep up with the pace and depth of coverage. Mr Fry is extremely graphic in his descriptions and holds little back so, as one of our group declared, this is "not a book to go to sleep on"!
There are a vast number of stories - far more than we imaged there would be - and this book does a really good job of explaining the links that each story has with others. It all fits neatly into place.
Myths of our own making were quashed: Zeus it turns out was not the first god and the Leander club did not choose to wear pink socks/tights on a whim! And, it seems that Gods are excellent multi-taskers with (as one member of our group was keen to warn potential readers about) quite varied and extreme sex lives.
Mythos also made us aware of how Greek mythology extends into our modern lives. For example Hermes, the god of trade, heraldry, merchants, commerce, roads, thieves, trickery, sports, travellers and athletes is used today as the brand name for one of the UK's largest parcel delivery companies.
These are stories that have withstood the test of time and have been taken on by so many as the basis for their own - including the Romans (who renamed many of the Greek Gods in their own myths) and Shakespeare who used their drama to develop his own.
There was so much we loved about the stories and it was hard to stop talking about everything we had discovered, enjoyed, been shocked or amazed by, laughed along or cried with. From herein the Greek Gods will be with us in spirit and mind as we stumble upon them. Thank you Stephen Fry for broadening our minds.
Our next book is Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney and we will discuss this on WEDNESDAY 24th July at 8pm in The Hundred.
