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If you’ve heard of this Greek goddess or that Greek god or this or that legendary creature from Greek myth, but can’t keep track of who’s related to whom, who rules what, or why someone is known for some weird trait, this book will clear up your questions.
It is long, however. I’m not sure I would have gotten through it if I hadn’t been listening to the audiobook instead reading a print version.
But author/actor Stephen Fry’s reading only highlights the wit he brought to the writing.
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide
TLDR I understand softening the rape content to make for a less horrific read but condoning it and joking around it and whitewashing characters to be smitten by it in a book which is supposed to be wryly modern is baffling to me.
E.g. the Endymion chapter, where Selene sees a slumbering youth and begs Zeus to keep him like that forever, and then she has sex with his eternally slumbering body indefinitely, every new moon, bearing 50 daughters. Stephen Fry refers to this as "making love to the sleeping boy", an "unconventional conjugal practise" that he solicits the audience to imagine with bemusal, the entirety of his comments being "I will let you picture the physical practicalities, postures and positions that allowed that. An odd relationship, but one which worked and made Selene happy."
🤢🤮
The writing itself is not particularly funny, and rushes through each story so much that I struggled to retell key plot points to people the day after reading chapters, felt like the story equivalent of scrolling through Tiktoks spoiling great legends with each swipe. Not my thing, I decided to throw in the towel 80% through in the hopes that I could get more value from the rest of the stories via a reworking that's more attentive, critical and empathetic, like the Myths & Legends podcast.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Genocide, Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol
I will note that some Greek myth readers (myself included) gravitate more to feminist based retellings may notice strong differences in the way Fry addresses certain myths, but that would just be down to personal preference of the myths versions!
Overall a recommended read!
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Sexual content
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War
Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Cannibalism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment
Minor: Child death, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War
Though the pacing was slow the chapers were divided up into each of the main gods adventures meaning there was always somthing new round the corner and another godly fumble ready to cause chaos for the humans.
Looking forward to reading the sequel: Heros.
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Sexual harassment