Mythos: A Retelling of the Myths of Ancient Greece

Stephen Fry

MYTHOS

Contents

Picture Credits

Foreword

Maps

Part One: THE BEGINNING

Out of Chaos

The First Order

The Second Order

Part Two: THE BEGINNING

Clash of the Titans

The Third Order

Part One: THE TOYS OF ZEUS

Prometheus

The Punishments

Persephone and the Chariot

Cupid and Psyche

Part Two: THE TOYS OF ZEUS

Mortals

Phaeton

Cadmus

Twice Born

The Beautiful and the Damned

The Doctor and the Crow

Crime and Punishment

Sisyphus

Hubris

Arachne

More Metamorphoses

Eos and Tithonus

The Bloom of Youth

Echo and Narcissus

Lovers

Galateas

Arion and the Dolphin

Philemon and Baucis, or Hospitality Rewarded

Phrygia and the Gordian Knot

Midas

Afterword

Illustrations

Appendices

Acknowledgements

Follow Penguin

ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΈΛΛΙΟΤΤ ΜΕ ΑΓΆΠΗ

Picture Credits

1. Gaia, Mother Goddess Greek relief. Ancient Art Architecture Collection Ltd / Alamy.

2. Attic Red-Figure Cup, bpk / Antikensammlung Berlin.

3. Polyphemus, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, 1802. Landesmuseum Oldenburg.

4. Bronze head of Hypnos, c.275 BC. British Museum / Alamy.

5. The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn by Giorgio Vasari, c.1560. Palazzo Vecchio, Room of the Elements.

6. The Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, c.1485. Uffizi Gallery. Florence / Bridgeman.

7. Saturn Devouring One of His Sons, Francisco de Goya, c.1823. Prado Museum, Madrid / Alamy.

8. Attic Red Figure attributed to the Nausicaa Painter, c.475 – 425 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

9. The Feeding of the Child Jupiter, Nicolas Poussin, c.1640. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. / Bridgeman.

10. Marble Relief of the Battle of Giants, Gigantomachy. Getty Images / De Agostini Picture Library.

11. Attic Black-Figured Hydria, c.540–530 BC. Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich.

12. The Dance of the Muses, Joseph Paelinck, 1832. Private Collection / Alamy.

13. Relief of the Three Moirai. Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin.

14. The Battle Between the Gods and the Giants, Joachim Antonisz Wtewael, c.1608. Art Institute of Chicago /Bridgeman.

15. The Gods of Olympus, Sala dei Giganti, c.1528. Palazzo del Te / Bridgeman.

16. Hierogamy, unknown artist, 1st Century AD. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples / Bridgeman.

17. Vulcan Forging Jupiter’s Lightening Bolts, Peter Paul Rubens, 1636–38. Prado Museum, Madrid / Bridgeman.

18. Head of Ares, after Greek original by Alkamenes, 420 BC. State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia / Alamy.

19. Venus and Mars, Sandro Boticelli, c.1485. National Gallery, London / Alamy.

20. Black-figure Amphora, 6th century BC. Louvre, Paris / Bridgeman.

21. Minerva or Pallas Athena, Gustav Klimt, 1898. Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Vienna / Bridgeman.

22. Red-Figure Cup, 5th century BC. Louvre, Paris / Bridgeman.

23. Apollo, Italian School, 17th century. Musee Massey, Tarbes, France / Bridgeman.

24. Diana, Paul Manship, 1925. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA / Alamy.

25. Prometheus Bringing Fire to Mankind, Friedrich Heinrich Fuger, 1817. Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany / © Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel / Ute Brunzel / Bridgeman.

26. Prometheus Bound, Jacob Jordaens, c.1640. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Köln, Germany / Alamy.

27. Charon Crossing the River Styx, Joachim Patenier or Patinir, 1515–24. Prado, Madrid, Spain / Bridgeman.

28. Pandora, John William Waterhouse, 1896. Private Collection / Alamy.

29. The Return of Persephone, Frederic Leighton, c.1891. Leeds Museums and Galleries (Leeds Art Gallery) UK / Bridgeman.

30. Cupid and Psyche, Francois Edouard Picot, 1817. Louvre, Paris / Bridgeman.

31. The Fall of Phaeton, Peter Paul Rubens, c.1604–8. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC / Bridgeman.

32. Drunken Silenus Supported by Satyrs, Peter Paul Rubens (studio of), c.1620, National Gallery, London / Bridgeman.

33. Apollo and Marsyas, Michelangelo Anselmi, c.1540. National Gallery of Art, Washington DC / Bridgeman.

34. The Spinners, or The Fable of Arachne, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez, 1657. Prado, Madrid / Bridgeman.

Foreword