No, I can not deny it, I can never resist Stephen Fry. So much so that, once again, I have the print copyas well as the audiobook since it is narrated by the author himself. I read them in parallel to enjoy Stephen Fry’s voice as much as the visual design of the print copy with the great artwork and photographs.This book can, in some ways, be regarded as the sequel to Mythos Instead of telling us about the creation myths, the gods and goddesses and their mingling with humans, the demigods and heroes undertaking quests and adventures take the stage in this one.Most notably, Perseus, Herakles (Hercules), Orpheus, Theseus, Jason, Atalanta, Oedipus and a few others (more minor ones) in between.Thus, Fry tells the story of incredible human feats, of torturous labors, of gods’ punishments - usually for crimes the humans didn’t even commit solely because gods didn’t punish gods but still needed to let their anger out on someone.We see the Hydra, Cerberus, Minotaur, Pegasus and many other well-known mythical creatures and learn about their family trees as well as about the lineage of the afore-mentioned heroes.What struck me so much was Fry’s connection to modern feats. We don’t need to believe that Poseidon or Zeus existed and were indeed deities that sneakily forced themselves upon women (oh yes, that is still a theme because the Greeks couldn’t get enough of that - here, we not only had an astonishing array of animals Zeus turned into but even golden rain!) but it is possible that there were men and some women who were utterly strong, both physically and mentally, and who thus were capable of extraordinary feats like star athletes or members of the armed forces nowadays.What happened to some of them, the pain they had to endure (only half the time self-inflicted or deserved) was indeed horrible and tragic. Character upon character had to go through crises, often holding him- or herself quite well through their strength and/or wit.What Fry never ever does is interpret the myths. Instead, he wants the readers to do that on their own, to get them to think and fill in the blanks with their own opinions derived from personal experience as myths invite exactly that kind of speculation. There are no single meanings or answers after all. Fate, necessity, cause and blame are the fabric of these stories as they are endlessly represented themes in our own lives. Human motifs and drives, as topical as ever.As in the first book, Fry understands not to bore the reader or club you to death with names. Naturally, the names are still in this book, but Fry has a way of combining different versions of the myths to the most probable one and to tell the thus resulting story in an engaging way that gives any reader a nice idea of what’s going on even if you can’t keep track of who was whose uncle (considering all the incest and double-parentage, that is rather difficult at any rate). And my gods, does this man have a way with words. *swoons*Moreover, he always ties the myths back into modern language, showcasing the incredible influence especially the Greek myths have had and still have in our daily lives; be it in literature, art, TV / the cinema, the sciences or even modern-day language.Remarkable amongst such modern connections was the story of Chris Benoit as a real-life example of what Herakles did.Last but not least, I need to state that upon reading the afterword I was dancing around the house ecstatically because Fry mentioned that he had planned a Mythos trilogy for the stage (and they later became the books), which means we’re getting another volume, that one being about the Trojan War and its aftermath - just like I had hoped fervently. YESSSS!!!