By Ashley Goodnow
Stephen Fry’s Heroes retells the stories of demigods and mortals in Greek mythology with an educated and sophisticated, yet still modern, manner. Unlike most stories that are written through the point of view of a specific character, Heroes is told from the narrator’s perspective flavored today’s knowledge giving insight into the culture of Ancient Greece and adding in different story interpretations. Usually it’s preferred for a book to allow readers to experience the story from a character’s perspective so that readers can feel a personal connection the character and feel as if they’re taking active part in the story. In Heroes, the story changes within each hero’s tale, meaning the characters often change, so instead the narrator’s authorial voice is a connective thread that draws the readers in and allows them to experience the story the way the narrator does.
The narrator’s authorial voice is modern and doesn’t always choose to word things in a way that would be more historically accurate. The story is clearly told by someone to the audience which is often evident in the way dialogue is worded (pages 16-17):
“And how did Athena punish Medusa?”
“She transformed her into a Gorgon.”
“Blimey,” said Perseus, “and what’s a ‘Gorgon?’”
“A Gorgon is . . . Well, a Gorgon is a dreadful creature with boar’s tusks instead of teeth, razor-sharp claws of brass and venomous snakes for hair.”
“Get away!”
“That’s the story.”
Heroes’ lives are often compared to other situations in our own everyday lives to humanize these larger than life figures (pages 60-61):
Heracles’ life in Thebes was almost modern in its rhythms. Each day he would kiss goodbye to his wife Megara and children and go off to work, killing monsters and toppling tyrants. Today’s commuter finds less drastic ways to defeat competitors and bestial colleagues perhaps – the dragons we slay may be more metaphorical than real – but the manner and routine is not so very different.
The narrator also uses today’s common knowledge and pop culture references to relate characters to known characters or people today. For instance, on page 167, Orpheus is called “the Mozart of the ancient world . . . . the Cole Porter, the Shakespeare, the Lennon and McCartney, the Adele, Prince, Luciano Pavarotti, Lady Gaga, and Kendrick Lamar of the ancient world.” Later, on page 329, Theseus’ story is introduced to readers by an identifying trope:
It’s the archetype of fiction for children, young adults and – let’s be honest – pretend grown-ups like us too. A mysterious absent father. A doting mother who encourages you to believe that you are special. The Chosen One. ‘You’re a wizard Harry!’ that kind of thing.
It goes like this.
This manner of drawing from modern knowledge to relate these stories not only gives personality to the authorial voice, but it also brings readers closer to the stories. While they might be distanced from the characters’ personal experiences, the centuries-old situations feel closer to something readers can relate to and make the mythology more relevant to today’s world.
While this manner of retelling might seem disingenuous to the original stories, in Ancient Greece, these stories were often told verbally and did change from poet to poet, who were known for their own authorial voice. A poet would often draw from common knowledge of the day for comparisons and sometimes even add in or make references to locally known people or families. Stephen Fry follows in their tradition and includes many footnotes offering historical context, different story variations, pronunciations, and, of course, a few jokes too.
Heroes by Stephen Fry is a delightful read for anyone who loves Greek mythology.