My Thoughts on “Troy” by Stephen Fry

Good afternoon everyone,

I hope that you’re having a lovely start to the week 🙂

I finished reading Troy by Stephen Fry last week, and what a book it was!! We’re going to be taking a look at some of my thoughts & opinions of the book in today’s blog! Let’s get cracking!

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Troy is the 3rd and final book in Stephen Fry’s Greek Mythology Trilogy. The first book that he released, called Mythos, was focused on the Gods, Titans & the other Primordial Beings in the Greek Pantheon. The second book, called Heroes, took a look at the tales & stories of the human heroes of Greek Mythology, and lastly, we have Troy, which is focused on the events of the Trojan War, one of the most well-told stories in all of mythology.

So, what’s the book about?

As I mentioned at the start of this blog, Troy is focused on the events of the Trojan War. What I personally like about how Fry writes the book is that he doesn’t just focus solely on the war, but he introduces the characters beforehand and adds context to who they are, where they come from & whose side they are on, which really helps any reader of the book to be able to understand the plot, with little to no prior knowledge of Greek Mythology.

Fry covers all of the different points of the war, from the abduction of Helen by Paris to the duel between Hector & Ajax to the rage & fury of Achilles.

The Fates – Goddesses of Destiny in Greek Mythology

I absolutely love mythology and reading all of the different stories that stem from the different beliefs has always fascinated me. One thing that you do get quite a lot in mythology-based stories is different takes on the same story. As lots of stories have been passed down through hundreds & hundreds of generations, some of the technicalities & points changed, based on who you hear the story from.

I wouldn’t say that this is an inherently bad thing, as it allows for more perspectives & takes on the stories to emerge, but it can get a bit confusing from time to time if you’re not careful. What Fry does well is he writes in a way that follows a consistent narrative, but he does also mention how some other people may view each part of the tale.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and believe that Stephen did a brilliant job of telling the story in an engaging & informative way. What Fry does throughout his Greek Mythologytrilogy is distinguish the lines between Mythology & Reality – he addresses that while some of the tales may be fictitious, they also carry with them powerful messages which can be utilised in all of our lives.

Troy was a fantastic read, in my opinion, I would highly recommend it to anybody who is interested in Greek Mythology, or for anybody who is looking for a solid read that they can get their hands into.

Stephen Fry, you’ve done it again – what a man!

That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? I thought I’d do a bit of a different blog today, just to mix things up a bit!! Would you like to see more book-based blogs up on the page?

If you would like to check out my thoughts on Fry’s 2 other Greek Mythology books, be sure to check them out here: