TROY by Stephen Fry

The face that launched a thousand ships - really, who would want to be that person? Poor Helen, her face the cause of so much war, violence, death, suffering. And yet Paris of Troy, who stole her from the Greeks,  was also a victim - a spell had been put on him which lead to the unfortunate events resulting in the ten year Trojan War, the Trojan Horse, the glory days of Achilles and of Ulysses. Troy - where so many of the Greek legends and myths that are part of our Western Civilisation grew from. Especially 'beware of Greeks bearing gifts'.

This is the third book in Stephen Fry's Greek Mythology series. The first two - Mythos and Heroes - provide the background to this story of Troy. I have read Mythos, had forgotten much of it by the time I read Troy, and still haven't read Heroes. All the gods and heroes who appear in this book are well documented in the first two, but it is not absolutely necessary to have read the two earlier books. Fry provides lots of footnotes references if you do want to read further. All the gods and heroes in this last book are very well rounded and more than adequately described. 

Reading this is a very immersive experience, very vivid in its telling, very blood thirsty and vengeance - after all everything is about men - yes, it is all about men and how amazing they are - and their competitive streaks. Revenge being the sweetest drug. Who cares whether any of this is true or not? The story is spell binding, we know it is doomed, but we keep reading anyway. It is fascinating to learn the background story to the siege of Troy, how Helen managed to launch a thousand ships, why that particular part of the foot is called the Achilles Tendon. I love all this history stuff - fairy tales for grown ups, with messages and a moral 100% relevant for any civilisation since the Ancient Greeks, including ours. Very entertaining.