Reading, Writing, and Sourdough

What makes the Greek gods so endearing is their thoroughly human characteristics. They love, honor, envy, spite, trick, support, double cross, respect, forget, bumble, succeed, fail, muddle, regret, and persevere, undergoing many of these practices and emotions in a lifetime and in a hot second.  Stephen Fry brings the gods to life, the ancient Greeks who first introduced us to them, and the enduring legacy of Greek mythology. Accompanying each lively story, in myriad footnotes, he explains the relationship between the Greek gods and the hundreds of words and professions that continue to exist in Western civilization and the English language to this day.  Mythos  also yanks us from our egocentrism, reminding us that our woes and exaltations, small and large, personal and national, are not so unique after all. Being human is difficult. The ancient Greeks already knew that.

Peter Gaiman may be one of the finest read aloud voices in audio books and when he reads his own books it's a real treat.  In Norse Mythology  Gaiman brings Odin, Thor, Loki, giants, trolls, and the Valkyries to life and does it in the order in which they emerge first from the void of the earth and then from one another.  I was struck by the parallels to Native American myths and Greek myths.  Thor is powerful, Odin omnipotent, and Loki a trickster and conniver.  The gods are self-centered, deceitful, vain, and manipulative.  For the primitive people whose lives were subject to the whims of gods and fate, it must have all been very satisfying.  Myths, however, are best digested one or two stories in a go, like Bible stories, so their lessons and morals can be pondered and discussed.  Gaiman's voice is wondrous, but taken as a whole -- one story after another -- the book is not so easy to read, or even listen to, too quickly.