For the conclusion of his trilogy of myths, the Briton Stephen Fry takes on one of the greatest stories of mankind: after his successful volumes “Mythos” (about the escapades of the Greek gods) and “Helden” (about the adventures of ancient heroes), the 65th -year-old comedian, moderator and author in “Troy” on almost 400 pages now the war for the legendary city.

More than 2,700 years ago, the Greek poet Homer erected an eternal monument to her with his “Iliad”. Since then, the martial arts of the Greek demigod Achilles, the noble courage of his Trojan adversary Hector, Odysseus’ cunning and Helena’s beauty have been burned into European cultural thinking.

“Iliad” is part of our history

“Poets must sing this story over and over again, carrying it from generation to generation,” writes Fry. “Because if we lose Troy, we lose a part of us.”

Like countless adaptations before him, the Brit also tells the well-known story of the brutal campaign at the beginning of which Troy Prince Paris chooses Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess and receives Helena, the wife of Sparta King Menelaus, as a gift.

The cuckolded husband and his Greek allies seek revenge against the fortress in modern-day western Turkey. It was only around ten years later that the ruse with the wooden horse would reveal the city like a “beehive whose honey was ripe for harvest”.

Fry humorously adapts Homer’s story

Fry translates the complex framework of the Homer epic into vivid, detailed prose. It’s a pleasure whether you’re reading the Troy myth for the first time or already have a deep knowledge of the “Iliad”.

At the same time, his style is in some places inspired by the ancient poet, in that he pedantically lists family relationships, family trees and places of origin, sometimes for pages. “Have indulgence with me,” he writes about his “fireworks of geography and genealogy.” Such passages are a delight for connoisseurs of Greek myth.

While Fry relied even more on the effect of his wit in the previous volumes, “Troy” is not entirely without British humor either. “Marry Clytemnestra!” he has Odysseus say to Mycenae’s King Agamemnon. “What could possibly go wrong?” If the husband-to-be only knew!

Stephen Fry: Troy. Of gods and men, love and hate, building publishers, 391 pages, 26 euros, ISBN 978-3-351-03927-1