Inspired by Mythology

An elegant performance by narrator Barrie Kreinik recounts the life of Ariadne, whom many listeners will know from Greek mythology. Born to King Minos, Ariadne witnesses a barbaric yearly tradition. Fourteen youths must survive the Labyrinth, in which her monstrous brother, the Minotaur, resides. Rebelling against her father, Ariadne helps Theseus win. This production, with its... Read More

Author Madeline Miller and narrator Perdita Weeks transform the ancient Greek drama of Circe, witch of Aiaia and daughter of Helios, into a fresh and vibrant tale for contemporary listeners. Long depicted as a villainous foil for male heroics, the witch is redeemed and enriched by Miller’s nuanced writing. Weeks’s cool British intonations and attuned performance capture Circe’s... Read More

Ari Fliakos narrates this gangster story based on Homer's ILIAD with a cool reserve. A functioning truce between two criminal families in 1980s Providence, Rhode Island, breaks down when a beautiful woman sets young mobsters against each other. Fliakos shines as he depicts the heartbreaking tension between the men who love Pam, a stand-in for Helen of Troy. Circumstances force... Read More

In this audio interpretation of the myth of Daphne and Apollo, 17-year-old Daphne has trained to be a Spartan warrior. Narrator Brittany Presley gives Daphne a tough exterior, especially when she must take on an unexpected quest in order to save her brother's life. Nine mysterious gifts have been stolen, and it's up to Daphne to return them before the gods' power fades and the... Read More

Mira Dovreni's narration of this reimagining of the Trojan War from the points of view of Klytemnestra and her sister, Helen, will enthrall lovers of mythology. Tyndareos offers his daughters to Agamemnon and Menelaos as a means of enhancing his power. Helen marries Menelaos, and Klytemnestra marries Agamemnon, each enduring as dutiful, if resentful, wives. Dovreni's Greek... Read More

A trio of skilled narrators brings to life three figures from Greek mythology whose fates are intertwined in tragedy. Saint's retelling of the Siege of Troy is straightforward in its plot but layered in its approach to the thoughts and feelings of the women caught up in its wake. Beth Eyre narrates as Elektra, an imperious girl full of pride in her heroic father who turns a... Read More

Listeners will be rewarded by these compelling and sometimes dark tales. Derek Perkins deftly narrates an entertaining and absorbing audiobook with subtle shifts in pace and intonation that bring the great and small to life. He artfully emulates the gods and goddesses, along with their mortal children, and creates these famous characters fully formed. Here Odysseus battles his... Read More

Greek-born, English-educated trilingual narrator Daphne Kouma gives a playful tone to these retellings and reimaginings of classic Greek myths. Kouma especially has fun with the character dialogue as clear emphasis is placed on the female goddesses, humans, and nymphs, such as Athena, Helen of Troy, Circe, Psyche, and Penelope. Author Charlotte Higgins's story includes the... Read More

Stephen Fry's clever, plummily presented reimaginings of the ancient tales about Greek heroes is perfect for anyone who has noticed that the original stories read like soap operas on a godly scale. They specialize in eye-rolling plots full of conniving, illegitimacy, affairs, jealousy, feuds, and mistaken identities. Plus, some innocent folks whose goodness must be... Read More

Anton Lesser gives a successful and engaging presentation of one the world's oldest stories. Johnston's modern translation maintains several traditions of the ancient rhetorical style, and Lesser honors the patterns of repeated names and titles without hurrying or rushing through the many honorifics. Lesser smoothly moves from narrating the action to voicing the different... Read More

As Medusa, narrator Alisha Bailey's solemn, powerful delivery grants listeners a new perspective of this mythological figure. Exiled to an island with her sisters after trauma, tragedy, and a newly bestowed curse, Medusa spends her days in isolation--until a surprising visitor arrives on the shore. Bailey captures the tenderness and pain in the budding companionship as Perseus... Read More

Popular British writer, comedian, and all-around gadfly Stephen Fry brings intelligence, energy, and unabashed joy to his versions of the bedrock stories of Western Civilization--Greek myths. With a storyteller's pace and a conversational tone, Fry effectively uses comic dialogue and character accents to bring out the personalities and foibles of our favorite nymphs, gods, and... Read More

Listeners who are looking for a story that sets a classic tale in the present day and is told in an engaging way should look no further. Swann updates THE ILIAD to modern times, setting it in Texas. The result, thanks to Karissa Vacker's wonderful narration, is a supremely entertaining story about a family dealing with betrayal and obligation. Texas is an inspired setting for... Read More

This audiobook provides a new take--and a more feminist perspective--on the women in Greek mythology and the misogyny often associated with the stories. Author Natalie Haynes, who also shines as narrator, is conversational, sarcastic, and surprisingly entertaining as she shares the stories of 10 women who have long been vilified by historians and writers alike. Haynes asks... Read More

In this sly updating of a famous Greek myth, Odysseus’s wife, Penelope, gets to tell her version of events. What was she really up to while Odysseus traveled the wine-dark sea? Margaret Atwood's Penelope is a smart, wry, and witty storyteller. Laural Merlington dramatizes these characteristics admirably. She reads Penelope’s narration with verve and clarity, capturing the dry... Read More

In this novel, which begins a retelling of the Greek myths and heroic tales found in THE ILIAD, THE ODYSSEY, and THE AENEID, narrator Jonathan Keeble becomes a bard in the tradition of Homer as he recounts the events that led to the Trojan War. Using a unique voice for each of the panoply of gods, goddesses, heroes, and warriors, and women, Keeble recalls their lives and their... Read More

This creative retelling of the classic Greek myth is an engaging listen. Narrators Rachel Petladwala, voicing Psyche, and Joshua Riley, voicing Eros, alternate chapters as the reimagined story unfolds. Eros, who is tired of the world's chaos, is sent to deliver a curse to Psyche. She is a rebel who is determined to push back against societal expectations of women. Riley... Read More

This extraordinary collaboration between the Booker Prize-winning novelist Pat Barker and superb narrators Kristin Atherton and Michael Fox reimagines the passionate, bloody, mythic Trojan War of Homer's ILIAD. Once begun, you will want to abandon everything to spend time with Fox's "Great" Achilles (aka The Butcher) and Atherton's Briseis, a Trojan queen become his bed-slave.... Read More

Through the eyes of his devoted friend and companion, Patroclus, we see the Achilles of Greek myth come of age and wrestle with his destiny as a warrior hero. Frazer Douglas narrates with an appealing British voice and a subdued tone; his transitions between dialogue and narrative aren't always smooth or consistent, and some of the subtlety of Miller's poetic language seems... Read More

Natalie Haynes energizes the melodrama of ancient Greek gods with a divine level of storyteller's flair. Amid a roiling sea of eternal backbiting and scheming are the devoted Gorgon sisters--Sthenno, Euryale, and Medusa--who become drawn into the gods' petty squabbles and the petulant "hero" Perseus's quest for Medusa's head. Haynes's vibrant portrayals of the pantheon of gods,... Read More

This audiobook retells the events of the Trojan War from an all-female perspective. "How much epic poetry does the world really need?" the muse Calliope wonders in the opening chapter. She is exasperated by the endless barrage of male poets and their tales of glorious battles. What follows is a collection of wonderfully creative feminist stories, written and narrated by... Read More

In an ambitious retelling of the story of the Trojan War, Geras lets the young people of King Priam’s household spin out the tale. Moving among the stables, the banquet hall, and the “Blood Room” infirmary, Miriam Margolyes offers the narratives of two sisters; their friends; the legendary Helen, Hector, and Paris; and even the gods who walk among the mortals. She flawlessly... Read More

In this final title in his Greek trilogy, Fry himself narrates with unbounded enthusiasm and high energy. His deep voice and British accent lend a dignified air to these stories, while his contemporary take on dialogue and phrasing brings the tales to life for today's listeners. As one might expect, it is often difficult to keep unfamiliar names and complicated historical deeds... Read More

Vanessa Moyen's narration is the perfect blend of the heartfelt and the academic in this collection of essays about the feminist possibilities of female monsters. Zimmerman examines some of Greek mythology's most famous female monsters, from Circe to Medusa, and the traits that make them monstrous: greed, hunger, ambition, ugliness. Blending personal stories and a critique of... Read More

Author Pat Barker and narrator Kristin Atherton combine their considerable powers in this second volume of Barker's Trojan trilogy, giving us a remarkable listening experience. After Troy's collapse, the victorious Greeks are trapped by onshore wind and cannot sail home. Instead, for 10 months, they drink and fight and plot. Filled with clever sketches of such mythic Greek... Read More