This post is for readers who find the comprehensive mythology list overwhelming and just want the absolute essentials. The books below will provide the maximum marginal benefit for your time.
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EDITH HAMILTON, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes: This is the ultimate modern gateway. Edith Hamilton distills the chaotic, scattered myths of Greece and Rome into clear, beautifully written narratives. It won’t give you the archaic flavor of the ancient texts but it will quickly and painlessly give you the complete map of the pantheon, the heroes, and the Trojan War.

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STEPHEN FRY, Mythos; Heroes; Troy; Odyssey: While Hamilton faithfully curates and presents the myths, Stephen Fry completely rewrites the ancient material. This makes his books exceptionally fluent and highly entertaining. Yet, readers should note that Fry frequently intervenes in the narratives, choosing specific variants of conflicting myths and injecting his own unique interpretations. If you don’t mind a bit of modern flavoring and a longer read, you can select Fry.

HESIOD (8th cent. BC), Theogony (Theogonia): The definitive, quick-read guide to how the Greek cosmos came to be. Hesiod takes you from the absolute beginning (Chaos) through the bloody successions of Uranus and Cronus, right up to Zeus’s ultimate victory in the Titan War.

HOMER (8th cent. BC), Iliad (Ilias) [Green] [Wilson]:  The Iliad is the epic that narrates the legendary battle for Troy. We didn’t start our list with this, despite it being one of the most brilliant works in human history, because it drops you right into the final weeks of the conflict and has quite a lot of names to keep track of. That’s why we started with Hamilton’s overview. While you can’t go wrong with many of the available translations, two particularly strong choices for this list are Peter Green’s and Emily Wilson’s. Both are highly readable, though Wilson takes a more liberal approach to prioritize a smoother reading experience. Choose accordingly.

HOMER (8th cent. BC), Odyssey (Odysseia) [Green] [Wilson]: If the Iliad is the epic of war, the Odyssey is the ultimate adventure. Serving as its direct sequel, this poem follows the cunning hero Odysseus on his ten-year journey back home after the fall of Troy. Many readers actually find the Odyssey much more approachable to start with; instead of dense battlefield encounters, it is packed with mythical monsters, vengeful gods, and magical islands. For translations, again, Peter Green for a faithful rendering, or Emily Wilson for a crisp, fast-paced reading experience.

APOLLONIUS (3rd cent. BC), Argonautika [Hunter] [Green]: This is the original “superhero team-up” and classic quest narrative of the ancient world. It tells the legendary story of Jason and his crew of Argonauts, the generation preceding the heroes of the Trojan War, sailing to the edge of the known world to steal the Golden Fleece. For translations, go with Richard Hunter if you prefer prose, or Peter Green if you want to experience it as poetry.

OVID (43 BC-AD 17), Metamorphoses: This is the epic that inspired centuries of Western art and literature. It starts from the dawn of the universe and moves through the entire mythological chronology, linking hundreds of myths together through the idea of transformation. Because it retells these familiar Greek stories through a uniquely Roman lens, it serves as the perfect grand finale for this list.

Happy Reading!