On my flight home, I finished a book that I had been reading throughout the trip, a 600-page-plus novel about the Trojan War. "Helen of Troy" is a retelling of the mythological story of the queen of Sparta whose abduction by Paris, a prince of Troy, leads to war between the Greeks and the Trojans. It was written by Margaret George, a writer who specializes in biographical novels. I recently read another one of her books, "Confessions of a Young Nero".
In this novel, the story is told by Helen herself and begins with her childhood and continues through Helen's return to Greece after the war. In this version, Helen is not abducted by Paris. Helen willingly, eagerly, abandons her spouse and runs off to Troy with her lover. Her husband Menelaus is an honorable and kind man, but their marriage was without passion. Throughout the story, Helen is very much aware of the death and destruction that her rash action has brought, yet her love for Paris does not waver. It is also clear that the Greeks used Helen's abandonment of her husband as an excuse to wage war against the wealthy city of Troy.
In the story of the Trojan War, the Greek gods play an active role in the events, so it is hard to completely exclude the supernatural. Nevertheless, the tone of the book is generally realistic. The author, known for her meticulous historical research, gives us an excellent depiction of life in the Bronze Age.
The novel presents to us all the famous characters of Homeric legend... Cassandra, Hector, Agamemnon, Odysseus, Andromache and more. The great Greek warrior Achilles is portrayed here a a cruel, violent, arrogant villain... an interesting contrast to the usual portrayal of him as a heroic figure.
I found the tragic fall of Troy especially moving. The aftermath of the war, with Helen eventually returning to Sparta with her husband, a portion of the legend that is not as well known, to be very interesting.
If you have an interest in ancient Greece and its mythology, I recommend this novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment