A thousand ships book review6/22/2023 ![]() ![]() But what’s so clever is that Haynes develops an overall narrative to the motivations which influence many of these events. There are notable exceptions such as the tale of Hector’s wife Andromache which I was less familiar with. In some ways this feels like a greatest hits from Greek mythology as many of the events portrayed are well known. But all these are told from the perspectives of Clytemnestra, Helen, Penelope, Thetis, Hecabe, Polyxena, Calliope, Eris, Gaia and many other women. Thus we get tales of the fall of Troy, the journey of Odysseus, the battles of Achilles, the revenge dealt to Agamemnon and the deities who intervened (or interfered) with the struggles of the mortals. She bargains for a trinket, but also insists he relate the stories of the women involved. The novel begins with the muse Calliope being asked to inspire an old male poet by singing to him. This is a necessary and much-welcome endeavour because, aside from the feminist point of view this adds to these male-dominated tales written by men, telling the story from the women’s perspective gives a rich opportunity for retelling these classic stories and shows there is still so much more to say about them. ![]() ![]() Haynes begins her novel with the explicit and noble mission to give voice to women from Greek mythology – many of whom were only ever portrayed as minor, unheroic and simplistic characters. ![]()
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