Greek mythology has always seemed confusing to me with gods too numerous to keep track of, in various disguises, always playing nasty tricks on mortals. There seem to be endless seductions and wars with the most brutal genocidal fighters always being the heroes. So when a member of the book club recommended this fictional account of a Homeric fictional account of the possibly completely fictional Trojan War, I already had major reservations. The story is told from the viewpoint of Briseis, the princess captured and enslaved by Achilles in the sacking of the Trojan city of Lyrnessus. The story, as told here, is not even compatible with that related in Homer’s The Iliad, part of which tortured me as required reading in high school English and Latin classes. I was thoroughly confused when Briseis, while still a slave of Achilles started talking to Helen of Troy, long before the capture of Helen by the Greeks in the final sacking of Troy and the slaying of Hector by Achilles. Perhaps I am just too unfamiliar with all the different versions of the myths, but I thought Helen was captured from Sparta by Paris, son of Priam and remained a slave in Troy until it’s final downfall.
Possibly because of the many layers of fiction, the author seems to feel that a reasonable geographic setting is really not necessary. It is not clear whether the thousands of fighters travel on foot, by horseback, in chariots or by ship to the sites of various battles, but they seem to return daily to the coastal Greek camp. The boundaries of this encampment of the Greek king Agamemnon, where Achilles, Patroclus, Nestor, and Odysseus also are based, are unspecified, although there are endless rows of huts, thousands of fighters, a big hospital, a hierarchy of personnel and craftsmen, and stables, chariots and ships- all apparently within hearing distance of the many battlegrounds. And I do not recall reading about the homosexual relationship between Achilles and Patroclus in the previous iterations. The wily old Nestor listening to the wounds of returning soldiers for the sound of escaping gas indicating what would now be called gas gangrene from Clostridium perfringens infection, is the only interesting feature from a medical viewpoint.
The extreme sadism and cruelty of various characters is described in details that made me cringe in horror. The story as told here is supposedly the story of the war from a female perspective, and without exception the females are depicted as sexual toys, good only for pleasure and as bargaining chips for loot, bought and sold, less valuable than the horses and the shields of battle. Oh, and as reproductive machines to produce warrior sons.
Where was the copy editor? There are at least six instances where the words ‘who’ and ‘whom’ are used incorrectly; some sentences lack any verb, and a scratched eyelid scrapes an iris! At least she could have checked out ophthalmic anatomy.
We have not yet discussed this work at our mixed booked club. I am anxious to hear why my brilliant nuclear physicist friend recommended it, but I doubt that he will convince me of its literary value.
The Passionate Reader 