𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕭𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙-𝕰𝖞𝖊𝖉

Hello everyone! Seeing as this is my first attempt writing a review that just contains my thoughts and feelings, please forgive me for lack of structure. Hopefully with time, and if anyone has any sort if if input on what they would like to hear or even discuss, then I would be 100 percent down to take notes! And hopefully, the ‘structure’ won’t be as jumpy or underdeveloped, but I cannot promise much- because my silly self completed this at 1am. At the moment, I am merely putting my thoughts on here, that I hope convey to whoever reads this to encourage to read these amazing books and hopefully would want to engage in future conversation. I should also point out that it has been a little while since I’ve read this book, so I sincerely apologise if I get anything wrong! But I really loved the book that I thought this would be a nice starting point! So without further ado, let’s begin!

Plot line and opinions?

Okay dokey! So, for anyone who has not read the book and is hesitant on whether this would be a good read. I can definitely say that this is a book that will pull on your heartstrings! The basic concept of the book, is to give the perspective of the two main female characters of the book- Klytemnestra and Helen of Sparta. Claire here attempts to bring a deeper and more thoughtful analysis on their characters, by firstly making the plot line in first person for them both. Additionally as the reader engages of their respective plot lines, we follow their story from young girls to women married, all the way up to the Trojan War and all the best moments as well as the bad.

With Klytemnestra, we see an older sister who understood her purpose (in regards to Ancient Greek expectations). Her purpose, at first, she believes was to inherit her mother and fathers place to become the next ruler of Sparta along side her husband. However, that sense of being was ultimately flipped when her father sought alliances with Agamemnon to be her husband. During her youthful years of marriage to Agamemnon, I would describe it as fragile. Fragile in the sense of her inexperience and yet she steps in to her own, as a woman, as a wife and mother, as a lover and queen of Mycenae. This is something I found very empowering for her character because we see her highs and her lows. We see her struggles being in a palace, in place so far removed from her family and the familiarity of her home land. From what I know about her (since it has been a long time since I’ve read the Iliad) she was very much depicted as being a calculating woman. A woman who depicted as being a vengeful, cold blooded killer for merely avenging her daughter who was sacrificed so needlessly. I think the way Claire depicts her as a woman surviving, who did at some point fall in love with her husband or at least find middle ground with him until he left to conquer Troy. But I think Claire humanises her character a lot more, that if put in Klytemnestra’s shoes, you would do everything in your power to make the most out the situation. Either by picking up the pieces that your husband leaves behind to fight a war not worth fighting, keeping your husbands kingdom afloat, managing the quarrels of citizens, looking after the children and protect them from any harm. The prime example of that maternity in action, is where she brings her first born daughter Iphigenia to Agamemnon, under the belief that she was to be married to Achilles. I would argue that after being humiliated time and time again but her husband, the needless death of her daughter to be a sacrifice to her husband’s hubris, this is her pivotal moment in her character. I don’t think I can put into words how heart broken I was reading the events leading up to Klytemnestra getting her daughter ready for a wedding, to her seeing her daughter at first hand whilst restrained, being mercilessly killed by the hands of her own husband… just to appease a goddess and conquer more land. I sympathised greatly on why she wanted revenge that ultimately led to Agamemnon’s downfall once he returned from Troy. So whilst she is what the Greeks at the time, would have thought to be the ideal daughter, mother, lover and wife who understood her duty. From a more sympathetic opinion, she was a woman who fought for her voice to be heard. Who was a passionate lover when given the chance with the right person, was a doting mother and a brilliant queen- a role she was born to be. We must appreciate that whilst mythology always has different versions of the same story, when we look at the role of women, we should as the readers try and strip away the titles and opinions given to them by men of that time. But liberate their experiences- even if they are fictional characters. I truly think Claire has done an incredible job at her portrayal of the brilliant Klytemnestra… but I truly feel I have only scraped the surface of her character.

The second character, the most infamous daughter Helen of Sparta being the youngest daughter, she herself goes through many struggles. My take on her character at the start, is one that is very naïve, sweet, over trusting, idealistic and very much over fantasises. Indeed, in the earlier years she has a very close connection with her elder sister Klytemnestra, idolises her even and on the occasion would be jealous of her too for being older. She was very much grounded on the idea, that she would stay in Sparta and take her parent’s place once they stepped down seeing as her older sister had married. However her character development and arch changes drastically once she married Menelaus, and I would argue this event of marriage is her pivotal point in her story line. Indeed it is this marriage that the audience sees Helen go through a turbulent life. From being a young wife, as she was forced to be a woman too soon and all the responsibilities that came with it. To a woman who couldn’t even recognise herself, whilst reading her points of view, I couldn’t help feel seriously sorry for her. She worryingly idolised and fantasised womanhood, that the reality scared her. Finding out for herself that intimacy with a man was was not what she expected, that she did not love her partner nor feel exactly loved in the way she wanted (as she compares her treatment to that of her mother and father)- we can clearly see that she was forced to be a woman too soon and I think that truly scared her. As a result, she had a daughter that she thought she would have a close relationship to and form a motherly instinct. But instead she was not remotely close to her child in feeling or physicality, indeed, she didn’t want to be anywhere near her child let alone her husband to the point she would find ways to prevent having another child that cost her hours of excruciating pain and almost her life. It ultimately set them on a path to be more than strangers and would lead to her meeting with Paris. She became lonely, felt unloved even more so after finding her husband laying with another woman, not giving the same attention to her as he once did… even finding out that the mistress had given him a boy. When she would normally be adored; especially when she was told of her origin, when she was fought over by many important men around Greece. She was the beauty in the eye of the beholder, but instead became withdrawn, envious and depressed- wanting to be with her sister and family once again. It is understandable that where you feel unloved, one seeks to find that feeling again. And so I didn’t feel that bad when Paris came along and made her feel something again at first.

Granted her husband surprisingly in this depiction seemed to be a more tolerant, less aggressive, kinder man then how he is depicted in the Iliad and even Troy the movie. It was surprising take from Claire that Menelaus was more angry of her ‘being abducted against her will’ more so then his reputation being ‘ruined.’ HOWEVER, back to her meeting with Paris, I do see Paris as her ultimate downfall. He was not only bad for her in the sense that he persuaded her to come with him to Troy under the pretence of love and devotion as a husband. He was her undoing that led her into false promises, landing her in a worse off marriage than the one that she fled from. Helen married a man that only saw her as a trophy to boast about, objectified her on all fronts, was stranded in a foreign land that hated her for bringing war to their walls. But also led her to be from the most beloved and adored woman of Greece to the most hated. I think her desperation to be loved for more than just base line looks and her renowned title, is understandable. We cannot dismiss her feelings, not at all. It is just a shame that her insecurities but also her lack of judgement were used as a tool for boasting men who wanted fame and glory knowing they had Helen of Troy as their wife knowing many innocent men were being killed for her return. And Claire does an excellent job portraying her struggles in a light that even as a modern day reader, you find similarities that allows you to sympathise. For her experience in Troy was only made bearable thanks to Hector and royalty who didn’t feed into hostile gossip.

For the end of Helen’s story, I was so surprised again by Claire’s portrayal of Menelaus. When Troy was no longer standing, when Troy was conquered and at the hands of Agamemnon, the ending was slower paced and bitter sweet? If this is spoilers to you, then please stop here, but for those who have read it. Then here are my thoughts. The ending I felt was the most humane conclusion to her story. That whilst she was the most hated woman across Greece and now Troy, her first husband did not hate her in the slightest. If anything, Menelaus was more than understanding on why she fled and believed that had there been better communication, better trust and maybe a better sense of character in all sides, then this could have been avoided. By allowing to speak her wants, her fears and regrets, we see a sensible reconciliation. Admittedly Menelaus knew that the events of Troy were irredeemable, it could not be taken back. But he was willing to try again if she was. And I think that was something I have never seen whilst reading historical fiction books about Greek mythology- was proper communication that didn’t have stubborn people putting their hubris before everything else, and I found this to be seriously refreshing. I also believe that Klytemnestra being freed from the shackles of her broken marriage to Agamemnon, whilst extreme, was liberating for her. Free to love whom she pleases, free to be intelligent, free to be a mother and lover…free to be a woman. Heywood’s depictions of two of the most well-known women in Greek myth was written so well, I would really recommend checking it out for yourself.

I believe this to be something I am going to enjoy so much, and if anyone stumbles on this page. If you are interested in such conversations, then I welcome you!