Penelopiad, by Margaret Atwood January 9, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a comment
When the Argive fleet sailed for Troy, wives disappeared from the story and only the Trojan woman and Helen herself make a major mark for the next ten years. However, the Greek women led bloody and interesting lives which are the subjects of many plays and stories from Greek literature: Clytemnestra who sort revenge for the death of her first husband and child by killing their murderer, her second husband Agamemnon, on his return from the wars; Helen who left Menelaus for Paris, but apparently returned with Menelaus to live in married bliss after Troy was destroyed; Iphigenia, the daughter of Menelaus who was sacrificed to the gods to secure the safety of the Argive fleet.
Penelope, the virtuous wife of Odysseus, barely rates a mention. In this light little book, Margaret Atwood, tries to rectify that by telling her story. Its written in a clear, unadorned style with prose chapters told from Penelope’s point of view interspersed with a Greek chorus of her 12 maids who were killed by her son Telemachus when Odysseus returned. This is no Greek tragedy though, and it is easy to see why Penelope never rated a play of her own.
The character of Penelope is the story of the book, and she comes over as a pleasant enough woman, in difficult but not impossible circumstances. An interesting read for those who enjoy the Greek classics, or are interested in the position of women in ancient Greece.
The hardback version is published by Canongate and is available from Amazon – The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus
Hello world! January 8, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentOne of my new year’s resolutions is to blog, properly, regularly and with readers. I’ll be writing about things I see, do and muse upon as I go about my life here in the London Borough of Camden. The opinions will be personal, sometimes controversial. I intend to use it to think through ideas I have and problems I face, but it won’t be a long emotional rant.
I hope you find it interesting.
