Daughters of Sparta: A tale of secrets, betrayal and revenge from mythology's most vilified women

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Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2022-12-12 15:09:59 Autocrop_version 0.0.14_books-20220331-0.2 Bookplateleaf 0002 Boxid IA40793905 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier By the end, there are several questions left unanswered. There’s one question in particular that I really would’ve liked to know the answer to by the end of book one, but I suppose it’s going to have to wait until book two. The motivations for one of the “villains” involved also didn’t quite hold enough weight in my opinion; it didn’t make sense to me that he would be willing to participate in a plot that would destroy his own immense powers. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave it at that. For millennia, two women have been blamed for the fall of a mighty civilisation - but now it's time to hear their side of the story...

Daughters of Sparta has such a compelling narrative; it is utterly absorbing from beginning to end. I found it both captivating and poignant; an enthralling and powerful tale of family politics, gender constraints, love, betrayal and revenge, with a masterful handling of feelings and emotions that truly resonates down the ages. Alone of the women at Troy, Helen does get something of a happy ending, though it’s one marred by a bit of ambiguity. Having been rescued by Menealos, the two of them begin the long homeward journey toward Sparta and, for the first time since they were married, they actually talk about their feelings, after which they gaze out at the sea. Will they manage to find some measure of happiness, now that Helen has at last returned from abroad? Will Helen ever be able to fully mend the damage she has caused by leaving her husband and daughter behind? The novel refuses to definitively answer the question, and the ambiguity is both disturbing and brilliant.

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Content Warnings: Fantasy violence throughout (some graphic); torture with a branding iron; some kissing; at least 1 use of the s-word.* Author Claire Heywood has written a great new historical fiction novel centered on the women known as Helen Of Troy and her sister Klytemnestra…If you’re a fan of historical fiction, this is right up your alley.” —Red Carpet Crash

Claire M. Andrews, Daughter of Sparta Final Thoughts Flatlay of Daughter of Sparta on top of a notebook betweek a Greek painted dish and a teapot and wolf dish on the other side.

I’m always up for a juicy retelling of classical myth, and this seems to be something of a golden age for the genre, with the Trojan War occupying pride of place. In just the last decade alone we’ve had numerous reinterpretations of that pivotal conflict of ancient myth, ranging from Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles to Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls (and its sequel The Women of Troy ) to Natalie Haynes’ A Thousand Ships and, most recently, Claire Heywood’s Daughters of Sparta. All this is to say, Agamemnon’s claims about women in the speech Heywood pulls from are not coming from a reliable narrator. Odysseus’ response to Agamemnon is revelatory. He notes that the “schemes of women” are vehicles through which Zeus’ will is accomplished. If Agamemnon is not to blame for his bad acts because they were willed by the gods (as he claims in the Iliad), then why should he blame Klytemnestra for her bad acts? Would not they, too, be the will of the gods? Again, those who know Trojan war myth will know that the Trojan and Theban wars were, according to Hesiod, how Zeus chose to bring the Age of Heroes to an end. In this context, could Agamemnon blaming not only Klytemnestra but all women be seen as somewhat impious, a denial of how the gods work their will through humans? Agamemnon has also been known to compare himself to Zeus ( Iliad 19.95), and his ancestors’ impiety has caused the entire family line to be cursed (as alluded by Odysseus). Perfect for readers of Circe and Ariadne, Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating retelling of the Siege of Troy that tells the story of mythology’s most vilified women from their own mouths at long last.