A Fresh Perspective on CLYTEMNESTRA's Greek Mythological Character (Costanza Casati Book Review)
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- Опубликовано: 26 апр 2023
- Casati's study of the infamous mythological character of Clytemnestra is new, fresh, and wonderfully insightful. I loved how Clytemnestra is not watered down for a modern audience on the pages of this book - she is terrifying, ruthless, and utterly brutal AS SHE SHOULD BE. Though yes, she is a mother who loses a child and an audience can draw great sympathy for her from this incident, it is important to remember that although we can reason with her in one realm, in another the Mycenaean queen is completely alien to us. This complex duality of her character - her wrongs, rights, and murky middle ground behaviours we love yet also frown upon - is perfectly portrayed in Casati's novel.
More than that, what I appreciated most about this book was how different this story of Clytemnestra is compared to others on the market today. I really liked seeing Clytemnestra in new environments with characters like her brothers, father, and even palace workers. Seeing her interact with these people shows that Casati not only has a deep understanding of this character but also a deeper understanding of mythology. I adored all the episodes with brothers Castor and Polydeuces as they are often forgotten in this story, as well as watching the relationship between Clytemnestra and her father Tyndareus unfold over time. These are just some of the touches I thought made this book really stand out.
Now yes, I gave this book 5 stars due to all the reasons stated above. However, I do have two complaints: one is the character of Agamemnon, and the other is Diomedes. Let's begin with the latter because that's a tiny point. I adore Diomedes from the Iliad (he is literally my favourite character), and so watching him become a rude brute around the other famous greek heroes wasn't my favourite thing. This is mainly because he's not presented as rude in the mythology and is actually a man of very, very few words. I understand that Casati used Diomedes in this way because he was a bigger name than a lot of the other heroes dealt with in the novel (and many are mentioned, by the way, which was great), but I do wish another man was thrown under the bus. Someone we don't care about. Someone like Thersites. But again, I understand that you can't do that when the vast majority of people don't know who Thersites is, so despite everything I just said, I didn't allow this to phase my overall reaction to the book.
My second complaint is dealing with Agamemnon. Again, I want to preface this by saying that I understand in the modern art of storytelling, we love a good guy and a bad guy. Those characters need to be made very clear in order for a story to work nowadays, but this distinction didn't exist in ancient times meaning that all of our mythological characters are terribly complex. In this novel, Agamemnon's complexity is taken away from him in favour of him being the big bad wolf. I would love to see the next retelling of Clytemnestra's story be one which explores how Agamemnon came to be who he is and how there is no point of return for him. Was he always this horrible? Was he always aware of his family's curse or did he come to learn of it later in life? When does he start losing faith in the gods considering they continuously punish him? In one version, was he ever trying to free his brother and himself from this disastrous life they were trapped into but he failed? Yes, Casati mentions the cursed house the sons of Atreus are from, but the trauma of this curse is only explored with Aegisthus rather than with Agamemnon. Neither Clytemnestra nor Agamemnon are saints, and I like that Clytemnestra is given the space to be explored in more depth in modern times ... I just wish we could have both characters laid out in these retellings rather than one. But again, I get that this is a product of modern storytelling art rather than a pointed finger at Casati's work, which is why this also did not deter my rating.
All in all, this book is great. It will surprise you every which way even if you have read all the recent Clytemnestra retellings. Absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone.
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I really enjoyed this book, well written and addictive read. They say Clytemnestra is a bad wife, her family could have avoided some of the suffering their daughter goes through, bad parents. I really liked the Prince Tantalus, Timandra, and Aegisthus, even the twisted priest was compelling. Agamemnon was fleshed out enough for me as it wasn't his name on the novel, a thoroughly unpleasant man from an even worse family. After the events surrounding Clytemnestra's life and the things had happened, it was a good end, much like the Jason and the Argonauts movie where the gods stop observing, leaving the mortals to a moment of respite and tranquility.. before the tales continues down a dark path.
Pre-ordered the audiobook that comes out in May- thank you!
I hope you enjoy it!!
Can't wait to get my hands on Clytemnestra on May 2 before Atalanta comes May 9 in the states
A good month for Greek mythology fans!!!
I absolutely enjoyed this book im so glad i gave i try its one of my favorite reads of 2024
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼
On my growing list of books to read next year-though I did take the chance, while in the UK last month, to grab Clytemnestra since it hasn’t yet released in the states.
Ooop sneaky 👀
@@MoAnInc 🤷🏽♂️ they release sooner there and Waterstones has much nicer cover art (since Micaela Alcaino’s work is great). So my girlfriend and I always try to order those copies….speaking of, we need Atalanta.
Every version i've read of Agamemnon's death he's at the dining room table. Can you please tell me where I need to look to find the version of the bathtub. Thank you
Aeschylus.
For real though, this book has overtaken Song of Achilles as my favourite Greek myth girlboss remix. Hel and Nestra have been retold before but it was so interesting seeing things like their Spartan culture inform their character, and particularly how Nestra's morality was deliberately a lot greyer than the 'wronged heroine' or 'mad adulterous murderess' some people see her as. I'd never even knew about her first family either - I thought they were Casati's OC characters before I looked it up and realised they're real enough!
Though admittedly, as pantomime villainous as Agamemnon could be in this novel, it still felt kind of... accurate. Aggy in the Iliad (and his numinous cameo in the Odyssey) has an *ounce* more pathos (and sometimes feels more like a proud man who makes mistakes but can't admit it) but Aggy in the tragedies feels little less than a straight up villain.
I also love how Casati pulled no punches with Odysseus' character, making him sympathetic but not falling into the trap of making him too likeable. His chemistry and connection with Penelope felt really genuine but honestly, in a novel full of terrible men, Odysseus felt to me like the worst of them all. And I loved how even shrewd ol' Penelope couldn't quite bring herself to accept it, when she'd heard.
It's it better to suffer accommodation to reality or live cocooned in fantasy?
What's a better book "Clytemnestra" or "Elektra".
They’re completely different so it’s not really fair to put them against one another
You should write something exploring Agamemnon yourself.
Hahaha I will leave that to the actual, talented writers 😂
I loved it, I also liked Agamemnon, until he killed his daughter. He was a savage, and I think he loved his wife.
Also, was Clytemnestra bored, unsatisfied with his cousin at the end?