Mary Renault’s Followers (1,345)

Add New
Videos

Daniel Mendelsohn on his correspondence with the novelist Mary Renault - The New Yorker

Add a comment

Mary Renault

Born

in London, England, The United Kingdom

September 04, 1905

Died

December 13, 1983

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction

edit data

Mary Renault was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece. In addition to vivid fictional portrayals of Theseus, Socrates, Plato and Alexander the Great, she wrote a non-fiction biography of Alexander.

Her historical novels are all set in ancient Greece. They include a pair of novels about the mythological hero Theseus and a trilogy about the career of Alexander the Great. In a sense, The Charioteer (1953), the story of two young gay servicemen in the 1940s who try to model their relationship on the ideals expressed in Plato's Phaedrus and Symposium, is a warm-up for Renault's historical novels. By turning away from the 20th century and focusing on stories about male lovers in the warrior societies of anci ...more

Combine Editions
Mary Renault’s books

Average rating: 4.05 · 51,216 ratings · 4,311 reviews · 35 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Persian Boy (Alexander the Great, #2) 4.19 avg rating — 9,347 ratings — published 1972 — 104 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The King Must Die (Theseus, #1) 3.98 avg rating — 8,723 ratings — published 1958 — 130 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fire from Heaven (Alexander the Great, #1) 3.96 avg rating — 8,711 ratings — published 1969 — 74 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Charioteer 4.11 avg rating — 5,507 ratings — published 1953 — 65 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last of the Wine 4.05 avg rating — 5,345 ratings — published 1956 — 93 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bull from the Sea (Theseus, #2) 4.10 avg rating — 3,748 ratings — published 1962 — 102 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Funeral Games (Alexander the Great, #3) 4.02 avg rating — 3,086 ratings — published 1981 — 62 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Mask of Apollo 4.05 avg rating — 2,288 ratings — published 1966 — 78 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Praise Singer 3.97 avg rating — 1,439 ratings — published 1978 — 35 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Nature of Alexander 4.15 avg rating — 1,319 ratings — published 1975 — 47 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Mary Renault…

Series by Mary Renault

Alexander the Great (3 books)
by

Mary Renault

4.08 avg rating — 21,761 ratings

Theseus (2 books)
by

Mary Renault

4.02 avg rating — 12,715 ratings

Quotes by Mary Renault (?)

“One must live as if it would be forever, and as if one might die each moment. Always both at once.”
― Mary Renault, The Persian Boy

tags: alexander-the-great, mary-renault, the-persian-boy

2261 likes

“True friends share everything, except the past before they met.”
― mary renault, Fire from Heaven

1230 likes

“There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.”
― Mary Renault, The Charioteer

tags: shock, truth, unexpected

113 likes

See all Mary Renault's quotes »

Polls

Which book would you like to read for our April 1 - May 1 History group read?

Avalon: A Novel by Anya Seton

16 votes, 50.0%

The King Must Die: A Novel by Mary Renault

5 votes, 15.6%

King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett

4 votes, 12.5%

Madselin by Norah Lofts

3 votes, 9.4%

Absolution by Murder by Peter Tremayne

3 votes, 9.4%

The Persian Boy by Mary Renault

1 vote, 3.1%

32 total votes

comments and details

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: Hi from a voraceous reader...	12	301	Apr 22, 2009 10:44AM
Queereaders: * List of group reads	1	1055	Oct 30, 2009 05:04PM
The History Book ...: HISTORICAL FICTION POLLS	6	329	Jan 21, 2010 12:04AM
Queereaders: February - March nominations	18	29	Jan 28, 2010 02:37PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks	2725	2489	May 31, 2010 09:00PM
The Seasonal Read...: 15.4 - Learn Your Numbers	137	382	Aug 19, 2010 10:47PM
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks (do NOT delete any posts in this thread)	2785	1178	Nov 30, 2010 09:03PM
The World's Liter...: Future Readings after Greece	20	72	Nov 30, 2010 09:36PM
Historical Fictio...: Challenge #5: January 1st - February 28th	305	208	Mar 16, 2011 08:15AM

More…

Mary Renault’s Followers (1,345)

Add NewVideos

Mary Renault

Combine EditionsMary Renault’s books

Series by Mary Renault

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

Combine Editions
Mary Renault’s books