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Myron - bk655
Slight signs of wear!
Perfect Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
August 1, 2026
For a few evenings, I quite believed I was there.
I closed Myron with the pleasant feeling of having returned from a small journey. I was also left wondering why so few people seem to remember it today.
If one insists on describing the plot, it follows Myron through the Greek world of the fifth century. History has a habit of carrying him where he never expected to go. Yet I suspect the real journey is geographical rather than narrative. The reader travels the difficult coasts of the Aegean, lingers among the bustle of the Athenian Agora, follows the ancient rituals required before receiving an answer at Delphi, and joins the procession to Olympia in the company of Greece's finest athletes. Few novels have invited me into ancient Greece quite so gracefully.
At first glance, Myron appears to be a historical adventure. In practice, the novel is almost periegetic in spirit: less interested in rushing towards its conclusion than in inviting the reader to keep walking.
One of the novel's greatest pleasures is that ancient Greece never feels like a dusty chronicle. Peter Mottram avoids the polished marble fantasy inherited from nineteenth-century classicism. His Athenians bargain, flatter, scheme, envy and seize opportunities with almost alarming familiarity. Their world is neither idealised nor distant. It is busy, imperfect and messily alive.
Its principal weakness lies in its structure. Myron himself often appears less the master of his destiny than another life carried along by the unpredictable currents of history. I was reminded of a production of Macbeth I once saw in Vienna. The director deliberately created the impression that no one was truly in command of events; everyone seemed to be swept along by forces greater than themselves. Perhaps that was exactly what Peter Mottram intended. I never quite made up my mind.
The individual episodes are vivid and memorable, but they never quite gather into a compelling whole.
Oddly enough, I eventually realised that I had stopped wondering what came next. I was simply enjoying wherever Peter Mottram chose to take me.
With a stronger sense of overall direction, I cannot help wondering whether Myron might have earned a place alongside Sinuhe The Egyptianamong the historical novels readers continue recommending across generations.
Instead, it has become one of those delightful books that seem perfectly content to wait quietly on library shelves until a curious reader happens to pick them up.
May it continue to find them. After all, that is surely all any book can ask for.
I closed Myron with the pleasant feeling of having returned from a small journey. I was also left wondering why so few people seem to remember it today.
If one insists on describing the plot, it follows Myron through the Greek world of the fifth century. History has a habit of carrying him where he never expected to go. Yet I suspect the real journey is geographical rather than narrative. The reader travels the difficult coasts of the Aegean, lingers among the bustle of the Athenian Agora, follows the ancient rituals required before receiving an answer at Delphi, and joins the procession to Olympia in the company of Greece's finest athletes. Few novels have invited me into ancient Greece quite so gracefully.
At first glance, Myron appears to be a historical adventure. In practice, the novel is almost periegetic in spirit: less interested in rushing towards its conclusion than in inviting the reader to keep walking.
One of the novel's greatest pleasures is that ancient Greece never feels like a dusty chronicle. Peter Mottram avoids the polished marble fantasy inherited from nineteenth-century classicism. His Athenians bargain, flatter, scheme, envy and seize opportunities with almost alarming familiarity. Their world is neither idealised nor distant. It is busy, imperfect and messily alive.
Its principal weakness lies in its structure. Myron himself often appears less the master of his destiny than another life carried along by the unpredictable currents of history. I was reminded of a production of Macbeth I once saw in Vienna. The director deliberately created the impression that no one was truly in command of events; everyone seemed to be swept along by forces greater than themselves. Perhaps that was exactly what Peter Mottram intended. I never quite made up my mind.
The individual episodes are vivid and memorable, but they never quite gather into a compelling whole.
Oddly enough, I eventually realised that I had stopped wondering what came next. I was simply enjoying wherever Peter Mottram chose to take me.
With a stronger sense of overall direction, I cannot help wondering whether Myron might have earned a place alongside Sinuhe The Egyptianamong the historical novels readers continue recommending across generations.
Instead, it has become one of those delightful books that seem perfectly content to wait quietly on library shelves until a curious reader happens to pick them up.
May it continue to find them. After all, that is surely all any book can ask for.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review