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Blood Feud
This is an attempt to reconstruct the Trojan War as it actually happened or might have happened, devoid of gods and goddesses who use humans as game pieces in their contests with each other. Material from some obscure accounts, modern archeology, and linguistic studies is used. Assuming they were real people, some of the participants are delineated in detail: Achilles, near-psychotic, Aias (Ajax), gruff but sensitive underneath, his younger brother Teukros (Teucer), often in his brother's shadow and thought a coward, but revealing an inner steel in a crisis, and Hektor, thoughtful and intellectual. The various political parties in Troy are described.
Interwoven in the war story is the entirely fictional story of Danon of Sparta. He was the son of an important merchant of Sparta, and his older brother was killed in a street brawl by the son of another merchant. By Achaean custom, Danon was required to avenge the killing, but he had not been trained in the use of weapons. In danger of being killed to prevent vengeance taking, he fled to the Greek army before Troy, hoping to find someone to teach him. He was taken in by the princes of Salamis, Aias and Teukros.
As Danon became acquainted with Teukros, the younger brother and his foremost trainer, Danon became fond of Teokros, but he discovered a deep mysterious pain in his teacher. Teukros absolutely refused to go into battle against Trojans, part of the reason he was thought a coward. He was quite a warrior otherwise. Teukros explained to Danon the complexities of the very convoluted political situation that led to the war.
During the winter, fighting ceased, and the two sides fraternized. Danon made friends with a young Trojan, who sneaked him into Troy, where he made friends with the Trojan's family, fell in love with the daughter, and even met some of the royal family. His friends were the leaders of the peace party, and Danon participated in negotiations by carry messages back and forth between the respective peace parties.
The populace of Troy was tired of war and privation, and the peace-makers seemed to be the rising stars on both sides.
Then, the totally unexpected happened and changed everything.
Interwoven in the war story is the entirely fictional story of Danon of Sparta. He was the son of an important merchant of Sparta, and his older brother was killed in a street brawl by the son of another merchant. By Achaean custom, Danon was required to avenge the killing, but he had not been trained in the use of weapons. In danger of being killed to prevent vengeance taking, he fled to the Greek army before Troy, hoping to find someone to teach him. He was taken in by the princes of Salamis, Aias and Teukros.
As Danon became acquainted with Teukros, the younger brother and his foremost trainer, Danon became fond of Teokros, but he discovered a deep mysterious pain in his teacher. Teukros absolutely refused to go into battle against Trojans, part of the reason he was thought a coward. He was quite a warrior otherwise. Teukros explained to Danon the complexities of the very convoluted political situation that led to the war.
During the winter, fighting ceased, and the two sides fraternized. Danon made friends with a young Trojan, who sneaked him into Troy, where he made friends with the Trojan's family, fell in love with the daughter, and even met some of the royal family. His friends were the leaders of the peace party, and Danon participated in negotiations by carry messages back and forth between the respective peace parties.
The populace of Troy was tired of war and privation, and the peace-makers seemed to be the rising stars on both sides.
Then, the totally unexpected happened and changed everything.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 29, 2014
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