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Penelope gets the shaft. Come to think of it so does Clymmenstra. Let’s get that clear before we go any further.
Homer was on to something when the he composed the most famous of all ancient works in the forms of the Iliad and the Odyssey. I doubt he even knew how long the story would last and how often his name would be invoked in despair by students the world over. Today, Troy and its related matter appear in a variety of forms from movies, video games, to various books.
This fame of the story h ...more
Homer was on to something when the he composed the most famous of all ancient works in the forms of the Iliad and the Odyssey. I doubt he even knew how long the story would last and how often his name would be invoked in despair by students the world over. Today, Troy and its related matter appear in a variety of forms from movies, video games, to various books.
This fame of the story h ...more
Original review posted at Layers of Thought.
This story is from the perspective of “the other” - a marginalized female character in the myth. It is told in the first person by Penelope, wife of Odysseus and cousin to Helen of Troy.
Interestingly Atwood tells this in an unusual and layered way. Penelope is in Hades as she tell the story and pieces are conveyed in poem format at the beginning of each chapter, from the perspective of Penelope's 12 maids. These maids are sacrificed by Odysseus on his ...more
This story is from the perspective of “the other” - a marginalized female character in the myth. It is told in the first person by Penelope, wife of Odysseus and cousin to Helen of Troy.
Interestingly Atwood tells this in an unusual and layered way. Penelope is in Hades as she tell the story and pieces are conveyed in poem format at the beginning of each chapter, from the perspective of Penelope's 12 maids. These maids are sacrificed by Odysseus on his ...more
In typical Atwood fashion the most attractive woman is maligned as a whore. With feminists like this who needs misogynists?
*wonders*
*wonders*
Jul 28, 2007
Grace
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-read-as-a-teenager
Even for people who don't know the myth, this book is brilliant and enjoyable, complete with the usual dark humour of Atwood. I love this retelling-I read it in one day!
...more
I read this book when it was published in 2005 -- because I was intrigued by this mythology series, and because it's Margaret Atwood. I like both of those things, after all. But I wasn't particularly crazy about it.
I came back to it recently thanks to a literature class that introduced me to "The Odyssey." I discovered that I actually knew very little about "The Odyssey" after all (I thought I'd read it as a teenager, but it turns out I'd actually read "The Iliad" -- for shame.) I soon found mys ...more
I came back to it recently thanks to a literature class that introduced me to "The Odyssey." I discovered that I actually knew very little about "The Odyssey" after all (I thought I'd read it as a teenager, but it turns out I'd actually read "The Iliad" -- for shame.) I soon found mys ...more
May 21, 2009
Mawgojzeta
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-pagan-and-myth
Jun 08, 2010
Sally Felt
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
folklore-mythology
