A Thousand Ships

by Natalie Haynes

If he complains to me again, I will ask him this: is Oenone less of a hero than Menelaus? He loses his wife so he stirs up an army to bring her back to him, costing countless lives and creating countless widows, orphans and slaves. Oenone loses her husband and she raises their son. Which of those is the more heroic act?

‘You would give your life for me in a heartbeat,’ she said. ‘You cannot disguise it any more than other men can. So don’t mock me, Odysseus. Or I may decide that you will regret it.’

‘I have been dead since I buried Polydorus,’ she said. ‘It makes no difference where I fall.’

You are wedded to fame, more than you were ever wedded to me.

Their story will be told, no matter how long it takes. I am ageless, undying: time does not matter to me. All that matters is the telling. Sing, Muse, he said. Well, do you hear me? I have sung.