If you know me you’ll know that I’m a massive sucker for Greek Mythology, I’ve been reading it since I was like 5 (even if I haven’t read the Percy Jackson series yet). But, Greek Mythology is very special to me, I even did my undergraduate dissertation on Persephone. And one thing I am loving is the amount of fiction available for it, especially retellings from a feminist perspective, because so often we see the male side which ignores the reality of women’s experience in Greek myths, which is often incredibly hard.
So recently, I’ve been on a massive kindle surge, I’ve been reading loads of books on there as a way to read more during lockdown, save some money and save some space on my overflowing bookshelf! And I came across A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes, so I immediately downloaded it once reading that it was a retelling of the fall of Troy from the perspective of the multiple women that are in the legend. We see the perspectives of Penelope awaiting her husband Odysseus, Hecabe and Andromache, Calliope and many more incredible women. Their side of events often being ignored in the myths it is really interesting to think about what would have happened to the women after and how they go on to influence events within the myths.
“Just as I promised him: this was never the story of one woman, or two. It was the story of all of them. A war does not ignore half of the people whose lives it touches. So why do we?”
It also showed perfectly how differently women can view things when in the same situation, for example Hecabe hoping that the Gods will enact revenge on those who betrayed her, versus Andromache who is just glad some got away. It was really interesting to see the difference in thought even when they are in such a dire situation, and how women who had been royalty ended up as slaves with completely different outlooks to the people who had let them into that situation.
One thing I also really enjoyed was the constant reinforcement that often women are much smarter than the men in the myths. And Penelope of course is a great example of this, her letters to Odysseus are beautiful as you see the inner workings of her mind and how she feels, reflecting on how she would’ve ensured them safety had she been in Odysseus’ position. It shows how the women in these myths have been ignored for so long, but that they’re often better suited to the situations, although some of this is hindsight and it is of course a retelling so creative. The women in the myths often know exactly what fate awaits them if the war is lost, and going into that they are incredibly strong, they do not shy away and they know the horrors of what is in store for them.
As I’ve already said, the women are so different in their responses, whether to becoming a slave of war, wanting revenge for a child’s death or even the Goddesses and their fights, it was interesting to see how they might have felt so differently about the situations. Too often women in Greek Mythology are often portrayed as victims, but Haynes shows us how strong they are, how they can refuse the victim status that they are given. The women in these myths are smart, and she shows that perfectly, littering the text with profound sentences that serve to remind us that the horrors of war do not end when the battle is won, for the women they continue long after. Haynes' writing is powerful, she makes you feel for the characters and root for them, she fills in the backstory of the war from the perspective of the women that led to the start of it and the women who live it. She writes each character differently, and makes sure to do all of the women justice and get their stories told rather than the characters that we all know.
“The Bards all sing of the bravery of heroes and the greatness of your deeds: it is one of the few elements on which they all agree. But no one sings of the courage required by those of us who are left behind.”
Haynes’ work is a perfect tale as it struggles with the things people often forget, the price of war for women- and that is the women that are on the losing side, the women who are left behind, the women for whom the war is fought (both Helen and the Goddesses) and all of the other women in between who have long gone without their stories told.She also perfectly picks up on the hypocrisy that is in the tales, for example people forgetting that it was not only Helen that was already married, but Paris was married too. Her writing on Paris and his previous relationship with Oenone is beautiful and really makes you think that the women are a lot stronger than the men in these myths, despite the fact that they are often pushed aside in favour of the glory of war.
If I had to pick a favourite character within the book it would be incredibly hard, but I think that Penelope is definitely up there. Her writing is just beautiful, and sad, it really showcases the complexity of her feelings, her longing for Odysseus, her fear that he is dead and the struggle of raising her son while her suitors hover around like vultures. And above all, it shows how smart she is, which often gets overshadowed by the smarts of her husband. However, I love them all for different reasons, and in part that is due to Haynes writing them all in such different ways. She makes you love them for different reasons, despite that there are so many she really reinforces that they are not all the same, they can’t be lumped together under one experience.
If you love Greek Mythology and are interested to hear the perspective of the women left behind by the myths, I would highly recommend this book (among many others). However, if you’re new to Greek mythology it may be better to get an understanding of the myths first as it may be a bit confusing, there are so many characters within Greek Mythology that it can be hard to keep track of who is who and how they’re related to someone else. Haynes’ writing and understanding of the characters is unmatched, and I only wish I could write as well as she does, she truly makes each character different and makes you feel for them all. I could honestly rave about this book all day, the more I think of it the more I have to say and perhaps one day I will write about it some more. In the meantime, I hope to read much more by Natalie Haynes and other Greek Myth authors.
If you read it let me know what you think!
Love,
Carey
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