Ithaca: The exquisite, gripping tale that breathes life into ancient myth (The Songs of Penelope)

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What she doesn't understand is why, being the way it is, society is so insufferably stupid, run by flaming idiots.

In the classical mythos, she is often portrayed negatively, punishing ones whom her husband slept with. But on the isle, it is the choices of the abandoned women—and their goddesses— that will change the course of the world. One line you have Hera telling you about someone, and right there appear a slave, a secondary character.

I now feel this desire to go back to those original sources and revisit their stories from a new perspective.

In his prolonged absence, the men of Ithaca begin to presume he is dead and therefore decide that Penelope should remarry to stabilise Ithaca and offer the island protection. As a woman, she cannot be seen ruling Ithaca in Odysseus' absence, but she also doesn't want her kingdom to be invaded while her husband is missing, presumed death – and so she threads the fine line between publicly being seen as timid and obedient, while cleverly pulling the strings behind the scenes until her son Telemachus is old, strong, and wise enough to take on the throne.As always, I made the choice to go with the most plausible political options, rather than the mythological, since I was always much more interested in monarchs murdering each other in the dark than minotaurs. And Elektra is intelligent, clear-sighted, and articulate—in contrast to her brother who is portrayed as a dithery weakling. Not only that, but the island suffers from pirates invading every full moon and, if that wasn't enough, when Penelope's cousin Clytemnestra murders her husband Agamemnon, she's rumoured to have fled to Ithaca. Thus, I spent a surprising amount of time reading up on the archaeological evidence of the tin and amber trade and maritime traffic in that era, since there needed to be reasons why anyone would care about the western isles at all, and not much time worrying about the legacy of Hercules. Pirates have been raiding her villages, Illyrians, she’s meant to believe, but privately she’s not convinced.

This is Greek myth at its most palatable and entertaining, and the second instalment, House Of Odysseus, is eagerly anticipated.And one of my first books I posted on the latter was my thoughts on The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. I spent a bit of time with the Scythians, Egyptians and Dacians, because the Greek world cannot be seen in a domestic vacuum. Because of the POV style, not because of the prose; the prose is fine, North has some beautifully crafted passages. The Oresteia, which covers the lives and deaths of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and their children, Orestes and Elektra, was also an integral part of this story. In this case, it is depicted not as an affair of the god of thunder with mortals, but as rape by him – the interpretation can be definitely used, even if I’d preferred a greater variation.

She’s proud, snarky, and often laugh out loud funny as she handles her stepdaughters, Artemis and Aphrodite, who have chosen sides in this conflict, and voices her opinions on her husband, Zeus’s love affairs and his tendency to disguise himself as swans and other creatures. The scraps of freedom that we have are to pick between two poisons, to make the least bad decision we can, knowing that there is no outcome that will not leave us bruised. She and her women have been quietly busy behind the scenes: all those grieving widows and mothers, those fatherless daughters, the women who have been farming and hunting and crafting and trading in the absence of their men will be, it turns out, not only prepared to, but with a bit of training, also capable of, defending Ithaca. But this is very much a rereadable book, so no doubt I will enjoy it again before the next installment is released. Where are the Phaecians based, and if Odysseus sailed east to get there, then where the hell has he been hanging out?Her son Telemachus is growing up, but her kingdom is considered up for grabs since everyone thinks Odysseus is dead. But actually, very little time is spend on Penelope who waited for decades while her husband was off being a hero. Although Margaret Atwood was on to something when she titled hers The Penelopiad, because Odysseus is hardly present in this one at all. While I do think that Ithaca could be enjoyed on its own, I think that having a background with the foundational works it is retelling made reading this far more rewarding.