The Greek Mythology Retellings You Shouldn't Miss
Do you like retellings of Greek mythology, but somehow get confused with so many that have been released? Have you tried one and been disappointed because it wasn’t what you expected when you read that it belonged to the genre?
I feel you!
This article is for you, and let’s go solve all your questions and bring you some tried-and-tested recommendations!
The truth, then, is that Greek mythology has always been a source of inspiration for art. I won’t mention how many paintings, how many statues, and, to move on to more modern times, how many films and TV series there are based on mythical heroes, heroines from ancient Greek mythology, monsters, and adventures that have reached the present day by traveling through the centuries.
However, when the discussion turns to books and because there are probably countless versions, I believe you need some help. And that’s what we’re going to do together today! Because I’m here to talk to you about the books that are truly retellings. That is, they haven’t just been inspired by the myth, but have taken it and tried to present a more complete perspective of the whole story. As if to say the POV from the protagonist’s side — imagine it a little, and let’s go through them one by one!
1. Clytemnestra
by Costanza Casati from Minoas Publications
In the top 3 of my favorite books for last year, and not by chance. The author manages to build an entire world in such an intense and vivid way that you feel as if you are living in ancient Greece and witnessing the events up close. And that is not even the book’s main highlight! So what is it? You’ll rightly ask, so I hasten to answer.
The highlight is the protagonist herself, who is so deeply developed as a character, so thoroughly psychologically portrayed, and so meaningfully and analytically presented, that it is inevitable to identify with her. Not because you approve of her choices, but because you understand her actions. Because, quite simply, the author ultimately manages to put you in her place. And so, no matter how much you disagree with many things, what remains with you is an understanding. Of the human being.
She is a king’s daughter but marries a tyrant. She watches helplessly as he sacrifices her child to the gods. She waits patiently. She plots her revenge. They have called her “proud,” “brutal,” “unyielding,” “mad with ambition,” “murderer.” They have called her many things, but none of them matter. She knows how to play the game. If power is not given to her, she will take it herself. She is Clytemnestra.
2. Circe
by Madeline Miller from Dioptra Publications
If you know the story, it’s time to see it in a different light through this book. Trying to see the woman behind the person that the patriarchal society of the time wanted to present, the author follows the protagonist from her childhood. She cries out through the words everything that led Circe to become what she became. She is there to witness the rejection, she sheds light to drive away the darkness to which they sent her, she listens to her. And then she does the ultimate thing. She sees her become a mother. And somewhere there, this creature so unique, so lonely and wronged, unfolds her entire existence through motherhood.
Very often, women in ancient Greek mythology are classified into two categories. They are either murderous villains with a dreadful end or virtuous and tragic pawns with negligible impact.
Circe is different. She is one of the few women of antiquity who is allowed to have power and is not punished for it at the end of the story. She is neither wicked nor innocent, but complex.
Circe represents female power, and this provokes and frightens. She is the woman who has more power than society says she should have.
Miller, with particular lyricism and skill, weaves the character of Circe, bringing her mythical monsters and adventures into the present and proving how relevant her story remains.
3. Electra
by Jennifer Saint from Kaktos Publications
A book that could also have all three women in its title, Electra, Cassandra, Clytemnestra, since essentially not only are their paths and lives intertwined, but in the book itself we also see all three POVs. Three women, then, who play a leading role in a shared story that was destined to be mythology, yet to conquer the reading public in a relationship that has lasted for centuries. A book that, through its pages, follows them and the way they think, their choices, themselves, and everything they wanted to express, whether aloud or deep inside.
Clytemnestra
Sister of Helen and wife of Agamemnon. Her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband gathers a great army, determined to defeat the Trojans at any cost.
Cassandra
Princess of Troy, cursed by Apollo to see the future but never be believed when she speaks of it. Thus, she is powerless even though she knows the city will fall.
Electra
The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Electra is terrified by the bloodshed among her relatives. Can she escape the curse herself, or is she too a prisoner of her own fate?
Stories from the past that have so much to say to the present. Women who, in their own way, clashed with patriarchy, beings who were persecuted for their differences, people who fought – or tried to fight – against stereotypes. In three books that not only present but elevate the myth.
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