4.0
The Siege of Troy
ByPublisher Description
In this perceptive retelling of The Iliad, a young Greek teacher draws on the enduring power of myth to help her students cope with the terrors of Nazi occupation.
Bombs fall over a Greek village during World War II, and a teacher takes her students to a cave for shelter. There she tells them about another war—when the Greeks besieged Troy. Day after day, she recounts how the Greeks suffer from thirst, heat, and homesickness, and how the opponents meet—army against army, man against man. Helmets are cleaved, heads fly, blood flows. And everything had begun when Prince Paris of Troy fell in love with King Menelaus of Sparta's wife, the beautiful Helen, and escaped with her to his homeland. Now Helen stands atop the city walls to witness the horrors set in motion by her flight. When her current and former loves face each other in battle, she knows that, whatever happens, she will be losing.
Theodor Kallifatides provides remarkable psychological insight in his version of The Iliad, downplaying the role of the gods and delving into the mindsets of its mortal heroes. Homer's epic comes to life with a renewed urgency that allows us to experience events as though firsthand, and reveals timeless truths about the senselessness of war and what it means to be human.
Bombs fall over a Greek village during World War II, and a teacher takes her students to a cave for shelter. There she tells them about another war—when the Greeks besieged Troy. Day after day, she recounts how the Greeks suffer from thirst, heat, and homesickness, and how the opponents meet—army against army, man against man. Helmets are cleaved, heads fly, blood flows. And everything had begun when Prince Paris of Troy fell in love with King Menelaus of Sparta's wife, the beautiful Helen, and escaped with her to his homeland. Now Helen stands atop the city walls to witness the horrors set in motion by her flight. When her current and former loves face each other in battle, she knows that, whatever happens, she will be losing.
Theodor Kallifatides provides remarkable psychological insight in his version of The Iliad, downplaying the role of the gods and delving into the mindsets of its mortal heroes. Homer's epic comes to life with a renewed urgency that allows us to experience events as though firsthand, and reveals timeless truths about the senselessness of war and what it means to be human.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Siege of Troy Reviews
4.0
Carolina Siqueira
Created 5 months agoShare
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Magpie
Created 10 months agoShare
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“Very short and refreshing. One of the better retellings I've read.”
gabz49242
Created almost 2 years agoShare
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“This novel retells the story of the Trojan War while a small Greek village is suffering under Nazi occupation. As someone who already knows the core story quite well, I wish there had been a little bit more of the frame story, and a little less of the retelling. However, in the afterword, the author mentions that he wanted to make the story of the Iliad more accessible to modern audiences who may find Homer's writing intimidating. By condensing it into a slim volume and comparing it to the modern tragedies of war, I think he has successfully done so.
The prose is stark, with minimal flowery language, a style that befits both the time periods this book discusses. In addition, Kallifatides highlights certain moments in the Trojan War story that are not found in the Iliad, a choice that I feel was made to bridge the gap to the modern audience. The frame story, especially as it concerns the plight of women in small towns of a particular time, was lovely, and I wish we had gotten to spend more time with Dimitra and Miss Marina.
If you're a fan of the Classical world, or if you've always wanted to read the Iliad but felt intimidated by a chunky epic, give this one a go. It's a lovely little book that can easily be read in a day or two.”
About Theodor Kallifatides
Theodor Kallifatides has published more than forty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that have been translated around the world. Born in Greece in 1938, Kallifatides immigrated in 1964 to Sweden, where he began his literary career. As a translator, he has brought August Strindberg and Ingmar Bergman to Greek readers, and Giannis Ritsos and Mikis Theodorakis to Swedish ones. He has received numerous awards for his work in both Greece and Sweden. He lives in Sweden.
Marlaine Delargy has translated novels by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Kristina Ohlsson, and Helene Tursten, as well as The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (Other Press) and Therese Bohman’s Drowned (Other Press). She lives in England.
Marlaine Delargy has translated novels by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Kristina Ohlsson, and Helene Tursten, as well as The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist (Other Press) and Therese Bohman’s Drowned (Other Press). She lives in England.
Other books by Theodor Kallifatides
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