Product Description

Vigorous new life is breathed into the myth's of Homer's Iliad in Lindsay Clarke's new dramatic retelling of the wars fought for the Bronze Age City of Troy. Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, Achilles, Odysseus and Hector are skilfully rejuvenated in this startlingly contemporary drama of the passions. "The people who lived in those days were closer to gods than we are, and great deeds and marvels were commoner then, which is why the stories we have from them are nobler and richer than our own. So that those stories should not pass from the earth, I have decided to set down everything I know of the stories of the war at Troy -- of the way it began, of the way it was fought, and of the way in which it was ended." With these words, Phemius the bard of Ithaca and friend to Odysseus, opens Lindsay Clarke's compelling new retelling of the myths and legends that grew up around the war that was fought for the Bronze Age city of Troy and have magnetized the imagination of the world ever since. Here are the tales of two powerful generations of men and women, living out their destinies in the timeless zone where myth and history intersect and where the conflicts of the human heart are mirrored by quarrels among immortal gods. Peleus and Thetis, Paris and Helen, Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, Achilles, Odysseus and Hector -- all are given vigorous new life in a version of their stories which remains faithful to the mythic form in which they first appeared yet engages the reader in a startlingly contemporary drama of the passions. THE WAR AT TROY speaks to a world still racked by violent conflict in ways which address important aspects of our own experience while at the same time providing imaginative access to the rich store of mythology which is our heritage from the ancient world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56809 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
'I found The War at Troy a triumph of retelling the ancient story of the siege and its aftermath, a readable and freshened version that keeps one turning the pages' Alan Sillitoe 'I'm awed by the web you've spun. Not only the beautiful complexities of it but the fine texture of the threads ...Full of wise things.' Ted Hughes

About the Author
Acclaimed author Lindsay Clarke won the 1989 Whitbread Prize for Fiction with Chymical Wedding and is also well-known for Alice's Masque. He has an extensive knowledge of mythology and legend and runs workshops in the UK and abroad.

Customer Reviews

TROY
A fantastic rendition of the events that took place prior to and during the war at troy. Retells the story from the view of both the Argives and the Trojans and both sides are celebrated for their bravery and courage. A marvellous book to be recommended to any reader who is eager to understand the basis of the story.

"We Are All Greeks"
The only reason I bought this book was because I wanted to read the true story of Troy without resorting to the poetry and somewhat difficult language used in The Iliad (OK, it's not difficult but it's easier to read in sentences, eh?) Having been introduced to Troy through the film I was surprised of all the events that lay before Helen was taken from Sparta, and for me this was one of the best parts of the book.

Clarke uses great descriptions and language to set the surroundings and bring the reader into Ancient Greece where "they were closer to the God's" than we are. I felt totally immersed in the story and even with the massive number of names and places I never felt lost in the story, but more involved in the struggle of the war.

All in all I would say this was a fantastic read that gives a real insight into life in ancient times, as well as retelling the most famous story in the world.

Names that echo down the ages
If ever there was a timely publication, this was it, since it was published at the same time as the major film release of TROY and in the year of the 2004 Olympics. Clarke's retelling serves to reveal in eloquent prose the characters behind these tales of two powerful generations of men and women on the cusp of history and myth.

Clarke has used the classics - The Greek Myths by Robert Graves and The Iliad by E V Rieu, among others, to retell these tales in modern prose and has succeeded brilliantly.

The characters - there's a helpful glossary of deities and mortals at the back of the book - are all drawn well and believably. You feel for them in their happy and tragic moments. Especially the time when King Agamemnon has to sacrifice his daughter to the goddess Artemis. These scenes are particularly moving as the thirteen-year-old meets her father for the first time in nine years. He must kill her to appease the gods, `for the good of all.' How hollow those words ring through history!

As we know, the gods ceased to have form once nobody believed in them any more. At the time of Troy, men not only believed in their gods, some actually met them.

Unlike the film, which had a limited time-span to tell its story, this book fills in the background to Paris, explaining how he was adopted by a woodcutter and only learned of his true birthright as King Priam's son from the interfering goddess Aphrodite. From that point on, his life is blighted. More than once afterwards, he wished he'd stayed in the countryside. We can sympathise with him and the other characters, knowing what will happen.

In fact, Helen's flight with Paris was merely the excuse that Agamemnon needed all along. What comes across here, however, is the honourable and generous nature of Helen's husband Menelaus - truly, the film did him a great disservice! His betrayal by Paris was great indeed.

But the story is more than about the love affair between Helen of Sparta and Paris of Troy. They are merely the cause. It's about heroism, stubbornness and honour. When King Priam steals into the Myrmidons' camp to claim his son's body, you feel for the anguish of the old man and even for Achilles.

The war with Troy actually raged for ten years, as prophesised. And it was in under thunderclouds and rain, not only under the blazing sun. Some of the battle scenes are gripping and gruesome and you can almost feel and smell the stink of warfare.

There's humour, irony, cunning, laughter, betrayal, tragedy and of course cruelty aplenty in these pages. Striding this stage of epic stories about Troy is Odysseus, wise, honest and clever; he was of course the originator of the wooden horse, a fine piece of writing that blends dreams and facts. Yet there are other mortal men who were looked upon as almost gods - Achilles, Ajax and Hector. Their names - and others, such as Cassandra, Penelope, Electra, Orestes and Thetis - echo down the ages. Clarke has managed to bring them alive again for a new readership who might balk at the apparent dry classics.