Sing Muse Sing

O sing muse…sing dammit. Why is my muse so fickle–probably because I demand much and give so little in return. Admittingly, I also love to verbally abuse my imaginary muse (and Siri or Alexa depending on how helpful they are) and apparently so does the poet in Natalie Haynes latest offering A Thousand Ships, a retelling of the Trojan war from the women’s viewpoint. The muse abusing poet is not alone in his treatment of women for who doesn’t abuse women in the Greek classics? Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey both contain lots of raping and lots of slavery but bizarrely nary a complaint written down from the women. Let’s also not forget about Euripides’ Electra or Antigone and their treatment either. I guess we do find a lot of weeping, rending of garments, and tearing of hair, but all of that is explained away as custom and duty as if women existed as some sort of grotesque theater troupe caught in the middle of a performance piece rather than as human beings who deserve to have their roles acknowledged and not have to wait for an offended god to take revenge on their behalf.

O muse can you offer inspiration to save us from patriarchal literature–like now. If it’s not too much trouble. Please.

In A Thousand Ships Haynes acknowledges these roles and sets free the voices of the women whose lives were thrown into chaos by the rashness of men. She tells the stories of famous Greek women like Clytemnestra and her daughter Iphigenia and their anger and despair at Aulis when they realize that they have been set up and lied to my Agamemnon. She tells the story of the Trojan women who sit on the beach after the fall of Troy waiting to see which of the Greeks will now own them. She even gives voice to patient Penelope in the form of letters to her overdue husband Odysseus that cannot help but expose that she was anything but patient and understanding as Homer would like us to believe, but instead very much aware of her husbands adventures and angered at how his choices left her in a virtual prison for 20 years of her life–and a single mom to boot. Haynes gives the reader the other side of the story. The fear, the anger, the betrayal of knowing that no matter your station in life you had no control over your future. Slaves and queens both were lost to history and left voiceless–until now.

A Thousand Ships is one of several novels lately that has attempted to right the wrongs of one sided Greek literature. Pat Barker’s Silence of the Girls and Circe by Madeline Miller each deal with recognizable women from Greek literature who have finally been heard. These retelling of long established patriarchal tales are much needed and I hope the trend continues and spreads into other genres besides just Greek literature. Dare I say Shakespeare? Just remember to ask the muse nicely.