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Clytemnestra
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Fantasy (2023)"Fans of Circe and Elektra should pick up this powerful Greek myth retelling." —Cosmopolitan
For fans of Madeline Miller, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…
You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot.
But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.
Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.
If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.
A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred, love, and of an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.
"Crackles with vivid fury, passion, and strength." —Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne
For fans of Madeline Miller, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best…
You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot.
But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.
Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.
If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.
A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred, love, and of an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.
"Crackles with vivid fury, passion, and strength." —Jennifer Saint, bestselling author of Elektra and Ariadne
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2023
About the author
Costanza Casati
4 books934 followersCostanza Casati was born in Texas in 1995 and grew up in a village in Northern Italy, where she studied Ancient Greek, and Ancient Greek literature, under one of the country’s most rigorous academic programmes. She is a graduate of the prestigious Warwick Writing MA in the UK, and worked as a screenwriter and journalist. Clytemnestra is her debut novel. It has sold into 18 territories worldwide, is a Saturday Times bestseller, and was shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,877 reviews
May 12, 2023
4.5⭐️
“There will come a time when songs are sung about her, about the people she loved and the ones she hated. They will sing of her mother, the queen seduced by a god, of her brothers, boxers and horse-breakers, of her sister, a woman so vain who couldn’t stay in her husband’s bed, of Agamemnon, the proud lion of Mycenae, of the wise, many-minded Odysseus, of the treacherous, cursed Aegisthus, of Clytemnestra, cruel queen and unfaithful wife. But it doesn’t matter. She was there. She knows songs never tell the truth.”
Daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and his Queen Leda, the sister of Helen, and ultimately the murderous Queen of Mycenae who killed her husband Agamemnon, Clytemnestra has always been a lesser known character in comparison to her sister, and what we do know of her is in the context of her scheming and ultimately successfully executing her plan to murder her husband after he returns home after the victory at the Battle of Troy.
In her debut novel, Contanza Casati explores this character in depth. The narrative follows Clytemnestra from her early life as a Princess of Sparta, her relationship with her siblings, her subsequent marriage to her first husband and the tragic events that lead to her marriage to Agamemnon and her life as his wife and mother to his children and the events that follow. The author allows us to understand the vilified Queen and her motivations, her convictions and how the people and significant events in her life shaped her into evolving into the fierce and vengeful character she is known to be. Clytemnestra is a complex character. Raised with the training of a warrior yet having to live her life according to the whims and wishes of her tyrannical father and brutish husband, she endures and perseveres and waits for the right moment to assert herself. She endures much abuse, loss and grief, including the senseless murder of her first husband and infant son. But when her daughter is sacrificed in the name of war, Clytemnestra’s rage knows no bounds and she knows what she has to do.
“Gods do not care about us. They have other concerns. That is why you should never live in the shadow of their anger. It is men you must fear. It is men who will be angry with you if you rise too high, if you are too much loved. The stronger you are, the more they will try to take you down.”
The author does a magnificent job of crafting a solid narrative around this central figure. In the course of the story, we meet several prominent characters from the Greek myths such as Helen of Troy and Odysseus among others. Most of these characters are explored/alluded to in the context of their interactions/connection to Clytemnestra’s story, and at no point does the narrative lose focus. Clytemnestra’s anguish, her pain and her need for vengeance are palpable. The pace does falter slightly in the middle of the narrative while chronicling the years Clytemnestra waits for the Battle of Troy to end while she rules over Mycenae with a firm hand, but not so much that you lose interest in the story. I particularly liked how the author chose to end the novel keeping it open-ended yet entirely satisfying. The author provides family trees at the beginning of the novel and a glossary of terms at the end, both of which are helpful resources.
Clytemnestra by Constanza Casati is a powerful debut. Well-structured and written in elegant prose with a fluid narrative, this novel is a joy to read. With strong feminist overtones, this story is both brutal and compelling. Though the author does not resort to any form of exaggerated sentimentality, it is impossible to remain unaffected by Clytemnestra's story. I would not hesitate to recommend this novel to fans of Greek mythology and feminist retellings/reimaginings. I look forward to reading more from this talented new author.
I paired my reading with the excellent audio narration by Olivia Vinall which truly enhanced my experience.
“Every day you try to forget, but at night you dream of the past. This is what dreams are for. To make us remember what we were, to tie us down to our memories, whether we like it or not.”
**Please note that there a multiple instances of violence against women.
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“There will come a time when songs are sung about her, about the people she loved and the ones she hated. They will sing of her mother, the queen seduced by a god, of her brothers, boxers and horse-breakers, of her sister, a woman so vain who couldn’t stay in her husband’s bed, of Agamemnon, the proud lion of Mycenae, of the wise, many-minded Odysseus, of the treacherous, cursed Aegisthus, of Clytemnestra, cruel queen and unfaithful wife. But it doesn’t matter. She was there. She knows songs never tell the truth.”
Daughter of King Tyndareus of Sparta and his Queen Leda, the sister of Helen, and ultimately the murderous Queen of Mycenae who killed her husband Agamemnon, Clytemnestra has always been a lesser known character in comparison to her sister, and what we do know of her is in the context of her scheming and ultimately successfully executing her plan to murder her husband after he returns home after the victory at the Battle of Troy.
In her debut novel, Contanza Casati explores this character in depth. The narrative follows Clytemnestra from her early life as a Princess of Sparta, her relationship with her siblings, her subsequent marriage to her first husband and the tragic events that lead to her marriage to Agamemnon and her life as his wife and mother to his children and the events that follow. The author allows us to understand the vilified Queen and her motivations, her convictions and how the people and significant events in her life shaped her into evolving into the fierce and vengeful character she is known to be. Clytemnestra is a complex character. Raised with the training of a warrior yet having to live her life according to the whims and wishes of her tyrannical father and brutish husband, she endures and perseveres and waits for the right moment to assert herself. She endures much abuse, loss and grief, including the senseless murder of her first husband and infant son. But when her daughter is sacrificed in the name of war, Clytemnestra’s rage knows no bounds and she knows what she has to do.
“Gods do not care about us. They have other concerns. That is why you should never live in the shadow of their anger. It is men you must fear. It is men who will be angry with you if you rise too high, if you are too much loved. The stronger you are, the more they will try to take you down.”
The author does a magnificent job of crafting a solid narrative around this central figure. In the course of the story, we meet several prominent characters from the Greek myths such as Helen of Troy and Odysseus among others. Most of these characters are explored/alluded to in the context of their interactions/connection to Clytemnestra’s story, and at no point does the narrative lose focus. Clytemnestra’s anguish, her pain and her need for vengeance are palpable. The pace does falter slightly in the middle of the narrative while chronicling the years Clytemnestra waits for the Battle of Troy to end while she rules over Mycenae with a firm hand, but not so much that you lose interest in the story. I particularly liked how the author chose to end the novel keeping it open-ended yet entirely satisfying. The author provides family trees at the beginning of the novel and a glossary of terms at the end, both of which are helpful resources.
Clytemnestra by Constanza Casati is a powerful debut. Well-structured and written in elegant prose with a fluid narrative, this novel is a joy to read. With strong feminist overtones, this story is both brutal and compelling. Though the author does not resort to any form of exaggerated sentimentality, it is impossible to remain unaffected by Clytemnestra's story. I would not hesitate to recommend this novel to fans of Greek mythology and feminist retellings/reimaginings. I look forward to reading more from this talented new author.
I paired my reading with the excellent audio narration by Olivia Vinall which truly enhanced my experience.
“Every day you try to forget, but at night you dream of the past. This is what dreams are for. To make us remember what we were, to tie us down to our memories, whether we like it or not.”
**Please note that there a multiple instances of violence against women.
Connect with me!
My Blog
The StoryGraph
February 2, 2023
This well written take on Greek mythology follows Clytemnestra, the daughter of the Spartan king and the wife of Agamemnon. Other than reading Circe, by Madeline Miller, it’s been ages since I read up on any Greek mythology. The names were familiar but the stories had faded in my memory. This book does a fabulous job of taking the reader to the time and place and bringing all the stories alive.
Spartan women were raised to be warriors and to fight. Clytemnestra was one of the strongest and thus, Agamemnon was determined to have her. He enlists her father’s help to kill her first husband and baby son. From then on, she lives for revenge. This is a woman who was prepared to wait to get even; she could have created the phrase that revenge is a dish best served cold. Agamemnon continues to give her reasons to hate him. Casati did such an excellent job making Clytemnestra come across as a living, breathing woman, I wanted revenge for her as much as she did. The myths about Clytemnestra speak of what she does. This book provides the reasoning for her actions. While she is despised in the myths, here she is a sympathetic character (at least to me).
This book doesn’t read like a debut novel. It is polished and taut. For a book with almost 450 pages, it read quickly.
My thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy of this book.
Spartan women were raised to be warriors and to fight. Clytemnestra was one of the strongest and thus, Agamemnon was determined to have her. He enlists her father’s help to kill her first husband and baby son. From then on, she lives for revenge. This is a woman who was prepared to wait to get even; she could have created the phrase that revenge is a dish best served cold. Agamemnon continues to give her reasons to hate him. Casati did such an excellent job making Clytemnestra come across as a living, breathing woman, I wanted revenge for her as much as she did. The myths about Clytemnestra speak of what she does. This book provides the reasoning for her actions. While she is despised in the myths, here she is a sympathetic character (at least to me).
This book doesn’t read like a debut novel. It is polished and taut. For a book with almost 450 pages, it read quickly.
My thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advance copy of this book.
November 10, 2023
Humanises the long suffering, murderous Queen of Mycenae and follows the events in her life that shaped her into the fierce, powerful and vengeful, legendary Clytemnestra. This was an epic debut novel, watch out for Costanza Casati!
June 7, 2023
“She will bow to no one. Her destiny will be what she wants it to be.”
This book was so good! This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story about love, grief, revenge, and power. Clytemnestra is the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Clytemnestra marries Tantalus, the king of Maeonia whom she loves, but then she is taken by Agamemnon and faces much loss. Then Clytemnestra must decide whether to forgive or to find vengeance for those who wronged her.
I was completely immersed in this beautiful story from the very first page. The pacing was perfect, although the pacing slowed down in the middle. I love Clytemnestra, she is resilient, fierce, strong, brave, stubborn, and will do anything to protect the people she loves. Clytemnestra is complex and relatable, she faced so many challenges and hardships that shaped her character in several ways. I also loved Tantalus, he is sweet, brave, loving, strong, and protective. I really liked Clytemnestra's sister Helen, her brother Castor, and sister Timandra, they each had their own unique personalities. The writing and story telling in this book was excellent. The writing is descriptive and the characters were crafted so well. I loved that we learned about Clytemnestra's story from her own perspective, it was so powerful and real. The character development was great, there were many sides to the characters especially Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. I appreciated that we saw many perspectives to the stories told in this book. It showed me that a story or event can change depending on who tells the story. I loved that women are shown as strong and resilient in this book. This book will stay in my heart for a long time.
This book was so good! This is a beautiful and heartbreaking story about love, grief, revenge, and power. Clytemnestra is the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, the king of Sparta. Clytemnestra marries Tantalus, the king of Maeonia whom she loves, but then she is taken by Agamemnon and faces much loss. Then Clytemnestra must decide whether to forgive or to find vengeance for those who wronged her.
I was completely immersed in this beautiful story from the very first page. The pacing was perfect, although the pacing slowed down in the middle. I love Clytemnestra, she is resilient, fierce, strong, brave, stubborn, and will do anything to protect the people she loves. Clytemnestra is complex and relatable, she faced so many challenges and hardships that shaped her character in several ways. I also loved Tantalus, he is sweet, brave, loving, strong, and protective. I really liked Clytemnestra's sister Helen, her brother Castor, and sister Timandra, they each had their own unique personalities. The writing and story telling in this book was excellent. The writing is descriptive and the characters were crafted so well. I loved that we learned about Clytemnestra's story from her own perspective, it was so powerful and real. The character development was great, there were many sides to the characters especially Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. I appreciated that we saw many perspectives to the stories told in this book. It showed me that a story or event can change depending on who tells the story. I loved that women are shown as strong and resilient in this book. This book will stay in my heart for a long time.
June 1, 2023
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”… or a mother’s wrath.
Immortalized as the face that launched a thousand ships, Helen may have had the beauty, but her sister Clytemnestra possessed the brains, the cunning, and the true heart of a warrior.
Costanza Casati removes Clytemnestra from her sister Helen of Troy’s shadow and skillfully weaves together historical details, mythological elements, and psychological insights, breathing new life into a well-known tale.
Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, is often regarded as one of Greek mythology’s greatest villains because she killed the husband that murdered two of her children.
While history remembers Clytemnestra as a notorious murderess, a ruthless woman burning with a need for vengeance, Casati reminds us that she was also a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a queen. A survivor.
It is love that fuels her, along with her vengeance.
Through Casati’s deft exploration, Queen Clytemnestra is reinstated as an actual human being — one who is grieving, has suffered immensely, craves justice, and refuses to become a pawn in a game ruled by gods and men.
Highly recommend for fans of mythological retellings and authors Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.
Immortalized as the face that launched a thousand ships, Helen may have had the beauty, but her sister Clytemnestra possessed the brains, the cunning, and the true heart of a warrior.
Costanza Casati removes Clytemnestra from her sister Helen of Troy’s shadow and skillfully weaves together historical details, mythological elements, and psychological insights, breathing new life into a well-known tale.
Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae, is often regarded as one of Greek mythology’s greatest villains because she killed the husband that murdered two of her children.
While history remembers Clytemnestra as a notorious murderess, a ruthless woman burning with a need for vengeance, Casati reminds us that she was also a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a queen. A survivor.
It is love that fuels her, along with her vengeance.
Through Casati’s deft exploration, Queen Clytemnestra is reinstated as an actual human being — one who is grieving, has suffered immensely, craves justice, and refuses to become a pawn in a game ruled by gods and men.
Highly recommend for fans of mythological retellings and authors Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.
December 19, 2022
"Huntress. Warrior. Mother. Murderess. Queen." These are the many labels that can be applied to Clytemnestra, but to understand each one you must first be told her entire story and the suffering that featured throughout it.
I love me a powerful female protagonist and Clytemnestra proved herself to be one, very early on in the telling of this tale. There were time shifts throughout the novel, always following a tragedy that had befallen Clytemnestra. The reader got to see her at many different stages of her life but also, and most interestingly for me, how she altered when faced with differing losses, fears, and woes. She sometimes crumbled and sometimes hardened, but always fought her way through. She was a powerful woman in a world that didn't want her to be one, and so her lot in life was to never be provided with an easy path to her goals. Neither were the stories told about her willing to paint her in any sort of favourable light. This is her own story, in her own words, and even then the truths illuminated were harshly exposed.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Costanza Casati, and the publisher, Michael Joseph, for this opportunity.
I love me a powerful female protagonist and Clytemnestra proved herself to be one, very early on in the telling of this tale. There were time shifts throughout the novel, always following a tragedy that had befallen Clytemnestra. The reader got to see her at many different stages of her life but also, and most interestingly for me, how she altered when faced with differing losses, fears, and woes. She sometimes crumbled and sometimes hardened, but always fought her way through. She was a powerful woman in a world that didn't want her to be one, and so her lot in life was to never be provided with an easy path to her goals. Neither were the stories told about her willing to paint her in any sort of favourable light. This is her own story, in her own words, and even then the truths illuminated were harshly exposed.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, Costanza Casati, and the publisher, Michael Joseph, for this opportunity.
February 19, 2023
I am enjoying this trend of taking women from Greek mythology and showing them in a new light. I did think this one was a little slow in the beginning and the lapses of time seemed to not develop growth in the characters, but overall I found this an enjoyable story. Clytemnestra was Spartan trained to fight from a young age and hardened into the tough woman that Sparta needed to continue to remain strong. Unfortunately the rest of the world saw women as property and Clytemnestra was betrayed over and over again. It was nice to see some familiar names in this story and also some I didn’t already know. It was also nice to read about Greek mythology without appearances by the gods. This story is about betrayal, revenge, power, and whether it is better to be forgotten or remembered for how much you were feared,
April 14, 2023
A Greek mythology retelling that puts a wronged, powerful woman hell-bent on revenge at centre stage? That’ll be a five stars from me. Circe holds a special place in my heart, but now Clytemnestra is right there with her.
Focusing on Clytemnestra’s life from child to mother and queen, this one is also the tale of the lead up to the Trojan War and is impressive in its vast knowledge and fulfilling inclusion of so many recognisable characters. The writing is beautiful and gripping, laced with that addictive, lyrical style that’s needed to make a mythology re-telling really hook you. Clytemnestra herself is the epitome of inspiring, flawed inner strength that comes from love, I was rooting for her from the first to last page. It’s a masterpiece.
Also, Agamemnon sucks Clytemnestra rules.
Focusing on Clytemnestra’s life from child to mother and queen, this one is also the tale of the lead up to the Trojan War and is impressive in its vast knowledge and fulfilling inclusion of so many recognisable characters. The writing is beautiful and gripping, laced with that addictive, lyrical style that’s needed to make a mythology re-telling really hook you. Clytemnestra herself is the epitome of inspiring, flawed inner strength that comes from love, I was rooting for her from the first to last page. It’s a masterpiece.
Also, Agamemnon sucks Clytemnestra rules.
Shelved as 'arc-reviewed'
April 2, 2023《 4-4.5 ✰ 》
Captivating, well written, and I loved it!
Was I the only one picturing the beginning of WW with all of the warrior women training?
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted ARC.
“I’m saying that it is hard to find a man who is really strong. Strong enough not to desire to be stronger than you.”
Captivating, well written, and I loved it!
Was I the only one picturing the beginning of WW with all of the warrior women training?
Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the gifted ARC.
May 2, 2023
OMG, so good, and now available!
Did I just tag this as one of the best books of 2023? Why yes, I did.
This is the most illuminating account of the lead-up to the Trojan War that I have ever read, and I read just about everything having to do with Greek mythology. The author, Costanza Casati, brings her incredible knowledge of the ancient Greeks and of ancient Greek literature, and greatly expands the narrative we think we already know. Not only is her storytelling smooth and seamless, but also rich in every detail.
As the title suggests, this is Greek tragedy told from the perspective of the Spartan women. Most novels which cover this subject, begin with a narrow focus and expand to the exploits of the famous warriors. However, this author chooses to begin with an expansive examination of the family history, the cultural and religious practices of the time, topographical references, and even the elements of typical of modes of dress and of feasts. The depth of the relationships, and the flaws of each character further contribute to the rich tapestry, which eventually flows to a tension point of final confrontation and retribution. It's a unique approach, and an effective framework for tension building, even when we know how it ends.
If you are a fan of Circe, The Song of Achilles, Ariadne, A Thousand Ships, or Elektra, I can just about guarantee that you will connect with this book, too.
It's really hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Many thanks to Sourcebooks and #NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.
Did I just tag this as one of the best books of 2023? Why yes, I did.
This is the most illuminating account of the lead-up to the Trojan War that I have ever read, and I read just about everything having to do with Greek mythology. The author, Costanza Casati, brings her incredible knowledge of the ancient Greeks and of ancient Greek literature, and greatly expands the narrative we think we already know. Not only is her storytelling smooth and seamless, but also rich in every detail.
As the title suggests, this is Greek tragedy told from the perspective of the Spartan women. Most novels which cover this subject, begin with a narrow focus and expand to the exploits of the famous warriors. However, this author chooses to begin with an expansive examination of the family history, the cultural and religious practices of the time, topographical references, and even the elements of typical of modes of dress and of feasts. The depth of the relationships, and the flaws of each character further contribute to the rich tapestry, which eventually flows to a tension point of final confrontation and retribution. It's a unique approach, and an effective framework for tension building, even when we know how it ends.
If you are a fan of Circe, The Song of Achilles, Ariadne, A Thousand Ships, or Elektra, I can just about guarantee that you will connect with this book, too.
It's really hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Many thanks to Sourcebooks and #NetGalley for providing a copy of this book for review.
Want to read
September 7, 2022Any Madeline Miller-esque retelling of Greek history gets an instant AUTO-ADD from me although comparing Clytemnestra to Cersei Lannister pains me to my soul
November 9, 2023
What a wonderful look into a strong courageous woman who became a queen.
June 29, 2023
I have such a weakness for Greek myths, well retold. Some of my favorite books of recent years have been Circe, Stone Blind, Ithaca, and Stephen Fry’s Mythos. I also have a love for any book that takes a misunderstood figure, real or fictional, hero or villain, and gives said figure more dimension, showing a different side of their often well-known story. When these loves are paired together alongside a healthy dose of feminine rage, I’m immediately sold. Which is why I pre-ordered Clytemnestra almost as soon as I heard of its upcoming release. While I’ve been disappointed by Greek myth retellings in the past, Clytemnestra was everything I was hoping it would be, and more.
Clytemnestra was one of literature’s very first villainesses. She is frequently viewed with hatred, and as her claim to fame was murdering her husband, King Agamemnon, after he had been away at war for ten years, this is an understandable stance to take on the surface. But she is a figure who, like Medusa and Medea and so many other women in Greek myth, is often maligned without second thought. This book delves into Clytemnestra as an individual, following her girlhood and progressing into her forcible marriage to Agamemnon. We see the trauma she suffers at his hand, capped off by the sacrifice of her eldest daughter so that Agamemnon’s ships could catch a wind to Troy. Is it any wonder that she plotted revenge, and took it when the chance was offered?
What I love most about this novel is the nuance given to Clytemnestra. She could easily have been presented as conniving, or a bitter woman scorned one time too many. She is both of these things, but she’s also fierce and strong and resilient. She is an excellent, dedicated mother, and a brilliant queen. She is a woman of dimension, depth, facets. I deeply appreciated the fact that we were given so much of her childhood in the narrative. Spartan girls experience life in far different ways than other Greek girls. Clytemnestra and Helen and their sisters grew up fighting and sparring everyday, with weapons and without. Bouts were brutal, sometimes delivering broken bones or even death, but always, at the very least, resulting in bruises and blood spilt. This is the childhood that shaped Clytemnestra.
While I knew the ins and outs of this story fairly well, I found that knowledge only added to my experience with the book instead of making me impatient in any way. Knowing what would happen ratcheted up the tension. The pacing here was very well done; for an over 400 page book on such a familiar story, I never felt as if it were dragging in any way. I’ve also struggled in the past with myth retellings that seek to write out the gods and magic from the narrative, as that seems to leech some of the character from the stories. The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood comes to mind. I tend to prefer books like Circe and Stone Blind that embrace the weirdness of Greek myth and utilize the pantheon and the magical elements to basically house a historical fantasy tale. Clytemnestra is neither of those things. There is never an attempt made to explain away the gods. They are not present in the plot for the simple reason that Clytemnestra does not believe in them. There was no need to justify this belief; it simply was. And because of that, we’re not shown any magical elements of the story. This worked really well, and never felt forced in any way.
I enjoyed everything about this. I thought it was brilliantly written. The ending felt a bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the story, but don’t climactic scenes usually feel feverishly fast, both in the minds of readers and the lives of those experiencing them? I loved learning more about Clytemnestra. I loved seeing her as a ferociously devoted sister and mother, a woman who cared about women and was willing to be seen as a villain. I especially appreciated the vile depiction of Agamemnon, as I’ve always despised him in any story he in which he appears. In a world where women were treated as treasure to despoil and property to horde, Clytemnestra claimed her own autonomy. Kudos to her.
Clytemnestra was one of literature’s very first villainesses. She is frequently viewed with hatred, and as her claim to fame was murdering her husband, King Agamemnon, after he had been away at war for ten years, this is an understandable stance to take on the surface. But she is a figure who, like Medusa and Medea and so many other women in Greek myth, is often maligned without second thought. This book delves into Clytemnestra as an individual, following her girlhood and progressing into her forcible marriage to Agamemnon. We see the trauma she suffers at his hand, capped off by the sacrifice of her eldest daughter so that Agamemnon’s ships could catch a wind to Troy. Is it any wonder that she plotted revenge, and took it when the chance was offered?
What I love most about this novel is the nuance given to Clytemnestra. She could easily have been presented as conniving, or a bitter woman scorned one time too many. She is both of these things, but she’s also fierce and strong and resilient. She is an excellent, dedicated mother, and a brilliant queen. She is a woman of dimension, depth, facets. I deeply appreciated the fact that we were given so much of her childhood in the narrative. Spartan girls experience life in far different ways than other Greek girls. Clytemnestra and Helen and their sisters grew up fighting and sparring everyday, with weapons and without. Bouts were brutal, sometimes delivering broken bones or even death, but always, at the very least, resulting in bruises and blood spilt. This is the childhood that shaped Clytemnestra.
While I knew the ins and outs of this story fairly well, I found that knowledge only added to my experience with the book instead of making me impatient in any way. Knowing what would happen ratcheted up the tension. The pacing here was very well done; for an over 400 page book on such a familiar story, I never felt as if it were dragging in any way. I’ve also struggled in the past with myth retellings that seek to write out the gods and magic from the narrative, as that seems to leech some of the character from the stories. The Shadow of Perseus by Claire Heywood comes to mind. I tend to prefer books like Circe and Stone Blind that embrace the weirdness of Greek myth and utilize the pantheon and the magical elements to basically house a historical fantasy tale. Clytemnestra is neither of those things. There is never an attempt made to explain away the gods. They are not present in the plot for the simple reason that Clytemnestra does not believe in them. There was no need to justify this belief; it simply was. And because of that, we’re not shown any magical elements of the story. This worked really well, and never felt forced in any way.
I enjoyed everything about this. I thought it was brilliantly written. The ending felt a bit rushed in comparison to the rest of the story, but don’t climactic scenes usually feel feverishly fast, both in the minds of readers and the lives of those experiencing them? I loved learning more about Clytemnestra. I loved seeing her as a ferociously devoted sister and mother, a woman who cared about women and was willing to be seen as a villain. I especially appreciated the vile depiction of Agamemnon, as I’ve always despised him in any story he in which he appears. In a world where women were treated as treasure to despoil and property to horde, Clytemnestra claimed her own autonomy. Kudos to her.
November 27, 2022
Clytemnestra
By Costanza Casati
Clytemnestra is a princess, her mother, the queen. She comes and goes from the castle, behaves as all children do, seeking adventure outdoors. Helena of Sparta is her sister but still, Clytemnestra is the adventuress readers will want to know in this tale of an ancient heroine who has many objectives to overcome in her life. This book highlights them all, making it a read you aren’t able to put down, non-stop action on every page. Despite the fact the movement in the book, much of the action is dramatic, does not stop the fact that it comes to the girl, then woman, at a pace and and all would be overwhelmed. But, Clytemnestra holds her head high and prevails in it all, however the events play out. This woman, definitely a Spartan worthy of her own telling, tale, and book. Constansa Casati wrote it, simply titled, Clytemnestra.
Her sister, in youth, remarks that as a man, she would be one of the strongest fighters in Greece. Clytemnestra, knowing she must be the cleverest of all to prevail, working hard to make herself so. And the story of her parents are very important to the girl, her heritage, reminding her forever of where she came from and what she carries in her veins, not just the royalty, but the strength, endurance, and fortitude to be great, the greatest of all others. The girls are thought to be born from a mortal mother and a god but their father, King Tyndareus, loving their mother for her fierceness, doubts Helen (her sister) as his child.
Clytemnestra’s family is quite large, full of many brothers and sisters. They are all loved, all except Helen, by the King, as he thinks Leda (Helen and Clytemnestra’s mother) had taken with another man to beget this daughter. The rumors, stories, tales and jokes do not help the matter. But, whatever may come of this, whatever of the future, the sisters are close and nothing will part them. Will that always remain true? Their grandmother Gorgophone would tell them that they would be remembered, throughout history, over their brothers, their family, a dynasty of queens. Will that be true? Will both sisters be remembered?
The girl has learned much in her training, wrestling the Spartiates throughout her youth. This is part of her training as a Spartan, as part of the royal house, as a girl. The Spariates are the daughters of the best and noblest houses of the warriors of Sparta. They are to train with the commoners until they start a family. King Tyndareus oversees the training and fights and when Helen is challenged for her first fight, Clytemnestra has to do something that is against the rules, something never done. While royalty may burn, rape, steal, and kill as they like the only thing forbidden to them is to hurt a noble person. Will Clytemnestra always break the rules? But, will she only do that for those she loves?
A smart girl, growing into a woman, Clytemnestra disagrees with a glorious death over being shamed. The decision in living is what, I think, makes her a woman now, rather than a girl. Being alive is the only way to make it through life, as in death, there is nothing, you are gone and only a story remains, however victorious, or glorious it may be, only words whispered from anothers mouth. Better to be there to go on, seize the next day, and have a mighty victory for a glorious, long life. This thought, however, separates her from many of the other Spartans. How will Clytemnestra’s different ways of thinking about things (however smarter they may seem) create victories, or disasters, for her in the future?
In Costanza Casati’s story, we find all the good traits of a great woman, a wise woman, a worthy woman and readers need to read about this lesser told Spartan who we should have heard just as much, if not more than, her well known sister Helena. There is alot to enjoy, in Clytemnestra a book readers simply won’t want to put down, or, be able to.
By Costanza Casati
Clytemnestra is a princess, her mother, the queen. She comes and goes from the castle, behaves as all children do, seeking adventure outdoors. Helena of Sparta is her sister but still, Clytemnestra is the adventuress readers will want to know in this tale of an ancient heroine who has many objectives to overcome in her life. This book highlights them all, making it a read you aren’t able to put down, non-stop action on every page. Despite the fact the movement in the book, much of the action is dramatic, does not stop the fact that it comes to the girl, then woman, at a pace and and all would be overwhelmed. But, Clytemnestra holds her head high and prevails in it all, however the events play out. This woman, definitely a Spartan worthy of her own telling, tale, and book. Constansa Casati wrote it, simply titled, Clytemnestra.
Her sister, in youth, remarks that as a man, she would be one of the strongest fighters in Greece. Clytemnestra, knowing she must be the cleverest of all to prevail, working hard to make herself so. And the story of her parents are very important to the girl, her heritage, reminding her forever of where she came from and what she carries in her veins, not just the royalty, but the strength, endurance, and fortitude to be great, the greatest of all others. The girls are thought to be born from a mortal mother and a god but their father, King Tyndareus, loving their mother for her fierceness, doubts Helen (her sister) as his child.
Clytemnestra’s family is quite large, full of many brothers and sisters. They are all loved, all except Helen, by the King, as he thinks Leda (Helen and Clytemnestra’s mother) had taken with another man to beget this daughter. The rumors, stories, tales and jokes do not help the matter. But, whatever may come of this, whatever of the future, the sisters are close and nothing will part them. Will that always remain true? Their grandmother Gorgophone would tell them that they would be remembered, throughout history, over their brothers, their family, a dynasty of queens. Will that be true? Will both sisters be remembered?
The girl has learned much in her training, wrestling the Spartiates throughout her youth. This is part of her training as a Spartan, as part of the royal house, as a girl. The Spariates are the daughters of the best and noblest houses of the warriors of Sparta. They are to train with the commoners until they start a family. King Tyndareus oversees the training and fights and when Helen is challenged for her first fight, Clytemnestra has to do something that is against the rules, something never done. While royalty may burn, rape, steal, and kill as they like the only thing forbidden to them is to hurt a noble person. Will Clytemnestra always break the rules? But, will she only do that for those she loves?
A smart girl, growing into a woman, Clytemnestra disagrees with a glorious death over being shamed. The decision in living is what, I think, makes her a woman now, rather than a girl. Being alive is the only way to make it through life, as in death, there is nothing, you are gone and only a story remains, however victorious, or glorious it may be, only words whispered from anothers mouth. Better to be there to go on, seize the next day, and have a mighty victory for a glorious, long life. This thought, however, separates her from many of the other Spartans. How will Clytemnestra’s different ways of thinking about things (however smarter they may seem) create victories, or disasters, for her in the future?
In Costanza Casati’s story, we find all the good traits of a great woman, a wise woman, a worthy woman and readers need to read about this lesser told Spartan who we should have heard just as much, if not more than, her well known sister Helena. There is alot to enjoy, in Clytemnestra a book readers simply won’t want to put down, or, be able to.
November 18, 2023
A dark and powerful book, beautifully written.
March 3, 2023
Losing my patience with the current onslaught of Greek myth retellings that have nothing new to say
December 10, 2023
I absolutely loved this POV. The audio is excellent.
March 3, 2024
DNF - 33%. For the record, I'm not a purist, nor a classics scholar, nor anti-feminist, and I was down for a revisionist and redemptive story arc for a woman who is largely reviled in Greek mythology. But. This is no Circe: if Madeline Miller's writing is silk, Costanza Casati's is cheap polyester, and it...itches.
Clytemnestra, if you need a refresher (I did), was Agamemnon's wife during the whole Trojan mess; she took a lover while Agamemnon was away at war, and then they killed him when he returned a decade later.
Casati tries to make Clytemnestra more sympathetic by bringing in a first husband (Tantalus), an instalove romance in exactly 21 pages. I can't figure out why she chose the name Tantalus, possibly a reference to a son of Zeus in mythology, whose name gave rise to the word 'tantalizing' after he sacrificed a son to the gods and was punished by having to stand in water with fruit dangling above him, able to reach neither fruit nor water. Or, Wiki tells me that there's a historical Tantalus who is the great-great-grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus (how weird would it be to marry one guy, and then a few years later marry his great-great-grandson?).
There's also a strong whiff of #girlboss vibes as the book opens with Clytemnestra slaughtering a lynx, later wrestling like a proper Spartan girl, having a say in her family politics, and generally proving herself to be Not Like the Other Girls. She's an anachronistic ally to her lesbian sister (like, I don't think that's how sexuality worked in ancient Greece, but it has been two decades since my last classics class - a class provocatively titled 'Monsters, Barbarians, and Women'). Apart from the large-cat-killing and resentment about not making it into epic poetry like the bros, Casati's Clytemnestra comes across as strangely modern.
I could have blithely ignored all of this had I enjoyed the writing, but I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise; it's actually hard for me to read because it's so distracting. The descriptions are frequently irrelevant and uninteresting, the figurative language is so odd that it yanks me out of the story, and to call the dialogue wooden would be an insult to trees (secondary vascular growth is fascinating and marvelous, and you can even tell different species apart by looking at wood cross sections under a microscope - true facts!). These gems are from my reading notes:
I'm just too old for this kind of redundancy.
How do you eat grapes in such a way that they stain your beard?? Grape flesh has clear juice; it's the skin that has pigments, and you'd really have to gnaw the skin and then rub it on your beard to get any kind of staining. ...Or you could just pop a whole grape into your mouth like a normal person.
I dunno what to even say about this one, or whether the jumbled similes or treacly sentimentality bothers me more.
See? Weird. It sounds like the warrior has vitiligo or something. Also, can something be 'scattered with twigs'? Shouldn't twigs be scattered in hair instead? And that's a lot of twigs. Even after a really rough field day scrambling through dense willow thickets, I rarely have more than two twigs in my hair.
tl;dr: poorly written, unnecessary retelling that doesn't add anything to the original story. No thank you.
Clytemnestra, if you need a refresher (I did), was Agamemnon's wife during the whole Trojan mess; she took a lover while Agamemnon was away at war, and then they killed him when he returned a decade later.
Casati tries to make Clytemnestra more sympathetic by bringing in a first husband (Tantalus), an instalove romance in exactly 21 pages. I can't figure out why she chose the name Tantalus, possibly a reference to a son of Zeus in mythology, whose name gave rise to the word 'tantalizing' after he sacrificed a son to the gods and was punished by having to stand in water with fruit dangling above him, able to reach neither fruit nor water. Or, Wiki tells me that there's a historical Tantalus who is the great-great-grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus (how weird would it be to marry one guy, and then a few years later marry his great-great-grandson?).
There's also a strong whiff of #girlboss vibes as the book opens with Clytemnestra slaughtering a lynx, later wrestling like a proper Spartan girl, having a say in her family politics, and generally proving herself to be Not Like the Other Girls. She's an anachronistic ally to her lesbian sister (like, I don't think that's how sexuality worked in ancient Greece, but it has been two decades since my last classics class - a class provocatively titled 'Monsters, Barbarians, and Women'). Apart from the large-cat-killing and resentment about not making it into epic poetry like the bros, Casati's Clytemnestra comes across as strangely modern.
I could have blithely ignored all of this had I enjoyed the writing, but I find Casati's writing clunky and imprecise; it's actually hard for me to read because it's so distracting. The descriptions are frequently irrelevant and uninteresting, the figurative language is so odd that it yanks me out of the story, and to call the dialogue wooden would be an insult to trees (secondary vascular growth is fascinating and marvelous, and you can even tell different species apart by looking at wood cross sections under a microscope - true facts!). These gems are from my reading notes:
His hair is as black as obsidian and his eyes turquoise, like the most precious gems.
I'm just too old for this kind of redundancy.
He is eating some grapes out of a bowl, juice staining his beard.
How do you eat grapes in such a way that they stain your beard?? Grape flesh has clear juice; it's the skin that has pigments, and you'd really have to gnaw the skin and then rub it on your beard to get any kind of staining. ...Or you could just pop a whole grape into your mouth like a normal person.
As he speaks, she is stricken by how wonderful and scary it is to hang on his every word and to wish she could listen to him forever. It is like jumping over the edge of a cliff and falling, her heart racing, yet always longing for more.
I dunno what to even say about this one, or whether the jumbled similes or treacly sentimentality bothers me more.
They climb to the peak, where the air is cold and wet and trees pierce the sky like spears. Clytemnestra stops to sit on a large rock, and Helen kneels at her side, her golden hair sweaty and scattered with twigs. From up there, the valley is brown and smooth, the patches of dry yellow land like scars on a warrior's back.
See? Weird. It sounds like the warrior has vitiligo or something. Also, can something be 'scattered with twigs'? Shouldn't twigs be scattered in hair instead? And that's a lot of twigs. Even after a really rough field day scrambling through dense willow thickets, I rarely have more than two twigs in my hair.
tl;dr: poorly written, unnecessary retelling that doesn't add anything to the original story. No thank you.
October 15, 2022
Clytemnestra is the daughter of the king of Sparta, the sister of the infamous Helen. When her husband Agamemnon sacrifices their daughter to the gods in return for fair winds, she begins to plot against him - for this is by far not the first ill he's dealt her.
I thought Clytemnestra was an odd choice as heroine, even within the recent trend of novels centering women in Greek mythology - but I read this book because I was excited to see how it would be done.
Clytemnestra is immediately established as a compelling heroine, as despite her perspective on events being way off center from the usual narrative of the Iliad. The author did a really good job of making the reader throw their lot in with Clytemnestra and feel that the things she does are inevitable considering how she has been wronged. Despite the book being crowded with fascinating characters, Clytemnestra holds center stage.
However, I did think the story began to crumble in the second half, as we move onto the events of Iphigenia in Aulis and Agamemnon's return. There are large time skips in this section, and I did not understand why we didn't see much of a change in her perspective despite the long periods missing - it was as though her character did not develop off screen.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
I thought Clytemnestra was an odd choice as heroine, even within the recent trend of novels centering women in Greek mythology - but I read this book because I was excited to see how it would be done.
Clytemnestra is immediately established as a compelling heroine, as despite her perspective on events being way off center from the usual narrative of the Iliad. The author did a really good job of making the reader throw their lot in with Clytemnestra and feel that the things she does are inevitable considering how she has been wronged. Despite the book being crowded with fascinating characters, Clytemnestra holds center stage.
However, I did think the story began to crumble in the second half, as we move onto the events of Iphigenia in Aulis and Agamemnon's return. There are large time skips in this section, and I did not understand why we didn't see much of a change in her perspective despite the long periods missing - it was as though her character did not develop off screen.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
August 11, 2023
(Tune in to my full podcast review of Clytemnestra here.)
Let me begin by saying this is one of the best books I’ve read in a loooooooong time. And as an avid complainer/whiner, I do not say that lightly.
I have been been fascinated by the character Clytemnestra since I read Elektra by Jennifer Saint. That book changed the entire trajectory of my love for Greek mythology. I went from a casual Percy Jackson reader to a die-hard mythological retellings reader. The one part of that story, though, that stood out most to me was Clytemnestra.
She wasn’t meant to be the main focal point of the story, but she ended up being mine nonetheless. She was unlike any other woman I’d ever read in modern or classic literature, both strong and feminine, willing to make terrible sacrifices but drawing her lines very clearly, a mother, a wife, a fighter. But that is just the barest description of her.
Reading an entire book that focuses on Clytemnestra’s life is something I so desperately needed after reading Elektra, and I cannot tell you how pleased I was to find this on my local library’s shelf.
Casati’s writing style is beautiful. Every word is meaningful, and nearly every chapter holds a quote that made me pause and consider it, both in the context of the story and in the context of my own life. She has such a talent with relating Greek myth to modern lives in subtle but clever ways.
There is something I find so beautiful about stories that weave motherhood into them in such a unique and positive way. (I’m not a mother myself, so why do I love it so much? Not sure, but I do anyway.) So many depictions of strong, powerful women, especially modern ones, present a career-driven, ambitious woman that has little to no interest in or love for children. I don’t know if this is just an issue of popular tropes or what, but I love to read about a woman who is both wildly ambitious and devoted to her children and family. That is my brand of girl power.
Casati’s presentation of Clytemnestra was everything I had hoped for and more. From just the small bits and pieces of the character I’d read before, I knew she was someone I connected with and wanted to know more about, and this look into her mind was just flawlessly executed.
I am so pleased I decided to pick up this book and give it a go. There is truly not one thing I would have changed about Clytemnestra, and I just might have found my new favorite author. Costanza Casati, I salute you.
My Website | My YA Thriller Books | My Bookish Podcast | Linktree | Instagram
Let me begin by saying this is one of the best books I’ve read in a loooooooong time. And as an avid complainer/whiner, I do not say that lightly.
I have been been fascinated by the character Clytemnestra since I read Elektra by Jennifer Saint. That book changed the entire trajectory of my love for Greek mythology. I went from a casual Percy Jackson reader to a die-hard mythological retellings reader. The one part of that story, though, that stood out most to me was Clytemnestra.
She wasn’t meant to be the main focal point of the story, but she ended up being mine nonetheless. She was unlike any other woman I’d ever read in modern or classic literature, both strong and feminine, willing to make terrible sacrifices but drawing her lines very clearly, a mother, a wife, a fighter. But that is just the barest description of her.
Reading an entire book that focuses on Clytemnestra’s life is something I so desperately needed after reading Elektra, and I cannot tell you how pleased I was to find this on my local library’s shelf.
Casati’s writing style is beautiful. Every word is meaningful, and nearly every chapter holds a quote that made me pause and consider it, both in the context of the story and in the context of my own life. She has such a talent with relating Greek myth to modern lives in subtle but clever ways.
There is something I find so beautiful about stories that weave motherhood into them in such a unique and positive way. (I’m not a mother myself, so why do I love it so much? Not sure, but I do anyway.) So many depictions of strong, powerful women, especially modern ones, present a career-driven, ambitious woman that has little to no interest in or love for children. I don’t know if this is just an issue of popular tropes or what, but I love to read about a woman who is both wildly ambitious and devoted to her children and family. That is my brand of girl power.
Casati’s presentation of Clytemnestra was everything I had hoped for and more. From just the small bits and pieces of the character I’d read before, I knew she was someone I connected with and wanted to know more about, and this look into her mind was just flawlessly executed.
I am so pleased I decided to pick up this book and give it a go. There is truly not one thing I would have changed about Clytemnestra, and I just might have found my new favorite author. Costanza Casati, I salute you.
My Website | My YA Thriller Books | My Bookish Podcast | Linktree | Instagram
August 29, 2022
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati is a great historical fiction that shines the spotlight on an enigmatic, complex, and fascinating woman of ancient Greece.
It is just fascinating and fabulous that a woman of Greek Mythology can be so notorious and talked about, but yet has had such a small voice and has been type casted and condemned (traditionally). Well, Ms. Casati is about to change all of that.
Invigorating, addictive, emotional, dramatic, and stunning are just a few words I can find to describe this gem. I was captivated from the very beginning and never wanted it to end.
Ms. Casati has a true talent and has made an ancient historical and mythological figure current, relevant, real, and human.
Just wonderful.
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/7/23.
It is just fascinating and fabulous that a woman of Greek Mythology can be so notorious and talked about, but yet has had such a small voice and has been type casted and condemned (traditionally). Well, Ms. Casati is about to change all of that.
Invigorating, addictive, emotional, dramatic, and stunning are just a few words I can find to describe this gem. I was captivated from the very beginning and never wanted it to end.
Ms. Casati has a true talent and has made an ancient historical and mythological figure current, relevant, real, and human.
Just wonderful.
5/5 stars
Thank you NG and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/7/23.
June 17, 2023
The girlbossification of Greek literature has truly gone too far
July 18, 2023
Unfortunately this book was a big miss for me :(
This story is intended to be a kind of "redemption" story for Clytemnestra, a woman most known for killing her husband Agamemnon and in turn being murdered by her children. Casati attempts to reframe the narrative as a triumph for Clytemnestra: a story of abuse, female empowerment, and motherhood.
I went through this book wondering if there was just something I wasn't understanding about it. It's not hard to get me to like a book about angry women with swords. But in the wake of a series of feminist Greek mythology retellings, this book does the opposite of what I think it intends to do: in trying so hard to make Clytemnestra's actions justified, it does the opposite of what it sets out to do. She's no longer a jealous villainess, she's a flat Girlboss. Instead of adding complexity to her character, it leans so far into making her likable that it strips that nuance away. Clytemnestra is the perfect victim - she is always the one suffering, she is always right and clever, and opposition to her is painted squarely as misogyny (from men) or brattiness (from women). When she does do something wrong, it's justified as the unhappy outburst of an unhappy woman, easily waved away.
I think part of this came from an effort from the author to make Clytemnestra appear feminist and good even by modern standards. There's a common myth that ancient Greece was actually quite progressive when it came to queer relationships. In reality, this wasn't the case - it was just that gay men weren't always perceived as 'gay' by our modern standards, and lesbian relationships were still stigmatized. This is acknowledged within the book, but the author goes out of her way to show us that Clytemnestra is actually NOT homophobic in an otherwise homophobic society. And it's not that I want to see Clytemnestra be homophobic, but I think it's an example of how afraid the author was to give her any shades of grey that might seem unsavory to a modern audience. It's only near the very end of the book - within the last 10% - that Clytemnestra is allowed to be anything else. In fact, the most interesting parts of the book were where we see her character through the perspective of other characters, and when she compares herself to Agamemnon. I think this would have been a much more compelling story if we received more perspectives, and with them a more interesting take on her character. Otherwise, it's the Clytemnestra show, and the politics are a beige feminism at best.
This kind of modern perspective filters through a lot of the story. I have to allow retellings to do the thing where they wink at the audience, nodding to the way these stories have been reinterpreted. But this book was so ham-fisted about it, and did it way too frequently. How many times does a character need to comment on who will be remembered and how women are absent through history? How many times will Helen and Clytemnestra compare their legacies?
There's one more scene that I have to mention here, because it warrants greater discussion concerning the milquetoast politics of feminist retellings that clutch their pearls at moral ambiguity. There's a scene where Clytemnestra follows Aegisthus through the town. Up to this point, there's been a question about his character - is he good? Or is he planning on using Clytemnestra too? In a crowded bar, she sees
I will say there's some things in this book that I could appreciate, like Clytemnestra's ambiguity towards religion and Odysseus in general. But god, these moments were few and far between. The politics are interesting and the writing on a line-by-line basis was good, though this was hindered by the flat audiobook narration.
I'm ready to be done with this book, and I'm inclined to think we've started to reach the decline of Greek mythology retellings if this is the standard moving forward. Ugh :(
This story is intended to be a kind of "redemption" story for Clytemnestra, a woman most known for killing her husband Agamemnon and in turn being murdered by her children. Casati attempts to reframe the narrative as a triumph for Clytemnestra: a story of abuse, female empowerment, and motherhood.
I went through this book wondering if there was just something I wasn't understanding about it. It's not hard to get me to like a book about angry women with swords. But in the wake of a series of feminist Greek mythology retellings, this book does the opposite of what I think it intends to do: in trying so hard to make Clytemnestra's actions justified, it does the opposite of what it sets out to do. She's no longer a jealous villainess, she's a flat Girlboss. Instead of adding complexity to her character, it leans so far into making her likable that it strips that nuance away. Clytemnestra is the perfect victim - she is always the one suffering, she is always right and clever, and opposition to her is painted squarely as misogyny (from men) or brattiness (from women). When she does do something wrong, it's justified as the unhappy outburst of an unhappy woman, easily waved away.
I think part of this came from an effort from the author to make Clytemnestra appear feminist and good even by modern standards. There's a common myth that ancient Greece was actually quite progressive when it came to queer relationships. In reality, this wasn't the case - it was just that gay men weren't always perceived as 'gay' by our modern standards, and lesbian relationships were still stigmatized. This is acknowledged within the book, but the author goes out of her way to show us that Clytemnestra is actually NOT homophobic in an otherwise homophobic society. And it's not that I want to see Clytemnestra be homophobic, but I think it's an example of how afraid the author was to give her any shades of grey that might seem unsavory to a modern audience. It's only near the very end of the book - within the last 10% - that Clytemnestra is allowed to be anything else. In fact, the most interesting parts of the book were where we see her character through the perspective of other characters, and when she compares herself to Agamemnon. I think this would have been a much more compelling story if we received more perspectives, and with them a more interesting take on her character. Otherwise, it's the Clytemnestra show, and the politics are a beige feminism at best.
This kind of modern perspective filters through a lot of the story. I have to allow retellings to do the thing where they wink at the audience, nodding to the way these stories have been reinterpreted. But this book was so ham-fisted about it, and did it way too frequently. How many times does a character need to comment on who will be remembered and how women are absent through history? How many times will Helen and Clytemnestra compare their legacies?
There's one more scene that I have to mention here, because it warrants greater discussion concerning the milquetoast politics of feminist retellings that clutch their pearls at moral ambiguity. There's a scene where Clytemnestra follows Aegisthus through the town. Up to this point, there's been a question about his character - is he good? Or is he planning on using Clytemnestra too? In a crowded bar, she sees
I will say there's some things in this book that I could appreciate, like Clytemnestra's ambiguity towards religion and Odysseus in general. But god, these moments were few and far between. The politics are interesting and the writing on a line-by-line basis was good, though this was hindered by the flat audiobook narration.
I'm ready to be done with this book, and I'm inclined to think we've started to reach the decline of Greek mythology retellings if this is the standard moving forward. Ugh :(
May 22, 2022
I had the immense privilege to read this novel in advance… 5 stars is not enough to describe how much I loved it!
always staying true to Greek myths and legends, Costanza is able to cast a new light on the most hated queen of ancient Greece: you will suffer with her, you will love intensely as she does, and ultimately you will seek her revenge like it was your own.
The thing I appreciated the most is how she manages to convey the feelings of the characters; in particular I loved how the relationship between Clytemnestra and Helen is represented.
With regards to the style, she remains faithful to the much-loved metaphors and figures of speech widely used in the Omeric poems, while at the same time maintaining a fresh, fast-paced prose that will keep you on the edge until the end.
I can’t wait to read Costanza’s next novels!
always staying true to Greek myths and legends, Costanza is able to cast a new light on the most hated queen of ancient Greece: you will suffer with her, you will love intensely as she does, and ultimately you will seek her revenge like it was your own.
The thing I appreciated the most is how she manages to convey the feelings of the characters; in particular I loved how the relationship between Clytemnestra and Helen is represented.
With regards to the style, she remains faithful to the much-loved metaphors and figures of speech widely used in the Omeric poems, while at the same time maintaining a fresh, fast-paced prose that will keep you on the edge until the end.
I can’t wait to read Costanza’s next novels!
July 23, 2023
this one is for the girlies who thought themselves “above” circe by madeline miller. the ones who wanted an author who’s done her research, isn’t turned off by moral ambiguity in women, and won’t woobify infamous female villains of mythology.
in doing so, in my hubris, I have girlbossed too close to the sun.
there is absolutely nothing to say about this book because it contains absolutely nothing. it’s not a retelling of the iliad (fair enough) and focuses on what clytemnestra would have experienced at different key points of her life (mostly her relationships with various men, and the death of her daughter. in short, everything she’s famous for. just because I would have wanted more doesn’t mean that these were bad plot choices).
the problem is that what clytemnestra feels is so textbook, so shallow, so gilded over with a thin patina of female rage that it’s pointless. it provides basic human contextualising that I won’t get from reading a straightforward summary of the myth, but I can also get that from a tumblr post. there was no insight into the human condition, no commentary on women in sparta, greek life, absolutely zilch.
very go girl, give us nothing.
and the reason I noticed (because trust me, I have reading comprehension so bad that I might not have) is because the book brings us so close to the abyss but doesn’t actually push us in. electra hovers constantly at the fringes of clytemnestra’s story, and there is always tension but there’s no deeper explanation of why and how, besides “everyone loves iphigenia more than me” and “you murdered my father”. clytemnestra sours her own relationship with electra by being too caught up in her grief, but this is told either through her throwing a goblet at electra or through the dialogue of side characters. electra grows up in an abusive household but sides with her loveless dead father over the mother who has tried to protect and hurt her, because why.
why, I kept asking at every turn of this book, because there are all these relationships and they are fraught and rancid and so goddamn interesting and we never get to know why. what the actual fuck happened to them. what is happening with them.
(odysseus, for instance, tries to protect clytemnestra on the day of iphigenia’s sacrifice but then also participates in ritual murder himself. why? penelope knows her beloved husband did this and chooses to disbelieve it for the sake of a happier marriage. what happens next?)
I never found out because every character is a thumbnail sketch more than a human being. all men are one-note evil (either violent or sneaky, always misogynistic in the exact same way). all men are afraid of showing weakness (except tantalus and odysseus who do it strategically, and aegisthus because he’s broken and the One Truly Good Man). slaves are either cowed or blindly loyal to someone who has shown them kindness literally just one time. helen is beautiful, therefore she must be insecure about her intellect and lash out. iphigenia will die young so she will be depicted as a one-note perfect child. (clytemnestra says later that people will misunderstand her as being perfect but she wasn’t. not because she was a teenage girl with runaway adolescent hormones, but because actually she wanted to live life to the fullest.)
the writing reflects this shallowness as well. the staccato, terse style is obviously deliberate but usually it’s employed to create subtlety and allow reading between the lines. what we get is sterile fight scenes, the characters’ reactions being over described, and every dramatic scene ham-handedly telegraphed like semaphores you can see from the moon.
thanks, I hate it.
in doing so, in my hubris, I have girlbossed too close to the sun.
there is absolutely nothing to say about this book because it contains absolutely nothing. it’s not a retelling of the iliad (fair enough) and focuses on what clytemnestra would have experienced at different key points of her life (mostly her relationships with various men, and the death of her daughter. in short, everything she’s famous for. just because I would have wanted more doesn’t mean that these were bad plot choices).
the problem is that what clytemnestra feels is so textbook, so shallow, so gilded over with a thin patina of female rage that it’s pointless. it provides basic human contextualising that I won’t get from reading a straightforward summary of the myth, but I can also get that from a tumblr post. there was no insight into the human condition, no commentary on women in sparta, greek life, absolutely zilch.
very go girl, give us nothing.
and the reason I noticed (because trust me, I have reading comprehension so bad that I might not have) is because the book brings us so close to the abyss but doesn’t actually push us in. electra hovers constantly at the fringes of clytemnestra’s story, and there is always tension but there’s no deeper explanation of why and how, besides “everyone loves iphigenia more than me” and “you murdered my father”. clytemnestra sours her own relationship with electra by being too caught up in her grief, but this is told either through her throwing a goblet at electra or through the dialogue of side characters. electra grows up in an abusive household but sides with her loveless dead father over the mother who has tried to protect and hurt her, because why.
why, I kept asking at every turn of this book, because there are all these relationships and they are fraught and rancid and so goddamn interesting and we never get to know why. what the actual fuck happened to them. what is happening with them.
(odysseus, for instance, tries to protect clytemnestra on the day of iphigenia’s sacrifice but then also participates in ritual murder himself. why? penelope knows her beloved husband did this and chooses to disbelieve it for the sake of a happier marriage. what happens next?)
I never found out because every character is a thumbnail sketch more than a human being. all men are one-note evil (either violent or sneaky, always misogynistic in the exact same way). all men are afraid of showing weakness (except tantalus and odysseus who do it strategically, and aegisthus because he’s broken and the One Truly Good Man). slaves are either cowed or blindly loyal to someone who has shown them kindness literally just one time. helen is beautiful, therefore she must be insecure about her intellect and lash out. iphigenia will die young so she will be depicted as a one-note perfect child. (clytemnestra says later that people will misunderstand her as being perfect but she wasn’t. not because she was a teenage girl with runaway adolescent hormones, but because actually she wanted to live life to the fullest.)
the writing reflects this shallowness as well. the staccato, terse style is obviously deliberate but usually it’s employed to create subtlety and allow reading between the lines. what we get is sterile fight scenes, the characters’ reactions being over described, and every dramatic scene ham-handedly telegraphed like semaphores you can see from the moon.
thanks, I hate it.
November 27, 2022
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
There is no peace for a woman with ambition
Known as the daughter of King Tyndareus and Leda, twin sister of Helen, princess of Sparta, and eventual wife of Agamemnon and Queen of Mycenae, Clytemnestra has been portrayed as a schemer and murderer. Following, fairly faithfully, to the works of Aeschylus, the author takes these Greek mythology tales and gives us a historical fiction feeling story that colors in all those spaces between the better known highlights, such as the Trojan War. I enjoyed how this take stripped away the more mythology fantasy elements and focused on seeing these characters from their mortal human sides. Clytemnestra doesn't necessarily believe in the Gods but subsequently finds her life impacted by them all the same because of the “Gods will” delivered through the all too human priestess and priests.
Is this what happens when one falls in love and marries? Clytemnestra wonders. Is this what a woman gives up? All her life she has been taught courage, strength, resilience, but must those qualities be kept at bay with a husband?
Divided up into five parts, the first starts off with a movie 300 like scene of Clytemnestra hunting a lynx and showing how she was raised in Sparta. It lays the ground work for how Clytemnestra will think further on in the story, her warrior mentality and always seeing herself on equal footing with men. The family dynamics of her mother drinking away her pain, closeness with siblings, and how it does seem that Clytemnestra is their father's favorite. Clytemnestra's, probably more known, sister Helen, also features predominately, which does make sense as the Trojan War plays a large role. Part one ends with Clytemnestra marrying for love.
“You must learn your place among men, Clytemnestra,” he says. His words are whips, slashing at her hurting throat. “You are too proud, too arrogant.”
Part two starts with Clytemnestra pregnant and her husband gone back to his kingdom to prepare them for her arrival. It also gives us the arrival of brothers Menelaus and Agamemnon, they lost their kingdom to a traitor and are looking for help from Sparta. This part shows how Agamemnon wants Clytemnestra and the underling sense of trouble brewing for our lead character Clytemnestra, but not to be missed, is how his brother Menelaus wants Helen and when she picks him as her husband, the other rejected men were forced to agree to a pact to support whoever she picked as husband. A pact that obviously comes back to play a huge part in why Greece went to war. We also get an introduction to Odysseus and his eventual romance with Clytemnestra's cousin Penelope, you've maybe heard of them? This part ends with the murder of Clytemnestra's husband and baby and her marriage to Agamemnon. Since the family dynamics were so well explored in the first part, the betrayal from Clytemnestra's father is really felt and how this immediately and in the future affects the whole family.
She gazes at Agamemnon and says, “I do not forget.”
Part three jumps fifteen years and we're in Mycenae with Clytemnestra and her four children. There's no love in her marriage but Clytemnestra does what she needs to in order to survive, she's strong and works with Agamemnon to rule the kingdom but you can feel the hatred in her that she keeps on simmer and always seemingly ready to boil. I thought it was interesting of the author to put little subtleties in where the reader gets the impression that Agamemnon does love Clytemnestra but he does it in such a selfish way, the whole killing her first husband and child because he wanted her. It added a layer to Agamemnon that improved the story, instead of just keeping him a one dimensional brute. Clytemnestra's father dies and she goes back to Sparta and we get updates on her siblings and at 56% Paris arrives in Sparta. Helen of Troy comes to fruition and we get our war. Part three ends with the sacrifice of Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia by Agamemnon by order of a priest so they can appease the gods and you can feel the simmering in Clytemnestra's gut boil throughout her body.
He desired her strength because it was a challenge to him. He wished to bend her to his own will, break her. He wanted to show he was stronger by subjugating her. Some men can be like that.
Part four starts with letters from Clytemnestra's family to her about the murder of her daughter and the reader gets a glimpse of how Clytemnestra mourned, not eating, not sleeping, raging, wanting to kill herself. Her personal guard, Leon, gets her through it, along with her other children and we jump nine years. With Helen getting some focus, it felt like a lot of lead up to the Trojan War and I was a little surprised how the story mostly skips the action of it, we get the highlights, Achilles, Odysseus' horse, but mostly the 10yrs is blew by. Clytemnestra used the time to solidify her ruling in Mycenae and the traitor to Agamemnon and his brother, Aegisthus, shows up and Clytemnestra and him start an affair.
A woman can't afford to close her eyes for long.
The last part has Clytemnestra abandoned by her long time guard Leon because of her affair with Aegisthus and her daughter Electra hating her and her son Orestes emitting some of those brewing danger feelings. Agamemnon comes home after victory in the Trojan War and Clytemnestra uses all those harbored inner boiling emotions and acts on them. After traveling with Clytemnestra through all she endured, it was a satisfactory scene. Again, I enjoyed how this take muted the fantastical mythological elements and focused on the mortal human character emotions and actions. Clytemnestra grew up learning how to physically fight and eventually had to learn how to hide and when to show her strengths because of being a woman in a man's society. The character's strength, knowing how she's seen, cruel and unfaithful, but holding onto her inner truth showed beautifully strong. Clytemnestra is a character I think gets overshadowed by her sister and the war, I'm glad this iteration colored her in and hushed the gods in favor of her agency.
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her better. Let her be hated forever.
There is no peace for a woman with ambition
Known as the daughter of King Tyndareus and Leda, twin sister of Helen, princess of Sparta, and eventual wife of Agamemnon and Queen of Mycenae, Clytemnestra has been portrayed as a schemer and murderer. Following, fairly faithfully, to the works of Aeschylus, the author takes these Greek mythology tales and gives us a historical fiction feeling story that colors in all those spaces between the better known highlights, such as the Trojan War. I enjoyed how this take stripped away the more mythology fantasy elements and focused on seeing these characters from their mortal human sides. Clytemnestra doesn't necessarily believe in the Gods but subsequently finds her life impacted by them all the same because of the “Gods will” delivered through the all too human priestess and priests.
Is this what happens when one falls in love and marries? Clytemnestra wonders. Is this what a woman gives up? All her life she has been taught courage, strength, resilience, but must those qualities be kept at bay with a husband?
Divided up into five parts, the first starts off with a movie 300 like scene of Clytemnestra hunting a lynx and showing how she was raised in Sparta. It lays the ground work for how Clytemnestra will think further on in the story, her warrior mentality and always seeing herself on equal footing with men. The family dynamics of her mother drinking away her pain, closeness with siblings, and how it does seem that Clytemnestra is their father's favorite. Clytemnestra's, probably more known, sister Helen, also features predominately, which does make sense as the Trojan War plays a large role. Part one ends with Clytemnestra marrying for love.
“You must learn your place among men, Clytemnestra,” he says. His words are whips, slashing at her hurting throat. “You are too proud, too arrogant.”
Part two starts with Clytemnestra pregnant and her husband gone back to his kingdom to prepare them for her arrival. It also gives us the arrival of brothers Menelaus and Agamemnon, they lost their kingdom to a traitor and are looking for help from Sparta. This part shows how Agamemnon wants Clytemnestra and the underling sense of trouble brewing for our lead character Clytemnestra, but not to be missed, is how his brother Menelaus wants Helen and when she picks him as her husband, the other rejected men were forced to agree to a pact to support whoever she picked as husband. A pact that obviously comes back to play a huge part in why Greece went to war. We also get an introduction to Odysseus and his eventual romance with Clytemnestra's cousin Penelope, you've maybe heard of them? This part ends with the murder of Clytemnestra's husband and baby and her marriage to Agamemnon. Since the family dynamics were so well explored in the first part, the betrayal from Clytemnestra's father is really felt and how this immediately and in the future affects the whole family.
She gazes at Agamemnon and says, “I do not forget.”
Part three jumps fifteen years and we're in Mycenae with Clytemnestra and her four children. There's no love in her marriage but Clytemnestra does what she needs to in order to survive, she's strong and works with Agamemnon to rule the kingdom but you can feel the hatred in her that she keeps on simmer and always seemingly ready to boil. I thought it was interesting of the author to put little subtleties in where the reader gets the impression that Agamemnon does love Clytemnestra but he does it in such a selfish way, the whole killing her first husband and child because he wanted her. It added a layer to Agamemnon that improved the story, instead of just keeping him a one dimensional brute. Clytemnestra's father dies and she goes back to Sparta and we get updates on her siblings and at 56% Paris arrives in Sparta. Helen of Troy comes to fruition and we get our war. Part three ends with the sacrifice of Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia by Agamemnon by order of a priest so they can appease the gods and you can feel the simmering in Clytemnestra's gut boil throughout her body.
He desired her strength because it was a challenge to him. He wished to bend her to his own will, break her. He wanted to show he was stronger by subjugating her. Some men can be like that.
Part four starts with letters from Clytemnestra's family to her about the murder of her daughter and the reader gets a glimpse of how Clytemnestra mourned, not eating, not sleeping, raging, wanting to kill herself. Her personal guard, Leon, gets her through it, along with her other children and we jump nine years. With Helen getting some focus, it felt like a lot of lead up to the Trojan War and I was a little surprised how the story mostly skips the action of it, we get the highlights, Achilles, Odysseus' horse, but mostly the 10yrs is blew by. Clytemnestra used the time to solidify her ruling in Mycenae and the traitor to Agamemnon and his brother, Aegisthus, shows up and Clytemnestra and him start an affair.
A woman can't afford to close her eyes for long.
The last part has Clytemnestra abandoned by her long time guard Leon because of her affair with Aegisthus and her daughter Electra hating her and her son Orestes emitting some of those brewing danger feelings. Agamemnon comes home after victory in the Trojan War and Clytemnestra uses all those harbored inner boiling emotions and acts on them. After traveling with Clytemnestra through all she endured, it was a satisfactory scene. Again, I enjoyed how this take muted the fantastical mythological elements and focused on the mortal human character emotions and actions. Clytemnestra grew up learning how to physically fight and eventually had to learn how to hide and when to show her strengths because of being a woman in a man's society. The character's strength, knowing how she's seen, cruel and unfaithful, but holding onto her inner truth showed beautifully strong. Clytemnestra is a character I think gets overshadowed by her sister and the war, I'm glad this iteration colored her in and hushed the gods in favor of her agency.
As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her better. Let her be hated forever.
July 12, 2023
Îmi era dor de o asa poveste. ❤️
May 7, 2023
CLYTEMNESTRA
BY: COSTANZA CASATI
Costanza Casati has written a masterpiece called, "Clytemnestra," that is every bit as fantastic as my favorites called, "Circe," by the great, Madeline Miller. That is a masterpiece also, so this accomplished and ultra talented Author deserves the highest of praise for this novel. I love Greek Mythology, but so few can enchant and make you never want the book to end. That this is right on par with, "Circe," is a testament to how outstanding this retelling of "Clytemnestra," is. Reading it made me feel like I was hypnotized by its poetic prose. It is so addictive I felt like I was bewitched by Costanza Casati's siren song. I LOVED IT! It is also a favorite that I know that I will be recommending and talking about the fantastic reading experience I had to everybody.
Please do not change the beautiful cover, because I plan on purchasing the hardcover for my special collection. This will make a beautiful gift to friends and family. It far exceeded my expectations! I already knew "Clytemnestra's" story from reading "Helen had a Sister," by Penelope Haines, some time ago, which was my introduction to learning about Clytemnestra's life. Although, I enjoyed it immensely, it wasn't as comprehensive and as epic in scope as this one was. This lushly written account is far more detailed, and I don't want to sound unoriginal by saying that this chronicles Clytemnestra's life from the young Princess of Sparta, where she grew up. She was Helen of Troy's sister and this novel illuminates how much they loved each other and, how extremely close they were.
I had no idea that Clytemnestra had a first husband and child. I still don't know for sure if that was this Author's imagination and creative license. I am the type of reader who looks up everybody in this thrilling story and, I couldn't find a record of her first husband and infant son being in her life. Her first husband's name in this retelling is called, Tantalus. Although, this Author has a glossary of all of the characters in this story and she says he was King of Maeonia, and first husband of Clytemnestra. My research revealed him to be a Lydian king, son of Zeus and father of Pelops. It went on to say that as punishment for his crimes (which included killing Pelops), he was forced to remain in chin-deep water with fruit-laden branches over his head, both of which receded when he reached for them. His name is the origin of the word "tantalize". My research has no record of the kind first husband of Clytemnestra who bore her first born infant. Who both were murdered by Clytemnestra's father, Tyndareus, (King of Sparta), who conspired with Agamemnon to kill them, so Agamemnon could have Clytemnestra. In this retelling her father forces her to marry Agamemnon, who she hates for what they did to her first husband and her infant son. This Author may have decided to invent this using her creativity or maybe she knows more than I do. This is my only small quibble with this mesmerizing tale. Not knowing which version is correct.
Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon and it is not a spoiler to reveal what I have written about so far. I love and admire her strong will and goodness except to the ones that wronged her. I knew of her to become the Queen of Mycenae and that she goes on to have more children with King Agamemnon who its common knowledge--that he becomes commander of the Greek fleet during the Trojan War.
What he does is tragic to Clytemnestra and somebody close to himself and further inflicts the worst kind of heartache onto Clytemnestra to incite her to hate him even more, if that is possible. I agreed with her feelings of hatred towards him and was heartbroken as much as she is. Clytemnestra is a wise and loving devoted mother. Helen marries Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother who becomes King of Sparta.
That is all that I will disclose, but this is so filled with a beautifully written story of a fearless, yet compassionate coming of age story that encompasses Clytemnestra's young life as a warrior who could fight successfully. It includes her family of origin and her reign as Queen at a time when most men didn't respect women. She successfully rules as she is left for nine years while Agamemnon is off fighting Troy. This war begins because Paris, Prince of Troy, entices Queen Helen to leave her husband, King Menelaus and her young daughter in Sparta. I never knew that Penelope who marries Odysseus of Ithaca, was Clytemnestra's and Helen's cousin.
It bears repeating that the atmospheric imagery and the poetic prose is so suburb, that it is equally as spectacular as Madeline Miller's masterpiece, "Circe." This is a masterpiece and I feel grateful for the serendipity of my discovery of it being offered as an Advanced Readers Copy on Net Galley. You can't imagine how excited I was to see it on my Dashboard as approved to read and review it. It was pure bliss reading this and my fear is that I have read all of my favorites already and everything else will pale in comparison. If you have any interest in the Classics and in this case Greek Mythology you will absolutely love this as much as I did. You don't need any prior knowledge because the Author lists in the beginning of this all of the characters and what their significance is, with their backgrounds. I didn't need to memorize it because this very talented Author, Costanza Casati explains things so well into her narrative. I will definitely read anything that she writes in the future. If I could give this One-Hundred Golden Stars I would. I highly, highly recommend this! It is definitely a Favorite! Haunting! Poignant! Intimate! Unforgettable! A story that pulls you in at the very beginning and never lets you go. The sights and sounds are a feast for all of your senses.
Publication Date: March 07, 2023
Thank you to Net Galley, Costanza Casati, and Sourcebooks Landmark for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. I was not required to leave a positive review, but my enthusiasm is because it is a great book!
#Clytemnestra #CostanzaCasati #SourcebooksLandmark #NetGalley
BY: COSTANZA CASATI
Costanza Casati has written a masterpiece called, "Clytemnestra," that is every bit as fantastic as my favorites called, "Circe," by the great, Madeline Miller. That is a masterpiece also, so this accomplished and ultra talented Author deserves the highest of praise for this novel. I love Greek Mythology, but so few can enchant and make you never want the book to end. That this is right on par with, "Circe," is a testament to how outstanding this retelling of "Clytemnestra," is. Reading it made me feel like I was hypnotized by its poetic prose. It is so addictive I felt like I was bewitched by Costanza Casati's siren song. I LOVED IT! It is also a favorite that I know that I will be recommending and talking about the fantastic reading experience I had to everybody.
Please do not change the beautiful cover, because I plan on purchasing the hardcover for my special collection. This will make a beautiful gift to friends and family. It far exceeded my expectations! I already knew "Clytemnestra's" story from reading "Helen had a Sister," by Penelope Haines, some time ago, which was my introduction to learning about Clytemnestra's life. Although, I enjoyed it immensely, it wasn't as comprehensive and as epic in scope as this one was. This lushly written account is far more detailed, and I don't want to sound unoriginal by saying that this chronicles Clytemnestra's life from the young Princess of Sparta, where she grew up. She was Helen of Troy's sister and this novel illuminates how much they loved each other and, how extremely close they were.
I had no idea that Clytemnestra had a first husband and child. I still don't know for sure if that was this Author's imagination and creative license. I am the type of reader who looks up everybody in this thrilling story and, I couldn't find a record of her first husband and infant son being in her life. Her first husband's name in this retelling is called, Tantalus. Although, this Author has a glossary of all of the characters in this story and she says he was King of Maeonia, and first husband of Clytemnestra. My research revealed him to be a Lydian king, son of Zeus and father of Pelops. It went on to say that as punishment for his crimes (which included killing Pelops), he was forced to remain in chin-deep water with fruit-laden branches over his head, both of which receded when he reached for them. His name is the origin of the word "tantalize". My research has no record of the kind first husband of Clytemnestra who bore her first born infant. Who both were murdered by Clytemnestra's father, Tyndareus, (King of Sparta), who conspired with Agamemnon to kill them, so Agamemnon could have Clytemnestra. In this retelling her father forces her to marry Agamemnon, who she hates for what they did to her first husband and her infant son. This Author may have decided to invent this using her creativity or maybe she knows more than I do. This is my only small quibble with this mesmerizing tale. Not knowing which version is correct.
Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon and it is not a spoiler to reveal what I have written about so far. I love and admire her strong will and goodness except to the ones that wronged her. I knew of her to become the Queen of Mycenae and that she goes on to have more children with King Agamemnon who its common knowledge--that he becomes commander of the Greek fleet during the Trojan War.
What he does is tragic to Clytemnestra and somebody close to himself and further inflicts the worst kind of heartache onto Clytemnestra to incite her to hate him even more, if that is possible. I agreed with her feelings of hatred towards him and was heartbroken as much as she is. Clytemnestra is a wise and loving devoted mother. Helen marries Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother who becomes King of Sparta.
That is all that I will disclose, but this is so filled with a beautifully written story of a fearless, yet compassionate coming of age story that encompasses Clytemnestra's young life as a warrior who could fight successfully. It includes her family of origin and her reign as Queen at a time when most men didn't respect women. She successfully rules as she is left for nine years while Agamemnon is off fighting Troy. This war begins because Paris, Prince of Troy, entices Queen Helen to leave her husband, King Menelaus and her young daughter in Sparta. I never knew that Penelope who marries Odysseus of Ithaca, was Clytemnestra's and Helen's cousin.
It bears repeating that the atmospheric imagery and the poetic prose is so suburb, that it is equally as spectacular as Madeline Miller's masterpiece, "Circe." This is a masterpiece and I feel grateful for the serendipity of my discovery of it being offered as an Advanced Readers Copy on Net Galley. You can't imagine how excited I was to see it on my Dashboard as approved to read and review it. It was pure bliss reading this and my fear is that I have read all of my favorites already and everything else will pale in comparison. If you have any interest in the Classics and in this case Greek Mythology you will absolutely love this as much as I did. You don't need any prior knowledge because the Author lists in the beginning of this all of the characters and what their significance is, with their backgrounds. I didn't need to memorize it because this very talented Author, Costanza Casati explains things so well into her narrative. I will definitely read anything that she writes in the future. If I could give this One-Hundred Golden Stars I would. I highly, highly recommend this! It is definitely a Favorite! Haunting! Poignant! Intimate! Unforgettable! A story that pulls you in at the very beginning and never lets you go. The sights and sounds are a feast for all of your senses.
Publication Date: March 07, 2023
Thank you to Net Galley, Costanza Casati, and Sourcebooks Landmark for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. I was not required to leave a positive review, but my enthusiasm is because it is a great book!
#Clytemnestra #CostanzaCasati #SourcebooksLandmark #NetGalley
October 10, 2022
In "Clytemnestra", Costanza Casati has taken a woman who's frequently villainized in Greek mythology and given a fresh and complex take on her life and story.
Clytemnestra is frequently remembered for her role in murdering her husband Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, after his victorious return after the Trojan War, but many forget that she's the sister of Helen of Troy. In this retelling, Casati starts at the beginning of her childhood, crafting a fiercely strong and protective woman who readily defends her siblings in wrestling matches - a common occurrence for both women and men and Sparta. She falls in love with and marries Tantalus, King of Pisa, and gives birth to their son, but her life is upended when her father, Tyndareus, enters into a scheme with Agamemnon and Menelaus of Mycenae. Tantalus and their son are brutally murdered by Agamemnon, and Clytemnestra is forced to marry her husband's and son's murderer; Helen is similarly coerced into a marriage with Menelaus.
In the years that follow, Clytemnestra works to solidify her position as Queen, juggling the roles as ruler, mother, and unwilling wife to a man she never loved. Her physical prowess and intelligence make her a respected and feared leader, but we get to see her moments of weakness when it comes to helping her siblings and the love she has for her children Iphigenia, Elektra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. When her sister Helen leaves Menelaus for Paris of Troy, she prays that her husband will die in the future battle - but is once again has her world fall apart when Agamemnon tricks her and Iphigenia, and sacrifices his own daughter for a "little bit of wind" to allow their ships to sail. Clytemnestra has to deal with this loss alone, and in Agamemnon's absence, finds respite in Aegisthus, a traitor to Agamemnon's and Menelaus's family. Upon Agamemnon's return, she finally acts on the wish she's harbored for decades, having to face the repercussions of her actions.
I'm incredibly impressed that this is Casati's debut novel; the writing was beautifully crafted, descriptive, and flowed across passages and chapters. She took on the perspective of Clytemnestra, highlighting the complexity of her character, emotions, and thoughts thoroughly, and created a woman who felt real-to-life that many of us could connect and empathize with. Instead of a devious, traitorous queen, we're presented with a woman forced into a life against her will, having faced incalculable loss over her life, doing her best to protect her loved ones.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone, especially fans of Greek mythology retellings, and can't wait for its release in March 2023!
Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy of this novel!
Clytemnestra is frequently remembered for her role in murdering her husband Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus, after his victorious return after the Trojan War, but many forget that she's the sister of Helen of Troy. In this retelling, Casati starts at the beginning of her childhood, crafting a fiercely strong and protective woman who readily defends her siblings in wrestling matches - a common occurrence for both women and men and Sparta. She falls in love with and marries Tantalus, King of Pisa, and gives birth to their son, but her life is upended when her father, Tyndareus, enters into a scheme with Agamemnon and Menelaus of Mycenae. Tantalus and their son are brutally murdered by Agamemnon, and Clytemnestra is forced to marry her husband's and son's murderer; Helen is similarly coerced into a marriage with Menelaus.
In the years that follow, Clytemnestra works to solidify her position as Queen, juggling the roles as ruler, mother, and unwilling wife to a man she never loved. Her physical prowess and intelligence make her a respected and feared leader, but we get to see her moments of weakness when it comes to helping her siblings and the love she has for her children Iphigenia, Elektra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. When her sister Helen leaves Menelaus for Paris of Troy, she prays that her husband will die in the future battle - but is once again has her world fall apart when Agamemnon tricks her and Iphigenia, and sacrifices his own daughter for a "little bit of wind" to allow their ships to sail. Clytemnestra has to deal with this loss alone, and in Agamemnon's absence, finds respite in Aegisthus, a traitor to Agamemnon's and Menelaus's family. Upon Agamemnon's return, she finally acts on the wish she's harbored for decades, having to face the repercussions of her actions.
I'm incredibly impressed that this is Casati's debut novel; the writing was beautifully crafted, descriptive, and flowed across passages and chapters. She took on the perspective of Clytemnestra, highlighting the complexity of her character, emotions, and thoughts thoroughly, and created a woman who felt real-to-life that many of us could connect and empathize with. Instead of a devious, traitorous queen, we're presented with a woman forced into a life against her will, having faced incalculable loss over her life, doing her best to protect her loved ones.
I highly recommend this novel to anyone, especially fans of Greek mythology retellings, and can't wait for its release in March 2023!
Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the advance copy of this novel!
January 11, 2024
“Kings and heroes drop like flies, but queens outlive them all.”― Costanza Casati, Clytemnestra
My first 5 star read of 2024! I’m definitely not very educated on Greek mythology but I devoured this story of Helen of Troy’s sister Clytemnestra. I love any story where women prove to be as ruthless as their male counterparts and Clytemnestra was just that woman. If you enjoyed Circe & The Song of Achilles then you need to add this to your TBR list pronto! Bravo to Casati on a remarkable debut novel & I will be looking for her future novels with great anticipation. 5 brilliant stars!
Narration performed by Olivia Vinall was excellent!
Available on Libby. Listened at 1.4 speed.
My first 5 star read of 2024! I’m definitely not very educated on Greek mythology but I devoured this story of Helen of Troy’s sister Clytemnestra. I love any story where women prove to be as ruthless as their male counterparts and Clytemnestra was just that woman. If you enjoyed Circe & The Song of Achilles then you need to add this to your TBR list pronto! Bravo to Casati on a remarkable debut novel & I will be looking for her future novels with great anticipation. 5 brilliant stars!
Narration performed by Olivia Vinall was excellent!
Available on Libby. Listened at 1.4 speed.
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