“What does it mean to be a queen? Daring to do what others won’t.”

Clytemnestra, by Constanza Casati

Summary

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.

My Thoughts

I’m a fan of Greek mythology retellings, and I’d had my eye on this one for a while, since I found some of it’s pre-release material while doing research for an essay. I waited for it to come out, and once it did, I immediately got it on Kindle from the library. It was worth it. I love the original story of Clytemnestra; I’ve read the original Agamemmnon play trilogy from Aeschylus and other versions from Euripides like Iphigenia at Aulis, all of which are available online for anyone who wants them. Clytemnestra’s story in the original myths is basically of a woman who is abused by her husband and suffers tragedy after tragedy until she eventually has enough and murders him.

Casati’s book goes a bit more in depth into Clytemnestra’s backstory, which I really liked. We spend time with her in her childhood; she is sister to the famous Helen of Troy, her brothers are the Castor and Polydeuces who sail with Jason and the Argonauts, her husband is Agamemnon, the general of the Greek Army in the Illiad, and her mother is Leda from the myth Leda and the swan (and recently, the excellent Hozier song). Surrounded by all these famous figures, Clytemenstra herself is fairly unknown, or known only as a villain. This book breaks all those misconceptions around the infamous Queen of Mycenae. It’s overall just an excellent Greek Mythology retelling, and I would really recommend it.

Review: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

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