Clytemnestra: The spellbinding retelling of Greek mythology’s greatest heroine

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The character development was great, there were many sides to the characters especially Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. But in Casati’s novel, she is a fiery figure, still fueled by a burning desire for revenge, but never painted as delusional. 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. 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). The Texas-born author grew up in Italy, where she studied ancient Greek literature, before writing Clytemnestra – her debut novel.

Various side characters who move in and out of the story hint at enticing plotlines — but instead of adding to the world of the story, these aspects distract the reader from the central plot. 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. Yet the novel never becomes too complicated in its descriptions of the past; the prose is lyrical in its simplicity.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. All her life she has been taught courage, strength, resilience, but must those qualities be kept at bay with a husband? She waits as he turns his back to her, making his sword whirl, and then she throws it in his direction. 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.

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.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.