Helpful Score: 2
This is a retelling the real story? the unofficial story? the back story? --of the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis, for it is only by sacrificing innocent blood that the Greeks can break the malevolent spell that keeps the winds blowing in the wrong direction, penning the ships in the harbor, holding them back from conquering Troy. At least, thats the official story Unsworth casts Odysseus as a master manipulator, Agamemnon as a megalomaniac and Homer the blind Singer as an artist willing to change the story when propagandists pressure him. Is it any accident that this novel was published just before the U.S. invaded Iraq?
