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?
Interesting retelling of the sacrifice of Iphigenia, told with biting black humor and peopled with characters who are immediately recognizable to the 21st-century survivor of the politics of deception.
As the harsh wind holds the Greek Fleet trapped in the straits at Aulis, frustration and political impotence turn into a desire for the blood of a young and innocent woman -- blood that will appease the gods and allow the troops to set sail. And when Iphigeneia, Agamemnon's beloved daughter, is brought to the coast under false pretenses,and when a knife is fashioned out of the finest and most precious of materials, it looks as if the ships will soon be on their way. But can a father really go to these lengths to secure political victory, and can a daughter willingly give up her life for the worldly ambitions of her father?
