Warrior Queen

Clytemnestra is best known as the sister of Helen of Troy and the wife of Agamemnon, the brutal King of Mycenae. She is often depicted as a villain who murdered her husband. Clytemnestra appears in Aeschylus' Oresteia (5th century BCE), Homer's Odyssey (8th century BCE) and elsewhere, where she appears as a peripheral character, cast in a vengeful light. In Clytemnestra (2023), author Costanza Casati seeks to understand this complex woman and tell her story, in this impressive debut novel.

Born in Sparta, Clytemnestra is raised alongside her sister Helen and her brothers Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux) and younger siblings. Her father Tyndareus is King of Sparta. Her mother Leda was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan, resulting in her drowning her trauma in alcohol and raising her daughters to fight, routinely testing each other's strength in the wrestling ring. The girls know it is their lot in life to be married off to form strategic alliances. Helen choses Menelaus. Clytemnestra marries for love, choosing Tantalus the King of Pisa, with whom she has a young son. In a grotesque act of betrayal, her husband and son are murdered and Clytemnestra is forced to marry the man who caused her grief - Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae - with whom she has Iphigenia, Electra and Orestes. 

When Helen runs off with Paris, the Trojan War begins. Menelaus asks his brother Agamemnon for assistance. The Greek troops meet at Aulis, and soon Agamemnon sends for his wife and daughter who is to be wed to Achilles. When the women arrive at Aulis, Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter in exchange for favourable winds. This second act of betrayal hardens Clytemnestra's heart and she vows her revenge. 

While Agamemnon is away for the ten years of the Trojan War, Clytemnestra serves as Queen of Mycenae. She manages trade negotiations, resolves disputes, dispenses justice. She is a driven, capable leader. Casati presents her as a woman in full - a daughter, a sister, a lover, a wife, a mother, a queen, a survivor. I particularly enjoyed the way Casati portrayed her as a sister - supporting her brothers, defending Timandra, worrying for Helen.

I have read many retellings of ancient myths, and the characters routinely overlap. I had worried that I might not enjoy another story covering the same ground, but Casati has found a new way of telling a familiar story to make it feel fresh. Casati has given Clytemnestra a voice, and created a sympathetic portrait of a woman who experienced multiple traumas and endured. In doing so, she has recast the villain as a survivor.  Highly recommend this for fans of ancient myths.

Want more myths?

I have written about other retellings of ancient myths on this blog, including:

• The Silence of the Girls (2019), The Women of Troy (2021) - Pat Barker
• Circe (2019), The Song of Achilles (2011), Galatea (2013) - Madeline Miller
• Atalanta (2023), Ariadne (2021) - Jennifer Saint