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earth2sammi's review against another edition
3.75
Oooooof. I will be honest I think this would have hit harder as two separate short stories, one for Antigone and one for Jocasta, rather than switching from the different POVs. I felt really bored by Antigone’s story because I just wanted to see what happened with Jocasta, and I think if I weren’t switching between them every chapter then I would have felt more compelled by the individual stories.
belle_abeille's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
_abia_'s review against another edition
3.0
As a greek mythology fan I found this an interesting read, as I was unfamiliar with the myths of Oedipus & Antigone. I liked how the story was told from the perspective of two women in different times, as this lent an element of mystery to the book that I enjoyed. That said, I felt like not much happened for a lot of the book, and it was a confusing choice for me that Haynes chose one of the narrators to be a passive observer to most of the actual plot, bar the very start & very end where she is a participant. Antigone would have been an interesting perspective to get instead. Overall, glad I read it, but did not really hit for me.
nerdclaire1's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I feel like actually nothing happened in this book, I love this author but I didn’t enjoy this at all I skipped over the last 100 pages.
sophir's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
didn’t like the first half of the book it was a bit too convoluted for me and disjointed, but the second half tied it all together in an interesting way. still feels like we miss cohesion in the story
burritapal_1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Spoiler counts for the whole review.
The book starts out taking place in the Palace of Thebes in Greece. I always like to look up book settings on Google maps. This time it was a sad sight: the ruins of the palace are surrounded by modern buildings, weeds grow prolifically and there's trash all around. Nobody takes care of it and it looks like it means nothing to the residents of the city. This is reflected in the reviews from visitors.
Then, in the afterward of the book, the author says she took liberties with the description of the palace. She said she used the description of a different Palace in greece, for the one in the children of jocasta. Oh well.
When we meet Jocasta, she is 16 years old, and her parents turn her over to the King of Thebes, whose name is King Laius. The wedding takes place, and she doesn't know what to expect. When she wakes up alone the next morning in her bed, she's puzzled. She knows more or less that husbands and wives are supposed to sleep together.
Well it turns out that one of the King's bodyguards named Oran, is expected to have sex with her and hopefully make a baby girl with her. King Laius, who likes boys, has already gone off on a hunting trip with his bodyguards and his homies.
He's terrified of having a boy child. The Oracle, who is something or someone who predicts the future, has told him that he will be killed by his son.
She does get pregnant, and when she has a baby boy, the head of the household, an old bitch named Teresa, takes her baby away and tells her that he was stillborn. However, this is not the truth, and is the whole secret of the book. Well you've heard of Oedipus complex?
While the king is on a hunting trip, a messenger comes to Jocasta, with the news that her husband, King Laius, is dead. The messenger's name is Oedipus. He's a young man, and he comes from the city of Corinth. He makes trips between Corinth and other cities, traveling through the mountains, which he knows well. He tells her that he came upon her husband and his men in the mountains, surrounded by the Sphinx.
" 'yes, they were in a bad way,' he said. 'they were pinned into a dead end. The mountain is full of them, you have to learn where they are. I don't know how they got themselves into such a position. His Scouts should be hanged, if any of them survived.' "
Them, is the sphinx. I always thought that Sphinx was one of those statues outside of the library, but that it was a live animal back in the day. Well, Oedipus sets the reader straight.
" 'but you tried to help?'
'I think I did a bit better than that.' he smiled again, the sudden anger of a moment ago disappearing. 'The Sphinx are very much less terrifying than people make them out to be, in their stories. They aren't a mythical fighting force, they're just a gang of mountain men. They know the paths and the secret Routes through the Peaks better than anyone alive. But they aren't an army; they have no discipline. If one of them is hurt, the others panic, or they get angry. Either way, it makes them weaker. People say they are numberless, but I doubt they are more than 40 altogether. They seem to come at you from all sides, but that's just because they know shortcuts that are hidden from the ordinary traveler. Of course they do - they have been born and raised on the mountains, they are practically goats.' "
Well, Oedipus makes his intentions to Jocasta known right away. He tells her he's in love with her, he proposes to her, even though he's 16 years younger than her. He love bombs jocasta, and 2 months later they are married.
They are very happy together and they rule Thebes together. They have children, starting right away, two boys, and then two girls. The youngest daughter, whose name is Ismene, is the other protagonist of the book, the daughter of Jocasta.
The book switches back and forth in timelines, from Jocasta's time, when her children are small, to Ismene's time, when her mom and dad are dead already. We don't learn until the very end, what happened with Oedipus and Jocasta, why they're dead.
Eteo and Polyn are the two oldest brothers. When they are grown, they alternate every other year, serving as King. They are advised by their uncle Creon, Jocasta's little brother. The reader doesn't know this yet, but Creon has designs on the throne of Thebes. He sets up a plan to get rid of both young men.
One time Ismene is walking through Courtyards in the palace, and she is stabbed in her side by a masked person. She is nearly killed, but is saved by her tutor, Sophon, Who was a doctor before he was her tutor.
When the coronation games are going on after Polyn's taking over the throne, one of the runners in the games is recognized by Ismene as the one who stabbed her in the side. She tells Polyn, whose friend he is, about it and he just scoffs at her. She tells her other brother Eteo, who goes into his room for days, and Ismene doesn't know what is going on with him.
When Eteo comes out of his room, he goes to the treasury room, where Polyn is sequestered with Uncle Creon and his advisors. Eteo accuses him of trying to have Ismene killed. He pulls out a sword, and Polyn grabs a knife.
".. this time Eteo Perried the attack with his sword. The tip of Polyn's knife shattered with the force of Eteo's defence. Polyn cursed as he looked at the blade: it was shorter, Jagged now from the damage, but still sharp. He made one final attempt on Eteo, stepping in and stabbing at his neck. There was no mistaking his intent. Even a short blade will kill a man if it pierces him in the neck. He took such a large step that it confused Eteo, who was preparing to Parry the knife again, expecting a blow to be aimed at his torso.
Eteo's sword - so beautifully kept, as the armorer had taught him when he was still a child - cut right into Polyn's chest. My oldest brother fell to his knees, dropping the knife as he went. Eteo must have been horrified by what he had done, because he dropped his sword too, and reached out to catch Polyn, who slumped forward into his brothers arms.
It cannot have been Polyn who shouted for the guards, because he would not have had the strength to, as he lay, his head on Eteo's shoulder, his blood pouring out over them both. And it cannot have been Eteo, who would have called for a doctor, for Sophon, but not for the guards. So it must have been my uncle who shouted with a tone of such urgency that the guards ran from all over the courtyard -- most with their heads still half-filled with sleep -- and pushed the treasury door open, almost falling over one another in their haste to obey Creon's summons. They saw my brothers Tangled on their knees and looked at my Uncle for instructions.
'The king is dying,' he said. 'here is his assassin.'
Thebes does not have many laws. But the guards knew what they must do. They picked Eteo up by his shoulders and dragged him outside into the courtyard. They pulled back his hair to expose his neck, and slit his throat like a bull."
The next morning when Ani and Ismene wake up, Ani sees Eteo on the hillside behind the palace.
Ani screams and Ismene instructs a maid to fix her a room on the other side of the courtyard.
"... I took her to the newly-prepared room-- which was plain and dull but comfortable enough -- and watched over her until the wine and herbs soothed her to sleep. Then I walked back across to her room on my own, and pulled the curtain back. Terrible as it was, I could not do to my poor brother the disrespect of refusing to see him.
At first glance, it looked almost like he was sitting against the rock, his head lolling as though he were dozing in the warm morning sunshine. But of course he was not. He had been propped up, his head rested against The Rock for support, its second mouth gaping, black. One of his legs was turned at an impossible angle, and his sandal was only half on his foot. It must have loosened when he was dragged outside. I tried to tell myself that he was just asleep, but he looked further from sleep than anyone I had ever seen.
I felt the sobs shudder through my body, now I was alone. Ani's grief had been loud, I couldn't hear my own. So I let it consume me for a while, sitting on the floor of her room, looking out at the ruins of the person I loved most in all the world. I cried myself past thinking, past words. But after I had shed every tear, I knew what I needed to do. I had to bury him, of course."
Polyn is given a funeral Fit For A king. At the funeral, Ani makes a speech where she lets the people of Thebes know what her uncle Creon has done, angering the Gods by not giving Eteo a proper burial. Uncle Creon has her imprisoned in the dungeons.
Meanwhile, with the help of her cousin, Ismene manages to bury her brother. The people are angered by crayons and green the Gods, and recognize on me as their queen.
Back to Jocasta and oedipus. The plague comes back to thieves, after it has been gone for years. It had been in thieves during the time of cell phones childhood. The people are angry at Jocasta and Oedipus. They believe that they have angered the gods.
" 'Please believe that I would very much rather not be telling you any of this,' Sophon said. 'but in my experience, rumors don't disappear merely because their object doesn't know about them. Gossip is spreading and it can't be stopped by me. People say you have angered the gods with your marriage. With your children.' He exhaled and his shoulders slumped forward.
'How?' Oedipus scoffed. 'that's ridiculous.'
'they're saying you can't be married,' Sophon said, looking up to meet teo appalled faces. 'They are saying you're mother and son.'
Oedipus gave a hard bark of laughter. 'that's the stupidest, most unpleasant thing I've ever heard. You can't be telling me that anyone is taking this seriously?'
Sophon nodded. 'I'm afraid so.'
'They know I came to the city 10 years ago, for the first time?' Oedipus asked. 'and that Jocasta had her first child 9 years ago?'
the glance between Sophon and Jocasta took less time than a beat of her heart, but it gave her away, just the same.
Oedipus didn't speak to her for 3 days. He left any room she entered, using the constant presence of their sons and daughters to keep conversation trivial. Even at night he stood by her as they put the children to bed, but as soon as they were outside, he ignored her. He slept in another room, and locked the door. She placed her hand on his arm, and he flung it away, as though she were unclean. On the third night, she gave in and, even though her Pride loathed doing it where the servants could see her, she fell to her knees before him and begged his forgiveness.
'How could you keep something like that a secret?' he asked. 'how?' "
what he's referring to is the fact that she had a baby after she married King Laius. Teresa told her that the baby was stillborn and that she had buried it, but the truth is, that Teresa had given the baby away, and the baby had ended up with a family in Corinth, who adopted it. This is the origins of oedipus. Jocasta goes in her room and hangs herself.
At first Oedipus believes that she hanged herself for shame, for marrying her son and having children with him. But Sophon discovers that she had come down with the plague, and she wanted to save her children and him from getting contaminated.
This was such a good story. I would never have had read the plays of Oedipus Tyrannus and Antigone, so I'm glad I read it. It was recommended to me by people who read Circe.
The book starts out taking place in the Palace of Thebes in Greece. I always like to look up book settings on Google maps. This time it was a sad sight: the ruins of the palace are surrounded by modern buildings, weeds grow prolifically and there's trash all around. Nobody takes care of it and it looks like it means nothing to the residents of the city. This is reflected in the reviews from visitors.
Then, in the afterward of the book, the author says she took liberties with the description of the palace. She said she used the description of a different Palace in greece, for the one in the children of jocasta. Oh well.
When we meet Jocasta, she is 16 years old, and her parents turn her over to the King of Thebes, whose name is King Laius. The wedding takes place, and she doesn't know what to expect. When she wakes up alone the next morning in her bed, she's puzzled. She knows more or less that husbands and wives are supposed to sleep together.
Well it turns out that one of the King's bodyguards named Oran, is expected to have sex with her and hopefully make a baby girl with her. King Laius, who likes boys, has already gone off on a hunting trip with his bodyguards and his homies.
He's terrified of having a boy child. The Oracle, who is something or someone who predicts the future, has told him that he will be killed by his son.
She does get pregnant, and when she has a baby boy, the head of the household, an old bitch named Teresa, takes her baby away and tells her that he was stillborn. However, this is not the truth, and is the whole secret of the book. Well you've heard of Oedipus complex?
While the king is on a hunting trip, a messenger comes to Jocasta, with the news that her husband, King Laius, is dead. The messenger's name is Oedipus. He's a young man, and he comes from the city of Corinth. He makes trips between Corinth and other cities, traveling through the mountains, which he knows well. He tells her that he came upon her husband and his men in the mountains, surrounded by the Sphinx.
" 'yes, they were in a bad way,' he said. 'they were pinned into a dead end. The mountain is full of them, you have to learn where they are. I don't know how they got themselves into such a position. His Scouts should be hanged, if any of them survived.' "
Them, is the sphinx. I always thought that Sphinx was one of those statues outside of the library, but that it was a live animal back in the day. Well, Oedipus sets the reader straight.
" 'but you tried to help?'
'I think I did a bit better than that.' he smiled again, the sudden anger of a moment ago disappearing. 'The Sphinx are very much less terrifying than people make them out to be, in their stories. They aren't a mythical fighting force, they're just a gang of mountain men. They know the paths and the secret Routes through the Peaks better than anyone alive. But they aren't an army; they have no discipline. If one of them is hurt, the others panic, or they get angry. Either way, it makes them weaker. People say they are numberless, but I doubt they are more than 40 altogether. They seem to come at you from all sides, but that's just because they know shortcuts that are hidden from the ordinary traveler. Of course they do - they have been born and raised on the mountains, they are practically goats.' "
Well, Oedipus makes his intentions to Jocasta known right away. He tells her he's in love with her, he proposes to her, even though he's 16 years younger than her. He love bombs jocasta, and 2 months later they are married.
They are very happy together and they rule Thebes together. They have children, starting right away, two boys, and then two girls. The youngest daughter, whose name is Ismene, is the other protagonist of the book, the daughter of Jocasta.
The book switches back and forth in timelines, from Jocasta's time, when her children are small, to Ismene's time, when her mom and dad are dead already. We don't learn until the very end, what happened with Oedipus and Jocasta, why they're dead.
Eteo and Polyn are the two oldest brothers. When they are grown, they alternate every other year, serving as King. They are advised by their uncle Creon, Jocasta's little brother. The reader doesn't know this yet, but Creon has designs on the throne of Thebes. He sets up a plan to get rid of both young men.
One time Ismene is walking through Courtyards in the palace, and she is stabbed in her side by a masked person. She is nearly killed, but is saved by her tutor, Sophon, Who was a doctor before he was her tutor.
When the coronation games are going on after Polyn's taking over the throne, one of the runners in the games is recognized by Ismene as the one who stabbed her in the side. She tells Polyn, whose friend he is, about it and he just scoffs at her. She tells her other brother Eteo, who goes into his room for days, and Ismene doesn't know what is going on with him.
When Eteo comes out of his room, he goes to the treasury room, where Polyn is sequestered with Uncle Creon and his advisors. Eteo accuses him of trying to have Ismene killed. He pulls out a sword, and Polyn grabs a knife.
".. this time Eteo Perried the attack with his sword. The tip of Polyn's knife shattered with the force of Eteo's defence. Polyn cursed as he looked at the blade: it was shorter, Jagged now from the damage, but still sharp. He made one final attempt on Eteo, stepping in and stabbing at his neck. There was no mistaking his intent. Even a short blade will kill a man if it pierces him in the neck. He took such a large step that it confused Eteo, who was preparing to Parry the knife again, expecting a blow to be aimed at his torso.
Eteo's sword - so beautifully kept, as the armorer had taught him when he was still a child - cut right into Polyn's chest. My oldest brother fell to his knees, dropping the knife as he went. Eteo must have been horrified by what he had done, because he dropped his sword too, and reached out to catch Polyn, who slumped forward into his brothers arms.
It cannot have been Polyn who shouted for the guards, because he would not have had the strength to, as he lay, his head on Eteo's shoulder, his blood pouring out over them both. And it cannot have been Eteo, who would have called for a doctor, for Sophon, but not for the guards. So it must have been my uncle who shouted with a tone of such urgency that the guards ran from all over the courtyard -- most with their heads still half-filled with sleep -- and pushed the treasury door open, almost falling over one another in their haste to obey Creon's summons. They saw my brothers Tangled on their knees and looked at my Uncle for instructions.
'The king is dying,' he said. 'here is his assassin.'
Thebes does not have many laws. But the guards knew what they must do. They picked Eteo up by his shoulders and dragged him outside into the courtyard. They pulled back his hair to expose his neck, and slit his throat like a bull."
The next morning when Ani and Ismene wake up, Ani sees Eteo on the hillside behind the palace.
Ani screams and Ismene instructs a maid to fix her a room on the other side of the courtyard.
"... I took her to the newly-prepared room-- which was plain and dull but comfortable enough -- and watched over her until the wine and herbs soothed her to sleep. Then I walked back across to her room on my own, and pulled the curtain back. Terrible as it was, I could not do to my poor brother the disrespect of refusing to see him.
At first glance, it looked almost like he was sitting against the rock, his head lolling as though he were dozing in the warm morning sunshine. But of course he was not. He had been propped up, his head rested against The Rock for support, its second mouth gaping, black. One of his legs was turned at an impossible angle, and his sandal was only half on his foot. It must have loosened when he was dragged outside. I tried to tell myself that he was just asleep, but he looked further from sleep than anyone I had ever seen.
I felt the sobs shudder through my body, now I was alone. Ani's grief had been loud, I couldn't hear my own. So I let it consume me for a while, sitting on the floor of her room, looking out at the ruins of the person I loved most in all the world. I cried myself past thinking, past words. But after I had shed every tear, I knew what I needed to do. I had to bury him, of course."
Polyn is given a funeral Fit For A king. At the funeral, Ani makes a speech where she lets the people of Thebes know what her uncle Creon has done, angering the Gods by not giving Eteo a proper burial. Uncle Creon has her imprisoned in the dungeons.
Meanwhile, with the help of her cousin, Ismene manages to bury her brother. The people are angered by crayons and green the Gods, and recognize on me as their queen.
Back to Jocasta and oedipus. The plague comes back to thieves, after it has been gone for years. It had been in thieves during the time of cell phones childhood. The people are angry at Jocasta and Oedipus. They believe that they have angered the gods.
" 'Please believe that I would very much rather not be telling you any of this,' Sophon said. 'but in my experience, rumors don't disappear merely because their object doesn't know about them. Gossip is spreading and it can't be stopped by me. People say you have angered the gods with your marriage. With your children.' He exhaled and his shoulders slumped forward.
'How?' Oedipus scoffed. 'that's ridiculous.'
'they're saying you can't be married,' Sophon said, looking up to meet teo appalled faces. 'They are saying you're mother and son.'
Oedipus gave a hard bark of laughter. 'that's the stupidest, most unpleasant thing I've ever heard. You can't be telling me that anyone is taking this seriously?'
Sophon nodded. 'I'm afraid so.'
'They know I came to the city 10 years ago, for the first time?' Oedipus asked. 'and that Jocasta had her first child 9 years ago?'
the glance between Sophon and Jocasta took less time than a beat of her heart, but it gave her away, just the same.
Oedipus didn't speak to her for 3 days. He left any room she entered, using the constant presence of their sons and daughters to keep conversation trivial. Even at night he stood by her as they put the children to bed, but as soon as they were outside, he ignored her. He slept in another room, and locked the door. She placed her hand on his arm, and he flung it away, as though she were unclean. On the third night, she gave in and, even though her Pride loathed doing it where the servants could see her, she fell to her knees before him and begged his forgiveness.
'How could you keep something like that a secret?' he asked. 'how?' "
what he's referring to is the fact that she had a baby after she married King Laius. Teresa told her that the baby was stillborn and that she had buried it, but the truth is, that Teresa had given the baby away, and the baby had ended up with a family in Corinth, who adopted it. This is the origins of oedipus. Jocasta goes in her room and hangs herself.
At first Oedipus believes that she hanged herself for shame, for marrying her son and having children with him. But Sophon discovers that she had come down with the plague, and she wanted to save her children and him from getting contaminated.
This was such a good story. I would never have had read the plays of Oedipus Tyrannus and Antigone, so I'm glad I read it. It was recommended to me by people who read Circe.
ellenjanemck's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
the_m0thman's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
tmickey's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75