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A review by theanitaalvarez
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
3.0
First confession: I’ve never read the Aeneid. I probably should, though. But having said that, I don’t think that my lack of knowledge regarding classical literature damaged my enjoying of this novel in the least. Maybe it was mainly because the novel is not centered in the events described in the epic poem, but in the life of a character that’s basically a name in the source text.
Lavinia is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, the royal couple of the Latin people in Italy. Having lost her two brothers when she was very young, Lavinia was raised as any other Latin girl, and she’s also taught to be her father’s heir. Not in the political senses (she’s a woman, after all), but in the mystical sense. Latinus, besides his duties as a king, doubles as an augur, someone who sees the future. He often asks his daughter to accompany him to the sacred place to ask to his ancestors’ advice. There, she has a vision of a dying man, who tells her he’s writing a poem (one doesn’t have to know much to guess that this guy is Virgil himself), and talks to her about his hero: brave Aeneas. Lavinia is instantly smitten by the tragic and heroic figure, but doesn’t give much thought to it.
The relationship between Lavinia and her mother is pretty strange. After losing her two sons to a disease, the Queen appears to have lost her mind in several ways. She’s abusive towards Lavinia, and often acts as if she doesn’t know her at all. But things change when Lavinia grows up and suitors decide to begin asking for her hand. Amata favours her own nephew, Turnus, while her daughter doesn’t really like him that much. There’s a strong implication that Amata is in love with Turnus himself, but that stays only in the level of subtext.
However, the oracle tells Latinus that he shouldn’t marry his daughter to a Latin man, as there’s a group of men coming and one of them will marry her. Of course, the rest of the suitors don’t take this very well. Soon after the Trojans leaded by Aeneas arrive to the city, and he decides to court Lavinia. War follows soon afterwards, and both parts are destroyed. Lavinia and Aeneas do get married (as says the source text) and they live happily together until his death.
What’s very interesting here is the way in which Le Guin works with her narrator. Several times we get Lavinia saying that she only exists in the poem, and that she owes her life to her poet. The thing is that he couldn’t add all the details he wanted about her and left them out. So, Lavinia is deciding to take a chance and tell her side, to get a voice. That’s brilliantly shown and it makes the myth become a little closer to us, as she’s a warm and sweet narrator.
My only "but" is the latter part of the novel, after the wars. It goes way to fast to my taste, and I missed some of the character development we get in the first part. Nevertheless, it’s a good read. If you’re interested in mythology, it’s certainly an interesting take on it, as Le Guin leaves aside most references to gods and goddesses that are shown in Greek and Roman literature to be walking around men.
Lavinia is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, the royal couple of the Latin people in Italy. Having lost her two brothers when she was very young, Lavinia was raised as any other Latin girl, and she’s also taught to be her father’s heir. Not in the political senses (she’s a woman, after all), but in the mystical sense. Latinus, besides his duties as a king, doubles as an augur, someone who sees the future. He often asks his daughter to accompany him to the sacred place to ask to his ancestors’ advice. There, she has a vision of a dying man, who tells her he’s writing a poem (one doesn’t have to know much to guess that this guy is Virgil himself), and talks to her about his hero: brave Aeneas. Lavinia is instantly smitten by the tragic and heroic figure, but doesn’t give much thought to it.
The relationship between Lavinia and her mother is pretty strange. After losing her two sons to a disease, the Queen appears to have lost her mind in several ways. She’s abusive towards Lavinia, and often acts as if she doesn’t know her at all. But things change when Lavinia grows up and suitors decide to begin asking for her hand. Amata favours her own nephew, Turnus, while her daughter doesn’t really like him that much. There’s a strong implication that Amata is in love with Turnus himself, but that stays only in the level of subtext.
However, the oracle tells Latinus that he shouldn’t marry his daughter to a Latin man, as there’s a group of men coming and one of them will marry her. Of course, the rest of the suitors don’t take this very well. Soon after the Trojans leaded by Aeneas arrive to the city, and he decides to court Lavinia. War follows soon afterwards, and both parts are destroyed. Lavinia and Aeneas do get married (as says the source text) and they live happily together until his death.
What’s very interesting here is the way in which Le Guin works with her narrator. Several times we get Lavinia saying that she only exists in the poem, and that she owes her life to her poet. The thing is that he couldn’t add all the details he wanted about her and left them out. So, Lavinia is deciding to take a chance and tell her side, to get a voice. That’s brilliantly shown and it makes the myth become a little closer to us, as she’s a warm and sweet narrator.
My only "but" is the latter part of the novel, after the wars. It goes way to fast to my taste, and I missed some of the character development we get in the first part. Nevertheless, it’s a good read. If you’re interested in mythology, it’s certainly an interesting take on it, as Le Guin leaves aside most references to gods and goddesses that are shown in Greek and Roman literature to be walking around men.