A review by motherbooker
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

4.0

If any female character from Greek mythology deserved a book of their own, then it's Clytemnestra right? A daughter of Sparta and the wife of Agamemnon. She was the mother of Iphigeneia, the girl sacrificed so Agamemnon's fleet could set sail for Troy. She was also the woman who murdered the great warrior. I mean, talk about drama. We all know what Clytemnestra did, but the reasoning is overlooked. As told in Costanza Casati, we see that she's a fascinating figure who went through a lot at the hands of her husband. Some sources include the fact that she had previously been married before Agamemnon decided he wanted her for himself. He then had her husband and son killed before forcing her into marriage. The fact that he made it to the Trojan War is something of a miracle if that's what he was guilty of.

Yes, there are a lot of feminist retellings of Greek mythology these days. I think Clytemnestra is an example of one of the good ones. It helps that she's such a great character. There are so many layers to her. It might just be that I was reading the wrong things, but I've always seen her described as cold and unemotional. Her murder of Agamemnon is never played as anything other than a betrayal from his wife and her lover. She is the cheating wife who wanted her husband out of the way. However, Casati flips the narrative and focuses on her emotional side. She still has her flaws, obviously. For one thing, her relationship with her second daughter is not great. However, she is much more sympathetic here.

The start of the story is the strongest as we get to see Clytemnestra in her happiest times. Everything seems perfect but we know that something terrible is waiting for her. Casati drags these moments out for as long as possible and it really pays off. When the inevitable happens, it's absolutely devastating. The action then jumps forward and we know we're about to get dropped into the biggest war the world had ever seen. From here, the pacing slows a little. I get that Clytemnestra is waiting for her husband to return but there's a lot of delaying. Once Iphigeneia has been killed, it's all a bit slow. Still, there's plenty to get your teeth into as Clytemnestra deals with her grief.

This book does an incredible job of flipping the typical narrative around this character. She is no longer a villain and an adulterer. Instead, her actions are completely understandable and you spend the whole book waiting for her to get her revenge. This is not just a modern retelling of this story but proof that perspective can have such a huge impact on history. Taken from the perspective of the patriarchy, Clytemnestra did something evil and unforgivable. From a modern perspective, she had immense restraint and courage. When we talk about needing more strong female characters in literature, this is what we mean. Yes, she's got physical strength to some extent, but it's more about her depth. There are so many layers to Clytemnestra's character that spending time in her head is enjoyable even when awful things are happening to her.