Read Full Review >Īt a time of renewed scrutiny of how society enables male violence against women, Barker inhabits perpetrator as well as victim. But she’s not nearly comfortable enough in her Greek mode to fashion a work of real authority. Barker wants to impose her modern concerns onto this very ancient material. Paradoxically, this departure from tradition happens to be the most authentically 'Greek' thing about the book. The Women of Troy” really works only when Barker forgets about the ancient models for her story. Too often, Briseis sounds like the voice-over from a History Channel special. She holds your attention whenever she appears-far more than the bland Briseis ever doe. But the fierce Hecuba-a character who in the Iliad declares her wish to eat Achilles’ liver raw-is catnip to Barker, whose portrayal of her has something of the humor and the vividness that distinguish 'Union Street.' Here, the harrowed widow of myth and drama is profane. Andromache is too noble to be truly gripping Cassandra too nutty. The most fully realized of Barker’s Trojan women-one you wish had a bigger role-is Hecuba. There are also some fine and original touches in Barker’s reimagining of the mythic women. Barker has the excellent idea of making him a teen-age bully whose swagger barely conceals an inferiority complex. Pyrrhus sometimes appears in Greek literature as a callow but good-hearted youth.
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