A novel by Claire Heywood
Daughters of Sparta
A book that I could not put down, that I could not wait to have in my hands and turned one page after the other. The stories of Helen and Clytemnestra, the daughters of Sparta, are given in such a beautiful way by the writer. Two sisters, two princesses designated to rule and change the course of history in Ancient Times.
What I loved about the book, is that I could finally hear the voices of Helen and Clytemnestra and all my âwhysâ were answered through the captivating plot. It felt as though I was walking along Clytemnestra in the cold dark corridors of the palace of Agamemnon in Mycenae. I could feel the frustration of Helen, who although was considered the most beautiful woman in Greece, she felt unwanted and not enough during her entire life.
Both of my questions on why Helen chose to leave with Paris, leaving behind a child and a husband and why did Clytemnestra choose to kill Agamemnon on his return were answered through the years, I thought, but felt that something was missing. I always thought, there was something more. And that exactly is what this book gave me. It helped me to see the life of women at the time from their point of view and it helped me understand their actions without judging them.
The unfaithful Helen and the husband-murderer Clytemnestra are absolutely justified in this book and there is a logic behind their actions. A logic that led both women to find ways to survive a world filled with men and their egos.
Clytemnestra is depicted in the book as loyal, wise, and in love with her husband and a good mother. Everything a king would look for in a good wife and everything parents would seek from a good daughter. Clytemnestra did everything, by the book we could say. She married a man whom she did not know but learned to love and respect equally and she was lucky because Agamemnon truly loved her back. But his ego and lust for power took from Clytemnestra the life of her own child Iphigeneia. That was the moment that Agamemnon shattered Clytemnestra into a thousand pieces, one of which vowed to kill him.
In the ten years her husband was absent, she learned how to read and write, a skill kept hidden from women at the time, and she taught her children as well. She ruled and was respected as the Queen of Mycenae, following the rules of the book called life. And when Aegisthus appeared on her doorstep, a relative and rival of her husband, Clytemnestra found an ally to her plan, and a way to keep herself and her children safe. Because upon the return of Agamemnon she knew that he could bring along a new wife who would and could claim the throne and kill her and her children for her benefit.
So, she let herself freeâŚFree to think, to decide, to love and be independent. Her killing of her husband was one of a survival game. One that she realized she had to win for her, so as not to diminish and keep the throne for her son Orestis who was the legitimate heir. If it were a man in her place, his actions would be justified. But a woman, behind a murder becomes the villain in the story. You cannot expect to deprive a child from a mother and not to be punished, I say.
In a similar way, you cannot be a good mother when you are suffering from depression, and nobody realizes to help you. And that, as shocking as it may sound, was the situation of Helen.
Helen was given to Menelaos in the same way her sister was given to his brother Agamemnon. It was like a trade for the benefit of both kingdoms. Helen was more fragile than Clytemnestra and more emotional. All she ever wanted was to find the big true love, the man who would look at her with adoration and breathe of her. She believed she did not find this with Menelaos who as it looks, and as we find out in the book, was shy and could not express his feelings. He was intimidated by the most beautiful woman of Greece, and in the end he admitted that his biggest fear was that he would not be good enough for her, the same way she thought for herself. And instead of talking to each other, as times were much different, Menelaos and Helen were soon distanced by their silence.
I admired his respect for Helen, who at the time they were married, was very young to become pregnant and as he explains, she would probably not survive during birth, thus, he decides not to sleep with her on the first night of the wedding, but wait. Do you know many kings who would do such a thing?
What was understood by Helen though at the time, was that her handsome husband did not want her. But he waited for her, two entire years, to be ready, to be a woman and a mother. A thoughtful man with sensitivities we may say, that could not express himself because men did not do these kinds of things back in the days. They were warriors and kings, and they were expected to act like that. Even when Helen, having had a near to death experience during labor, faced immense pain and fear of becoming a mother again, having postpartum as we would say and respect her today, was not understood by anyone while she was expected to get pregnant again because that was her duty. But fear daunted her, and she started to avoid her husband, and found potions to help her not to become pregnant again, simply because she could not bear the same experience again. Of course, at the time there was nobody to explain to her that not every childbirth is the same and that she could continue to love her husband because it was not his fault, her having difficult labor. Menelaos of course, took the rejection of Helen, the hard way, and did what men know…found another woman for himself and even had a child with her, which again, it was very common for a king at the time.
And the result was of course, the one we knowâŚHelen, becoming the center of attention of young Paris, when he visited Mycenae and Menelaos was away. Helen, felt important, and thought she could leave the life she knew behind for a new one with a man who did not want children and who breathed to be with her. The truth though, going with him to Troy, resulted that once again she was not wanted and was made to believe she was evil and not good enough as the citizens of Troy saw the punishment coming up on their heads from the Greeks. And poor Helen, who once again wished for a home, found none. And as any clever woman, she soon realized that for Paris, she was the prize that he wished to take back home, and that there was not really any connection. His lack of bravery and ego made her understand the true value of Menelaos, who arrived with the armies of an entire country to take her back. No questions asked, no deals, no doubtsâŚjust to take his wife back home where she belonged. Many say he did everything because of his ego. That he killed her afterwards. But the truth is that Menelaos did understand the reasons for his wife leaving him and he acknowledged that life was no life for him without her. Because he truly loved her. And it may have taken a whole ten years with a great war to understand this, but the moment they saw each other, they knew they belonged together, and they were both to blame for reaching such a catastrophic point.
Many may say that it is very selfish to destroy a country and so many lives for love, but once again the meaning is deeper. Of course, some will say that there were politics behind it, that Greece was in war with Troy for the trade and taxes and all that political stuff. But there is a simpler explanation to thatâŚ
You see, going back to Homer, he says that when Zeus, was asked why he allowed for the war of Troy to happen, he said that it did not happen for Helen, it did not just happen for love, as romantic as we may wish it to be. It happened and it lasted for ten whole years because Zeus, knew that Mother Earth (Gaia) could not take up, could not withhold anymore of the âweightâ of the number of people it had to feed and sustain. So, people had to die, for the balance of life to be restored on the planet, and for the generations of humans and animals to continue to exist and develop.
History repeated today? Relevant? PerhapsâŚ
P.S (Thank you so much for this novel Claire Heywood!)
