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Fictional ancient historical retellings: A guide for classicists and non-classicists alike!
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items Whether you are a fellow classicist/ancient historian, or are stepping foot into this field for the first time, fear not! Here are my favourite fictional retellings of ancient historical events/characters of myth for your delectation.
Sections
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Ancient Greek Myth
Ancient Near Eastern Myth
Ancient Greek Myth
one of THE BEST fictional retellings of ancient Greek myth ever- all about how Kore came to marry Hades, and become Persephone- providing her with autonomy, rather than presenting her as a ‘damsel in distress’ having been kidnapped by Hades. it explo...
Girl, Goddess, Queen (Deluxe Edition) by Bea Fitzgerald, Paperback
a beautiful retelling of pandora's myth, shedding light on life with an autistic brain, as well as the struggles between obedience and care for others. i love the special green sprayed pages too- so pretty!
A Beautiful Evil: Grumpy Sunshine Re-imagining
the life story of Circe? yes please! by far the best character in the Odyssey, we only catch a glimpse of a tiny part of her life, albeit an important period. this retelling puts her entire life on show, and portrays her not as an evil villain who tu...
Circe by Madeline Miller
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i think this is my personal favourite retelling of ancient Greek myth (because i have an obsession with the Minoans). it is a masterpiece, and written by a phenomenal classicist. our knowledge of Ariadne is somewhat limited, so we are lucky to gain s...
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
i feel like this is Saint's most underrated work, and it is such an amazing read! when you think of Jason and the Argonauts, you don't imagine their being a women amongst the ranks. it is a devastating tale of the wrath of Artemis, and the dangers of...
Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
another masterpiece by Jennifer Saint, which i find especially exciting as it does not tell just Elektra's story, but also Cassandra's and Clytmenestra's. it highlights just how intertwined their fates are, and is written incredibly well.
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
another amazing story from Casati, presenting her spin on the tale of Clytemnestra. i think it is very effective in exploring such a well-known story, presenting areas of her life which are often not spoken much about, thus portraying her as a human ...
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
this work of bea's is very interesting, as not only does it work to retell the Trojan War from fresh persepctives, those of Cassandra and Helen, but also cleverly rewrites their ending, as Cassandra's harnessing of her prophetic abilities enables fat...
The End Crowns All (Girl, Goddess, Queen)
Ancient Near Eastern Myth
a wonderful, immensely historically accurate account of life in the near east in the 800s BC. it even builds off the epic of gilgamesh!! it is a tale of a woman's rise from nothing into queenship, and it explores a range of truly interesting, and som...
Costanza Casati on Semiramis, the Inspiration Behind Babylonia