Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - Clytemnestra

Umm. Gaslight. Gatekeep. Girlboss.

"You say you want to be with me and protect me... Then you will stay in the palace when my husband comes back from the war. You will hide as I welcome him and his soldiers. Then you will help me murder the man responsible for my daughter's death."

I've had a ton of trouble with Greek retellings over the last year and a half, so I was nervous going into this debut by Costanza Casati. But I shouldn't have been because this was the sort of Greek retellings I yearn for—the ones where you're clenching your firsts into the sides of your book and having to put it down every fifteen pages or so because it is just TOO MUCH. It reminded me a lot of my reactions to Madeline Miller's books because my emotions just ache and fight to be released. I even cried at a pivotal moment because mother and daughter scenes just do me in.

"You don't seek vengeance because you have become a coward... But know this. I will have my justice. I swear it here and now. I swear it by the Furies and every other goddess who has known vengeance. I will stalk the Atreidi and crush everything they hold dear, until only ashes remain."

If you don't know the story of Clytemnestra, you probably know her bitch-ass husband Agamemnon. Literally the most(!) hated Greek husband, in my personal opinion. He's the leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War. Many people probably remember him as the one who steals Briseis from Achilles, which leads to Achilles bowing out from war for a bit. I remember Agamemnon as the man who sacrifices his own daughter Iphigenia to the gods... for a f***ing breeze. Yes, you heard me right. He killed her because the wind wasn't picking up their boats' sails. Couldn't have waited another day or so, immediate immolation for his daughter. And to make matters worse, what I didn't know before reading Clytemnestra is that some accounts say Agamemnon actually murdered Clytemnestra's previous husband (King of Maeonia) and newborn child and subsequently forcing her to marry him next. Like... excuse me? The hatred is boiling hotter than lava at this point. He's the LITERAL worst, so when Clytemnestra patiently seethes all these decades later and eventually murders her husband in a bathtub... MY Queen.

"Are we in Sparta or Athens? Do we not take pride in our strong, free-willed women, or do we lock them into the house so they grow fragile and useless?"

Clytemnestra is a complicated figure to write, and I don't think just anyone can attempt to do so. She's been hated for so long in Ancient Greek texts because of her title as "husband slayer" and also the fact that she sleeps with her husband's cousin/ enemy Aegisthus while Agamemnon's away at war. She's a badass Queen for sleeping with Aegisthus, and I'll never feel an ounce of guilt for Agamemnon since he's killing and harming thousands of girls across the Mediterranean. Anyway, Costanza handled Clytemnestra with the care that she deserves. We go from Clytemnestra's pure rage at Agamemnon to her softened and sweet around her children in the blink of an eye. Even, Clytemnestra's relationship to her siblings was wonderful to watch unfurl because we get to see them grow up alongside her. Helen and Clytemnestra specifically were impeccable. Most retellings never give Helen much of a personality, but we see her pain mirrored in Clytemnestra countless times from Theseus's rape of Helen all the way to her regret in leaving with Paris. Helen felt human, infallibly real and part of that is because Clytemnestra and her's relationship was a true sister bond. Castor, Timandra, and Polydeuces got that same treatment too, so this whole sibling dynamic felt extremely close and genuine. The fact that Clytemnestra kept her loved ones close reminds me of the power of women. She's bitter, but she doesn't take that out on them. Yes, she makes mistakes countless times when her boundaries are messed with or old wounds stabbed at, but again, that made her more human in my eyes. Clytemnestra's trauma will always be the center of her story in history because it led to her committing adultery and murdering her husband, but in this book, she just felt like a woman of history. She has suffered, but she goes on for her children, for her loved ones, herself most importantly. She does not allow her pains to overwhelm her in the end, and while her purpose for so long is vengeance, she is more than that by the end. It's about her husband Tantalus, her unnamed son, Iphigenia, Helen, her future and those for her remaining loved ones. The world tries to tear down women who refuse to let themself be ruled, and Clytemnestra will always be the epitome of that.

"Sooner or later you will die. And I will not mourn you. I will look at the flames consuming your body, and I will rejoice."

I love her so much my heart hurts.

"Death comes for us all, sooner or later. The moment we forget it, we become fools."

On a completely separate note, Costanza does a fantastic job bringing us into the atmosphere of Ancient Greece. You can really tell when a writer actually understands and researches the time period compared to other writers. Getting to see unapologetic Sparta in its prime was pure perfection. From the mixed gender wrestling spouts to the differing treatment of women throughout the city states of Greece, I couldn't get enough. The details for food and gifts for Helen was another great detail. People like to think the city states of Greece were all the same, but in moments like Helen's betrothal, we get to see just how different they are from one another, Sparta most importantly.

"Life at this moment is like being at sea, open waters all around her and no coastline in sight, the world brimming with possibilities."

Lastly, one of the most refreshing elements to this story is the lack of Greek gods and goddesses. Yes, they're mentioned and sacrifices are made, but this is the first Greek retelling where the faith in the gods are fuzzy to near-nonexistent. Clytemnestra exemplifies this particularly in the quote: "Gods do not care about us. They have other concerns. That is why you should never live in the shadow of their anger. It is men you must fear. It is men who will be angry with you if you rise too high, if you are too much loved. The stronger you are, the more they will try to take you down." She actually questions the gods existence multiple times. As a child, her and her brother Castor tried to see Artemis one morning, and even with all of Clytemnestra's begging, she never appeared. And this continues into her adulthood where she reaches out to the gods and receives no response. By the time Agamemnon makes her life living hell by taking her first husband and child, she basically doesn't believe in them, and that really struck me hard as a reminder that humanity hasn't really changed in these thousands of years a part. Many times we lose faith when the world is cruel to us, and it's then that we choose to make our own destiny.

"We will see each other soon. Our lives are being torn apart now, but we will find a way back to each other, just as water always finds its way around rocks."

Clytemnestra actually ends before her story is concluded, and while I think some people may find this in bad taste, I found it to be both a balm on her own pains and mine too. It hurts to read her story and know where it is headed, and maybe Costanza will write a sequel about Elektra, who knows, but I felt at peace with this end just like Clytemnestra.

"It is always difficult to decide if one life is worth more than another. It is also pointless. The dead are dead."

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