Ithaca is the first novel in Claire North’s trilogy of feminist retellings of The Odyssey which focus on Odysseus’s wife Penelope, who rules the island of Ithaca as queen during her husband’s absence, first in the Trojan War and then in his long journey home. The goddess Hera, queen of the gods and protector of wives and, especially important in this novel, of powerful queens, narrates the book in a sarcastic, humorous style. Her narrative provides the perfect balance to the grim events that take place. The main part of the book is interspersed with Hera’s conversations with other goddesses, especially her stepchildren Athena and Artemis, whom she despises.
As the novel begins, Odysseus has been away from his kingdom of Ithaca for eighteen years: ten years at Troy and eight years, so far, on his journey home. Penelope, who was only sixteen when she married Odysseus, only to see him go to war a few years later, has been a queen much longer than she has been a wife. In North’s version of the story, Penelope is not even certain she loves her husband. North’s Penelope is not a passive figure, sitting around and pining over Odysseus. She is a strong ruler who takes action to defend her home and to protect her teenage son Telemachus, even resorting to underhanded means when she has to. This Penelope is a complex character, and one I am looking forward to reading about in the following two volumes.
Penelope is one of three powerful queens of Greece at this time, the other two being her cousins, the twin sisters Clytemnestra and Helen of Troy. Clytemnestra is the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, the most powerful king in Greece and leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. Helen is married to Agamemnon’s brother Menelaus, king of Sparta, and it was her elopement with the Trojan prince Paris that caused the Trojan War. Of these three queens, it is Clytemnestra who is Hera’s favorite, but she also protects Penelope and Helen.
Pirates disguised as Illyrians, but who are actually Greeks who have returned from the war and are taking advantage of the absence of Odysseus and the other Ithacan men, have started raiding on the island, always coming on the night of the full moon. Since all the men of fighting age are absent, and no male people except old men and boys (and Penelope’s many suitors, many of whom are also very young, or are unwilling to fight) are left to defend the island, Penelope, her maids, and several other women decide to train the women to fight the pirates. These women include Priene, an Amazon warrior who fought for Troy, but who is willing to help Penelope, Ourania, Penelope’s spymaster, Anaitis, a priestess of Artemis, and Teodora, a young woman who is an expert with a bow and arrow, and who was orphaned in the pirates’ first raid.
Besides training this army of women for battle, Penelope must deal with her suitors, who are eating all her food, drinking excessively, and fighting among themselves. Besides being convinced, when no one else is, that her husband is still alive, Penelope knows she cannot choose one of her suitors, because it will result in bloodshed, and she thinks that, if she marries one, he might kill Telemachus in order to gain power for himself. The laws of hospitality do not allow her to send them away, though, so she knows matters will come to a head soon. The members of her council, three old men, do their best to advise her, but they are at a loss as to what must be done. Then a new suitor, an Egyptian named Kenamon, arrives. He is a more admirable figure than the others, even though Penelope never considers marrying him, and he trains Telemachus and a group of young boys to fight against the pirates. The boys, with their fathers at war, have never learned to fight, and they are tragically unprepared when the pirates come. Telemachus survives only with the help of Athena.
One of the main themes running through the novel is Penelope’s relationship with her son. Telemachus is too young to remember his father, but he thinks a man must be a warrior, and he wants to escape from the influence of his mother. As Hera reminds us, he is a boy who wants to be a man. He has become sulky and ungrateful to Penelope, who will do anything to protect him. When he is wounded in the battle with the pirates, he won’t let his mother tend his wounds. He is afraid he will be seen as weak if he relies too much on his mother. It will be interesting to see how this conflict plays out in the next two books of the trilogy.
Matters are complicated by the arrival of Orestes and Elektra, the son and daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. They have fled to Ithaca after their mother has killed their father, to avenge the death of her daughter Iphigenia, sacrificed to the gods to provide a fair wind for the Greek fleet on the voyage to Troy. Orestes will never be acknowledged as king unless he avenges his father’s death. But that will mean killing his mother. If Orestes fails to do the deed, Menelaus will claim the kingdom. North portrays Menelaus as a violent, power-hungry man, and the enemy of Ithaca. It will mean disaster for Penelope. Then Penelope learns the reason why Elektra and Orestes have come to Ithaca: their mother has come there, seeking refuge at the temple of Artemis.
This presents Penelope with a dilemma. She knows the only way to save Ithaca from Menelaus is for Orestes to become king, but to do that he will have to kill his mother, and the idea of that is repugnant to him as well as to Penelope. Her sympathies are with her cousin Clytemnestra, whom she admires as a powerful queen, who did an excellent job of ruling her kingdom of Mycenae in her husband’s absence. She also sympathizes with Clytemnestra’s reasons for killing Agamemnon. In North’s version of the story, not only did Agamemnon kill his daughter, but he abused his wife and his other children, even his favorite, Elektra. But if Penelope saves Clytemnestra from her vengeful children, Ithaca will be lost to Menelaus, and that will inevitably mean the death of her own son.
Eventually, after a conversation with Elektra, which I think is one of the highlights of the book, Penelope makes her decision: to help Elektra and Orestes and save her son and her kingdom. North’s version of Elektra is a very interesting and complex character. She is not all that different from her mother, and she does not especially love her father, who, as I said, abused her and her mother and siblings. She acts as she does out of necessity, and what is best for her kingdom, not out of hatred for her mother or obsession with her father. Also, even though this is not emphasized, Penelope begins to think of Elektra as a potential wife for Telemachus. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Ithaca is a wonderful novel. Claire North retells the ancient myths in a very modern way, with a focus on strong women and goddesses. Her narrative provides a perfect mix of the epic, poetic style of The Odyssey and contemporary language, and combines the tragic events with a humorous narrative by Hera. I look forward to reading the sequels, House of Odysseus and Last Song of Penelope. I highly recommend the book for anyone who loves Greek mythology or historical fiction.
Ithaca is available from the Hatcher Graduate Library and the Recreational Reading Collection in the Art, Architecture, and Engineering Library.