A queer revisionist retelling of the story of Hercules, for fans of The Song of Achilles, A Thousand Ships and Ariadne.
This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labours, his endless adventures… everyone’s favorite hero, right?
Well, it’s not.
This is the story of everyone else:
- Alcmene: Herc’s mother (She has knives everywhere)
- Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)
- Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)
- Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (He never asked for the job)
- His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims
It’s time to hear their stories.
Told with humour and heart, Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.
My thoughts: I am a massive myths and legends geek, one of those it’s best not to get started, and I’ve enjoyed most of the retellings of recent years. These stories are designed to be recycled, retold, respun for a new age, for a long time most of them existed only in oral form. (Oops, see what I mean, special interest off!)
Hercules (or more accurately Herakles as the letter ‘c’ doesn’t exist in Ancient Greek but ‘k’ does) is probably the most famous Greek hero and one people frequently get wrong (I blame Disney – their Hercules is nothing like the myth).
This Herc, as read by his friends, family and lovers, is every bit as awful and blood soaked as much Greek tragedy. He murders his wife and children, and his punishment is those infamous twelve labours. Except in completing them, he becomes a hero. A selfish, rather stupid, often very drunk, hero. He joins Jason’s Argonauts, only to bail out before they get anywhere near the Golden Fleece, he may even be the cause of the Trojan Wars (although he dies before he can make that situation any worse).
We never really hear from Herc, only secondhand, but it’s enough. He doesn’t come out of this well. His fits of rage, his drinking, his unfaithfulness, his bad behaviour. If he was a 21st century man, he’d be in prison.
But it is interesting to have all these different views on him – some from people who love him, who think they understand him, but can they really? He believes he’s cursed by Hera, being one of Zeus’ many, many illegitimate children, but can he really blame all the death around him on the gods and not accept that he’s a thug?
Phoenicia Rogerson (who has the best first name) has created a rich and vibrant world, with its many tiny island kingdoms, its heroes and villains, gods, monsters and strange happenings. She brings it all vividly to life, and even though the language is modern, you can tell these are ancient stories.
Thank you HQ for sending me a beautiful hardback copy, you can Pre-order yours now, and it’s available at the end of August.
ramblingmads 