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Bezig met laden... Zeus of Ithomedoor T.E. Taylor
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Three Hundred Years of Slavery. Greece, 373 BC. For three centuries, the Messenian people have been brutally subjugated by their Spartan neighbours andforced to work the land as helot slaves. Diocles, a seventeen-year-old helot, has known no other lifebut servitude. After an encounter withSpartan assassins, he is forced to flee, leaving behind his family and his love, Elpis. On Mount Ithome, the ancient sanctuary of the Messenians, he meetsAristomenes, an old rebel who still remembers the proud history of their people and clings to a prophecy that they will one daywin backtheir freedom.A forlorn hope, perhaps. But elsewhere in Greece, there are others too who believe it is timethat the power of Spartawas broken." Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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This was a quick, entertaining read. All through I compared the novel with [author:Victor Davis Hanson|15262]'s [book:The End of Sparta|11215777], which covered the same subject, more or less. Hanson's style was more formal and this novel more casual. I felt it odd using such modern terms as "fifth columnists" [although dated], "wild-goose chase" [Shakespeare]. Diocles was an engaging young man; I enjoyed following his development from naïve teenager to a leader with awesome responsibilities. I am sure Hanson's history was more detailed and exact, but this novel gave the two Thebans more rounded personalities. Other figures were likeable; there was even ONE Spartan, Cleander, who, even within our negative stereotype of that people, was a decent sort. Even the mother of Diocles says to her son: "even though he was a Spartan, I cried when I heard that man was dead....He was by far the best [of masters I've had.] He was stern but he was fair. You knew he was the boss but he didn't rub your nose in it."
I do feel that the heroine, Elpis, after having been sexually violated by a Spartan, would have been ostracized back in those days in real life. The whole episode smacked too much of the 21st-century attitude towards such a thing, but Diocles's feelings toward her DID contribute to a happy ending. I wonder if the author's choice of the name Elpis, the ancient Greek word for "Hope" in English, was deliberate. Did the author mean to express, in a subtle way, the hope of the Messenians for freedom?
Highly recommended. ( )