In recent years the reimagining of Greek myth has become almost a genre in itself: from classicists such as Madeline Miller and Natalie Haynes to Margaret Atwood and Colm Tóibín, modern writers have found fresh ways to spin these ancient stories. Many seek to foreground the experiences of women overlooked in the originals; only a few come close to matching the sharp perspicacity and profound humanity of Pat Barker.
The Voyage Home, the third volume in her masterful reimagining of Homer’s Iliad, takes up the tale exactly where The Women of Troy left off. After 10 grisly years of fighting, Agamemnon and his men are sailing for home. Their ships are laden with the spoils of war, including many hundreds of Trojan women, who have been shared out among the conquerors and taken as slaves. One of those slaves is the priestess Cassandra, daughter of King Priam, whom Agamemnon has not only claimed as his prize but secretly married. In Mycenae, meanwhile, his wife, Clytemnestra, is preparing for his return. A decade has passed since Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to the gods for a fair wind to Troy, but Clytemnestra’s grief and fury have not dimmed. As Cassandra bleakly foretells, a violent reckoning awaits.
