Winnie Wu, Period 6, 12/19/2023

Literature Circle: A Thousand Ship by Natalie Haynes


“Victims of men, survivors of men, slaves of men”

My prediction from my last blog has indeed come true. Following the war, the rest of the Trojan women were divided among the Greek “heroes” as spoils. While Cassandra and Polyxena chose to die rather than become the slaves of the Greeks, Andromache, on the other hand, continues to endure. Andromache faced many tragedies: her family was killed by the Greeks, her husband was killed by the Greek hero Achilles, and her son was killed by the son of the man who killed her husband and enslaved her, Neoptolemus. Yet Andromache still found the will to survive, and she found joy and love in her new son, Molossos. After Neoptolemus was murdered, she became free. She married Helenus, Hector’s brother, rebuilt her fallen city, Troy, and watched her son, Molossus, grow up. Andromache is able to rebuild her life despite the violence she faced, serving as the embodiment of the quote above: “Victims of men, survivors of men, slaves of men.”

The suffering caused by the war extended beyond the Trojan women to also afflict the Greek women left behind. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife, has to manage Ithaca in Odysseus’s absence and deal with the numerous suitors who raided her home. Her initially worried letter to Odysseus became angrier with each passing year, marked by Odysseus's prolonged absence and failure to return. When I read the Odyssey in my freshman year, Odysseus was portrayed as a brave, clever, and strategic leader. However, seen through Penelope’s perspective, Odysseus seems like a foolish, arrogant man, too focused on chasing his own glory and fame to remember his family patiently waiting for him at home. His pride and arrogance caused his and his men's downfall; had he not taunted the cyclops and revealed his name when departing, he might have reached home much sooner.

A prevalent pattern in all of these stories is the relentless cycle of violence. Clytemnestra killed her husband, Agammenon, in revenge for sacrificing their daughter, Iphigenia. Later, their other children, Electra and Orestes, killed Clytemnestra to avenge their father. Another example is when Neoptomeles killed Polyxena as a sacrifice for his father, Achilles. The Greeks, aware of this cycle of violence, try to prevent it by eliminating all members of the victim’s family, preventing any chance of vengeance. For example, Neoptmeles killed Hector’s son, Astyanax, so he wouldn’t grow to avenge the death of his father, who was killed by Achilles. Another example is Hecabe killing Polymestor and his two sons to avenge the death of her last son. This cycle of violence is reflected in our modern world today, as evident in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The revelation that Zues, Gaia, and Themis orchestrated this war to control the human population left me shocked but not surprised. This twist deviates from the original Greek myths, but given the characteristics of the Greek god, it is not unexpected. The gods are indifferent to the suffering and pain of humans as long as it serves their purpose. Instead, they see the conflict as a game, picking sides and choosing favorites. This highlights a disturbing reality where those in power initiate wars without regard for the individuals affected.

A recurring theme I found in Natalie Haynes’s book is that there’s no happy ending. In both “Stone Blind” and “A Thousand Ships," the perpetrator continues on to live their lives while the victims endure suffering or meet a tragic ending. In “Stone Blind," Athena turned to stone, and Medusa was killed, yet Hephaestus and Perseus continued to live their lives without a thought about the pain they caused. In “A Thousand Ships," the women experience rape, murder, and violence without any retribution, and their perpetrator never faces consequences for their crime. This is not a tale of justice or vengeance; it is just a reflection of harsh reality.