T.E. Taylor
Autore di Zeus of Ithome
Opere di T.E. Taylor
Etichette
Informazioni generali
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Utenti
Recensioni
Premi e riconoscimenti
Statistiche
- Opera
- 1
- Utente
- 1
- Popolarità
- #2,962,640
- Voto
- 3.5
- Recensioni
- 1
- ISBN
- 2
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.… (altro)