Not Without Theseus: A Hero's Propaganda

Theseus has a lot of adventures. He gets around a LOT, really, and gets all kinds of accolades that maybe, just maybe he doesn't entirely deserve. Stories, in fact, which one might even go so far as to consider... propaganda.

Theseus delivering a beat down. With a club.
image by Roland Longbow, via wiki commons

You see, there was this other hero back in the day. You might have heard of him -- that guy with the immense strength and the short fuse, likes the ladies, and goes by the name of Heracles? I mean, he was awesome. Sacked Troy all by his lonesome, went on ADVENTURES constantly, with his, ah, buddies. All those twelve labors with the bonus "get with all 50 of my daughters" 13th. Totally undefeated in all things except for Love. (Love conquers all, guys. Er. Or do I mean infidelity? So hard to keep them straight.)

Heracles was pretty stiff competition for anyone. But the Athenians -- they never settle for second best. Instead, they made Theseus a companion to Heracles on some of his most famous journeys. In fact, that went ahead and made Theseus a companion to everyone on their most famous journeys. They sent him off with Jason after the Golden Fleece, with Heracles against the Amazons, they sent his sons to Troy, even though they had totally been deposed by Menestheus when Theseus was run out of Athens upon his return from the Underworld. They inserted Theseus into so many stories, that he became his own expression: Not Without Theseus. Meaning, nobody got anything awesome done without the ATHENIAN hero himself. Not even Heracles!

So, Heracles had the 12 labors? Theseus had 6 of his own -- and conquered them before he'd even reached manhood! And!! After THAT, he liberated Athens from the subjugation of Minos by shipping out to Crete as tribute and killing the Minotaur. Yeah, okay, sure, maybe Heracles did kill snakes in his crib as an infant, but Theseus could have taken the easy route to Athens by sea, he didn't need a goddess to drive him into madness to become a hero, he made a deliberate choice to be all he could be! And he taught wrestling to the Greeks. And, he was so enlightened and just, he practically created DEMOCRACY!

Heracles? pfft. He just whaled on people with his club. All he had going for him was crude power. Theseus had brains as well as a club! Because Theseus is nothing if not a reflection of the virtues of Athens. A shining example of everything the Athenians believed in.

Now, I'm not saying Theseus didn't make with all the awesome -- but I am going to say this:

In other countries where the king sets up some additional governmental body to offer advice and maybe even make a few decisions on their own, while still remaining KING, himself, we don't call that a democracy. We call it a monarchy. In fact, Elective Monarchy might be the most fitting way of describing government in Theseus' day. And it wasn't special to Athens. In those days, nobody got to be king just because he was born a prince. Sure, it gave you a leg up, but if you didn't have the support of your people? Pfft.

Your days were numbered.

Even when you're Theseus, "bringer of democracy" and Hero of Attica.

(Crossposted)

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Long before she ran away with Paris to Troy, Helen of Sparta was haunted by nightmares of a burning city under siege. These dreams foretold impending war—a war that only Helen has the power to avert. To do so, she must defy her family and betray her betrothed by fleeing the palace in the dead of night. In need of protection, she finds shelter and comfort in the arms of Theseus, son of Poseidon. With Theseus at her side, she believes she can escape her destiny. But at every turn, new dangers—violence, betrayal, extortion, threat of war—thwart Helen’s plans and bar her path. Still, she refuses to bend to the will of the gods.

A new take on an ancient myth, Helen of Sparta is the story of one woman determined to decide her own fate.

Writing Polypoetes, son of Pirithous

Pirithous and Hippodamia
© Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons

Among the men listed as suitors of Helen, and those named as leading ships to Troy, we find the footnote of Polypoetes, the son of Pirithous. Those of you who have been reading this blog for any length of time know that I've done a lot of THINKING (and writing!) about Pirithous, and Polypoetes's mother, Hippodamia -- but until I started writing my last manuscript, I hadn't really considered their son.

It's funny how you can write two or three books about a character just for your own pleasure or entertainment, and then realize after the fact how desperately important it was for you to write those other books, so that when you sit down to write the thing you are writing at that moment, you have the background you need to tackle it. And that's kind of what happened for me with Polypoetes and this last manuscript. Because I was so caught up in the more familiar names and characters -- Odysseus, Ajax the Great, Menelaus, Agamemnon, Penelope, Castor and Pollux -- that I had overlooked Polypoetes as a part of the story I was writing. Until he was on top of me.

And I couldn't help but explore his perspective, just a little bit. Because here was the son of Theseus's best friend, Pirithous the instigator. Here was the son of the man who, by some accounts, provoked the entire Kidnap-of-Helen-and-Persephone adventures. Here was the son of the man who, one might argue, cost Theseus EVERYTHING, and by extension for my narrative, cost HELEN everything too. What kind of courage did it take him to march or sail himself to Sparta and present himself as a suitor to Helen? Or was it a matter of honor, itself? Was he there because of Helen's beauty, or was Helen's beauty just a happenstance, because he felt there was a debt that must be paid?

And what does he think about his father's adventures?  Or his father's reputation, generally, for that matter? What does he know, and how closely is he bound up in the affairs of Athens, and Theseus's family? Certainly he was old enough by the time HELEN OF SPARTA takes place that he could be left in Thessaly to rule in his father's place -- I imagine he was of a similar age to Hippolytus, Theseus's oldest (deceased) son. Were they friends? Does he grieve?

Fortunately for me, I knew Polypoetes's early history. I knew Pirithous and Hippodamia's story already, because I'd written their book just before. And I think that made giving Polypoetes a voice that much more attractive and inspiring. Because having known his parents, I wanted desperately now, to know their son.

I hope someday you'll get a chance to know him too!

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Available Now!
Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

Long before she ran away with Paris to Troy, Helen of Sparta was haunted by nightmares of a burning city under siege. These dreams foretold impending war—a war that only Helen has the power to avert. To do so, she must defy her family and betray her betrothed by fleeing the palace in the dead of night. In need of protection, she finds shelter and comfort in the arms of Theseus, son of Poseidon. With Theseus at her side, she believes she can escape her destiny. But at every turn, new dangers—violence, betrayal, extortion, threat of war—thwart Helen’s plans and bar her path. Still, she refuses to bend to the will of the gods.

A new take on an ancient myth, Helen of Sparta is the story of one woman determined to decide her own fate.

A Podcast Adventure: Rocket Punch Radio, and Battles of the Gods

Last week I was interviewed on Rocket Punch Radio (Episode 6) where I got to talk about HELEN OF SPARTA, and which gods would win in some epic throw-downs (Zeus vs Odin? Everyone has an opinion!) I also talked a little bit about Paris of Troy, because it's pretty much impossible to write a book about Helen without stumbling over Paris's part in the whole thing -- thankfully I had recently re-educated myself on his history!




I had a great time recording this, and you should definitely give it a listen and let me know in the comments who YOU think would win if the gods battled it out!

Authorial Adventures

Helen of Sparta Sorry!, Risk,
and Theseus's edition of Candyland
from the HELEN OF SPARTA launch party!

It's been pretty non-stop Mythology and Mycenaean Greece on the blog since HELEN's release, but I figured it was about time for an authorial update!

I've been writing like the wind behind the scenes, and researching all kinds of suitable mythological figures along the way. Lots of goddesses and judgments and some awesome, fun, surprise characters I wasn't expecting to find in this latest manuscript. I've been deep in the bronze age for two new manuscripts in a row now, plus HELEN OF SPARTA's edits before that, and it'll be fun to step outside of that and play around with some other projects while contractors come to tear up our 70s carpets and put in (long long long overdue) new flooring. (Seriously. Carpet from the 70s should not still be in ANYONE'S house.)

The EXCITEMENT of carpet destruction (etc) is likely to be impossible to escape and even more impossible to write through, so I don't expect to do more than pick at things here or there, but maybe if I'm lucky I'll get through some edits for that other Amalia. We'll see. Best Laid Plans, and so on!

Here's hoping your May is a lot quieter than mine, and that June will be clear sailing for everyone -- and at the very least, I've got the Historical Novel Society Conference at the end of June to look forward to, so Sound Off in the comments if I'll see you there!

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