Clytemnestra is a 2023 feminist myth‑retelling novel by Costanza Casati, following Clytemnestra’s life from Spartan princess to vengeful queen, reframing her not as a villain but as a woman shaped by love, betrayal, trauma, and political brutality. (Wikipedia)
Clytemnestra is a book about the women behind The Iliad. Penelope (Odysseus), Helen (Menelaus and Paris), and most specifically Clytemnestra (Agamemnon). How they grew up, how they accepted their roles (often reluctantly and often with a lot of friction). It is a retelling (like Circe) and it lightly mangles the myths. Books like it are Circe and Song of Achilles by Miller.
It does not deal with deities but the societal pressures of a culture that could be 3000 years old. It is a warrior culture with strict class boundaries. Women are generally forced into a subservient role within the classes. Casati wrote it from a woman’s point of view – but to tell the truth, it was pretty bad when Homer related it. I was on her side. Casati was not mounting a soap box at all.
Was it good? Yeah… pretty much. It ended right after Agamemnon came back from Troy so it left off the next 7 years of her reign and some juicy plot points. It had many sequences where Clytemnestra spoke at length about what it was like to endure it all. For that reason, it got a little sluggish but it was interesting seeing a lot of familiar faces interacting with the main players. I would give it an 8 out of 10. For Circe I would give a 10. For Song of Achilles I would give a 9. They are all interesting if one likes the Greek myths.
Another positive point is the last 90 pages were essentially a study guide for a book club. I didn’t see it until I got to the end of the book (90 pages short). I think I would have consulted it while I was reading.
Quotes:
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“What he did to you was unforgivable,” Polydeuces says, “but he is still your father. Loyalty is a difficult thing.”
“It shouldn’t be,” Clytemnestra replies.
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Cynisca had thought herself safe. But vengeance works best when it’s aided by patience. And patience is like a child: it must be nursed so it can grow day after day, feeding on sorrow, until it’s as angry as a bull and as lethal as a poisoned fang.
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When vengeance calls and the gods stop watching, what happens to those who have touched the people I love?
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(I appreciate the heads up! 
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Fingers crossed!