Resources for cassandra
The novel Cassandra is told by the titular character Cassandra about the build-up to the Trojan War and the fall of Troy. The novel explores themes of feminism and fate. In some ways, the author, Christa Wolf, ropes her own life into the book. Wolf was raised during World War II and into the Cold War. There are many connections between Wolf's experiences during the Cold War and Cassandra's experience with the Trojan War. Wolf embodies Cassandra in her novel.
Wolf includes her own characters into the novel, but the original myth can be found here. As you read the novel, consider the following questions:
Wolf includes her own characters into the novel, but the original myth can be found here. As you read the novel, consider the following questions:
- What was Wolf's intention by opening and ending the narrative in third person with a stone lion imagery?
- Could Cassandra's fate ever have been avoided? If so, how could she have changed it or even avoid her fate?
Resources for house of names
The novel House of Names written by Colm Tóibín is written from different perspectives based on the original novela Oresteia. The gay Irish author incorporates the theme of silence throughout his novels and within his own life. Tóibín gives insight from these characters about major events that happened: Iphigenia's sacrifice from the point of view of her mother, Clytemnestra, the murder of Agamemnon. The author also introduces voices that were left unheard in the Oresteia, such as Orestes and Electra.
As you read, consider the following questions:
As you read, consider the following questions:
- What is the character's body language saying based on the circumstances? What's their intention?
- How true is this novel to the original Oresteia, and how has Tóibín given voices to silenced characters?
- Whose voice is louder, and how are they more outspoken?
Resources for The Lost Books of the Odyssey
The Lost Books of The Odyssey, originally written by Homer then rewritten by Zachary Mason, is the dashing tale of the hero Odysseus and his decade long search for home. Mason opens the novel with Odysseus's return to Ithaca after 10 years to discover his beloved Penelope in his house with another man. The Lost Books of The Odyssey is about Odysseus's journey home after the Trojan War, in which he must overcome physical challenges as well as personal ones. The fight with the cyclops, avoiding the songs of the sirens, and grappling with the reality that his home will have changed. This remix on a classic has with themes of homecoming, death, and maturity.
As you read, consider asking yourself the following:
As you read, consider asking yourself the following:
- What is home to Odysseus, and does he still have one when he returns?
- Was the journey worth going home?
- Additionally, why would he give up his adventures and affairs to be with Penelope?
- In what ways-- for better or for worse, has Odysseus changed, and what might have caused those changes?
Resources for circe
Circe by Madeline Miller is the tale of Circe, daughter of Zeus, who was banished to a deserted island because of her strange witch powers. On the island, she learns more about her powers and to what extent she can go to control nature around her to protect herself from the perils of strangers, some of which she ends up helping. Circe was featured in a previous reading, The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason. The self-titled novel has themes of strength, and Circe's internal dilemma of choosing between her role as Zeus's daughter or a mortal's hero. Although there is no clear timeline of Circe's life, she's lived long enough to have been there for the birth of Pasiphaë's (her sister) minotaur, the death of Icarus then Daedalus, and finally crossed paths with Odysseus.
As you read, consider the following:
As you read, consider the following:
- How has the trauma from her her short-lived adolescence influenced her decisions as to who to trust?
- Is Circe trusting or simply naive? Trusting in mortal's will to do good, or naive that they will even do anything that doesn't directly benefit themselves?
- In what ways if her witchcraft both a blessing and a curse?