Funeral Games by Mary RenaultMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
"It is for the scholars of each generation to purge it of its errors, before they infect the next."
"All those great men. When Alexander was alive, they pulled together like one chariot team. And when he died, they bolted like chariot horses when the driver falls. And broke their backs like horses, too."
I finally read the last book in Mary Renault's trilogy on Alexander the Great, and it has left me feeling more shocked and dismayed than did the other two books. And this says A LOT, when you factor in the fact that Book 2 ends with Alexander the Great's death!
Book 3 opens with Alexander's death in 323 BCE and ends in 310 BCE, with a postlude set in 286 BCE. It tells the tragic story of how his great empire (the largest one in the ancient world, stretching from Egypt to India) disintegrates in the span of thirteen years... which some sources say parallels the thirteen years it took for him to conquer these lands.
What shocked me was the inhumanity of the murders that kin committed against kin, brother Macedonian against brother Macedonian... the women proving more barbaric than the men. And yes, while this is a work of fiction, Mary Renault is known to base her novels on historical fact. She even lists her primary sources at the end!
For instance, it is a fact that Alexander the Great had a half-brother who was "on the spectrum," to be politically correct about it. His story, I suppose, was one of the more tragic ones, because of his innocence.
Also, Alexander the Great had at least TWO sons (some sources say he had three), from two different women, both of whom also have tragic ends ... ON WHICH I AM HAVING DIFFICULTY RESTRAINING MYSELF TO COMMENT ON BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO POST SPOILERS... But then again, can one spoil if it's history? Ahaha.
It is the death of the innocents that leave me so dismayed, and also makes one reflect on Legacy.
There is much to chew upon. The novels, while based in antiquity, speak much of human nature, both its bestiality and its nobility. And I take comfort in the fact that the book ends in a library, with the one remaining general of Alexander's (Ptolemy, now Pharoah and founder of a dynastic line that ended with Cleopatra) writing his version of events, to counteract the negative propaganda that his rival Kassandros spread.
Flesh dies, but books remain. And this glorious series is truly a treasure-trove I shall reread all throughout my life.
(Rated it only 4 stars because of all the violence, ahuhuhu, because it's impossible to LOVE something so bloody! But to be honest, the writing deserves 10 out of 5 stars!)
And if you're in the mood to learn more, I highly recommend this amazing review! https://www.theguardian.com/books/boo...
Click on the links to see my reviews for Book 1 and Book 2 of the trilogy.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment