mikarala t1_jcdgfit wrote
Reply to comment by Pigs_in_the_Porridge in Finished Song of Achilles, moving on to Circe! by Ssnnooz
I didn't know that, what a shame. I believe she revealed on Instagram a while ago that she's working on a Persephone retelling, which I'm really excited about. I hope she's been able to make progress on it.
Edit: Just want to clarify that I'm not simply hoping she's been able to make progress on the novel purely for my own benefit, although I am looking forward to the book, but because I imagine it being extremely demoralizing not being able to make progress due to chronic health issues sapping all of your energy. I always find it really tragic when the body can't follow the mind, if that makes sense.
Pigs_in_the_Porridge t1_jcdgzu4 wrote
Details here. Sounds really rough.
Anyone who thinks long covid is a joke (not you) should consider what possible reason a best-selling author of critically acclaimed literature would have for pretending to be very ill.
https://www.today.com/health/coronavirus/madeline-miller-long-covid-struggle-rcna53499
ckoocos t1_jce6wbi wrote
Thank you for sharing. I hope her health improves soon.
Neverstopstopping82 t1_jcfecbw wrote
I haven’t heard anyone joke about long covid. I’d have to wack them upside the head if I did.
[deleted] t1_jchl6pb wrote
It’s mostly a push from conservatives to make sure disability payouts don’t increase. People with very low empathy and enough short-sightedness to not consider what would happen if they found themselves chronically ill with LongCovid…
Bridalhat t1_jcdvzqu wrote
Oh god I will not be able to handle the Discourse on that
Guys, I’m not even saying the book is going to be good or bad, just that the discussion around it is going to be exhausting.
Cleverusername531 t1_jceabey wrote
What do you mean?
Bridalhat t1_jceb0o1 wrote
I mean I’m on classics Twitter and book Twitter and the retelling of story with rape at the center of it has already been a bad take machine several times, and the most popular writer in the myth retelling space is probably going to make certain corners of the internet implode
ETA: and once upon the time I was a part-time professional classicist who was paid to write about sex in the ancient world and I am extremely hesitant to use the word “rape” because they don’t have an equivalent term. The Latin “raptus” does mean rape, but it most generally means “seizure” wherein forced sexual congress could be implied there. Women in the ancient world didn’t have agency over their bodies and it was their captors exercising their authority over them rather their husbands or fathers (unless the captors became their husbands and then it was legally ok). The wants of the woman rarely figured into the story, one way or another. There was actual material loss in illicit sex and that is why stories, like Terence’s the Eunuch, feature women marrying their rapists as a happy ending. Conversely, wanted sex could be a bad thing as it could ruin a woman’s chances for a husband and thus financial stability.
(Also it’s easy to dismiss an obsession over social prospects, but that is all women had. For a modern equivalent, remember a time in your life where everything was going your way and you were excited for your future, and then imagine if you were raped that you would lose whatever it is that made you excited and you would still have to deal with a fallout from rape. Some of your tears will be for the rape, others for the future you wanted that you weren’t getting anymore.)
Anyway, the story of Persephone, in every telling, is what we would describe as rape. Girl, field, mother, tears. Even if Miller handles it deftly, loud corners of the internet will not.
MorningCockroach t1_jcfbcm8 wrote
That's an interesting choice of myths to retell then. I think even an adept author would run into some level of pushback given the content and sensibilities of modern readers.
spotted-cat t1_jchqvku wrote
There’s been a retelling of it published already—
And some people in the Hellenistic Pagan community are obsessed with Hades and Persephone, and view Hades as this super heroic husband cause of the thing with her mom.
[deleted] t1_jcf12qs wrote
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