Fynh liest reviewed Herc: A Novel by Phoenicia Rogerson
Hercules as seen by everyone else
5 stars
This is sort of the story of Hercules, but also not really, since it's told from the perspective of and as expercienced by everyone else who was part of his life. Be it parents, siblings, cousins, nephews, lovers or enemies. And they're not all praising him as the hero that he was; a lot of them rather tell about his vulnerable, annoying and first and foremost sinister sides.
The narrative perspective makes this story interesting, because it makes you feel like an observer, sometimes like one of Herc's companion and often like someone who just heard about his adventures through the grapevine. Especially the latter made for an immersive experience, because this is how I immagine myths and stories did spread through ancient Greek.
What's more is that Phoenicia Rogerson not only depicted the characters, their traits, attitudes and feelings unique and convincingly, but also has a fantastic narrative style …
This is sort of the story of Hercules, but also not really, since it's told from the perspective of and as expercienced by everyone else who was part of his life. Be it parents, siblings, cousins, nephews, lovers or enemies. And they're not all praising him as the hero that he was; a lot of them rather tell about his vulnerable, annoying and first and foremost sinister sides.
The narrative perspective makes this story interesting, because it makes you feel like an observer, sometimes like one of Herc's companion and often like someone who just heard about his adventures through the grapevine. Especially the latter made for an immersive experience, because this is how I immagine myths and stories did spread through ancient Greek.
What's more is that Phoenicia Rogerson not only depicted the characters, their traits, attitudes and feelings unique and convincingly, but also has a fantastic narrative style and a beautifully droll humour. A wonderful read and a recommendable book that btw also contains a lot of queerness and feminism.