Cooney, Caroline B. Goddess of yesterday.Random House, Dell Laurel-Leaf. 263p. maps. c2002. 0-440-22930-8. $5.99. JS * To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, July 2002: This is the most ambitious novel I have read by Cooney. known for her ever-popular works like the series that starts with The Face on the Milk Carton. In this, she mines the Trojan War characters This is a list of mythological characters who appear in narratives concerning the Trojan War. Armies on the Greek side (Achaeans) See Catalogue of Ships
their elopement caused the Trojan war. [Gk. Myth.: Century Classical, 525–528, 815–817] See : Lovers, Famous , as seen by a young girl, Anaxandra. Other major characters are those from the legend: Andromache and Hector, Menelaus, Cassandra; and the minor ones: King Priam For a general discussion of the mythological character, see . King Priam is an opera by Michael Tippett, to his own libretto. The story is based on Homer's Iliad, except the birth and childhood of Paris, which are taken from the Fabulae of Hyginus. , Agamemnon, and numerous others. One of the few made-up-by-Cooney characters is Anaxandra, and she serves as a dramatic narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. of events with an exciting life of her own. She meets the principal characters of the Trojan War Trojan War, in Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her return, the Trojans refused. when she is rescued by Menelaus and taken into his household. There she sees his wife, the beautiful Helen, as Helen and the visitor Paris fall in love and elope e·lope intr.v. e·loped, e·lop·ing, e·lopes 1. To run away with a lover, especially with the intention of getting married. 2. To run away; abscond. , taking Menelaus's treasure and his young son with them in an act of treachery. Anaxandra devotes her life to keeping the young prince, a two-year-old, alive. She accompanies the lovers to Troy and meets Paris's relatives, who include Hector and his fiancee Andromache, and their sister Cassandra, thought to be crazy. Through it all, she doesn't trust Helen to protect her own son; she certainly doesn't trust Paris, who actively tries to kill the little boy. Hector introduces her to horses; she loves Andromache and Cassandra; and although her loyalties first go to Menelaus and his little son, she also feels honor-bound to do nothing to betray Troy. It's an untenable position. Many teenagers are familiar with the setting and characters from reading The Iliad or The Odyssey for school assignments. This YA novel will make the ancient Greek Noun 1. Ancient Greek - the Greek language prior to the Roman Empire Greek, Hellenic, Hellenic language - the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages world more accessible to YA readers, even the tragic relationships that have been so familiar to so many through the millennia since Homer and the Greek dramatists put the oral tales into literary form. Cooney has done her research well for this purpose and even the title, altered to fit Anaxandra's needs, is taken from The Odyssey, spoken by Telemachus, who prays, "O God of yesterday, listen and be near me." An excellent, lengthy afterword af·ter·word n. See epilogue. helps readers place the characters and events in this novel into the context of Greek history and legend. Cooney's ability to create a character that will win over modern YA readers succeeds again with Anaxandra. (An ALA Notable Book for YAs.) Claire Rosser, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. *--The asterisk highlights exceptional books. |
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