“The voices sank and rose, sank and rose higher. It was like the north wind when it blows screaming through mountain gorges; like the keening of a thousand widows in a burning town; like the cry of she-wolves to the moon. And under it, over it, through our blood and skulls and entrails, the bellow of a the gong.”
- from Mary Renault’s “The King Must Die"
Mary Renault weaves a tale so mythic in scope, that the story itself is only outshone by her fabulous prose. Beyond a vague awareness of the Minotaur, I was not familiar with the ancient Greek tales of Theseus. Renault takes the myth and works her narrative like Hephaestus works metal; into a believable and credible story.
The novel is flush with gods and goddesses, though not in a true physical sense nor are they metaphysically present, but they persist within the psyche of the Greek people (note: there was no ‘Greece’ in this period, but for the sake of saving space, I’ll generalize). Theseus believes fully in their existence and his fate that's tied to their whims.
Is he human? Is he a god? Or did he spawn from something in between? He certainly believes in the supernatural, and that he has an exceptional relationship with Poseidon. He is driven by fate and faith. His entire existence is colored by the mythical hands from above (and below) that guide his life’s path.
He is crushed when Ariadne, the daughter of Crete’s King Minos, shockingly relates the planning involved prior to her reading of oracles, “We have ninety clerks working in the Palace alone. It would be a chase every month, if no one knew what the oracles were going to be.” Ariadne’s pragmatic revelation that creates a crack in Theseus’ fate…one, though, that he’s able to keep from spreading.
The mythic themes provide the outline for Renault’s story. Medea, the mistress of Theseus’ (human) father, spits this curse, which touches on the well-know elements of the Theseus myth: “You will cross water to dance in blood. You will be King of the victims. You will tread the maze through fire, and you will tread it through darkness. Three bulls are waiting for you, son of Aigeus. The Earth Bull, and the Man Bull and the Bull from the Sea.”
Within this context, the ‘historical’ aspect to this ‘historical' fiction is very realistic and true to its age and time. The historical misogyny is appropriate in the world and age of Theseus and is often chivalric in it’s own way. The battlefield amongst male and female gods is a significant theme and Theseus travels between societies who sometimes favor the gods and others who favor the goddesses.
Theseus remembering an exchange with his Grandfather when he was still a boy, explaining a violent animal sacrifice to a young boy grappling with it’s meaning. “I had no word to say to him. The seed is still, when first it falls into the furrow.” Like Theseus’ Grandfather, Renault prose plants seeds which grow over time to expose their full meaning and understanding.
I highly recommend this book.
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The King Must Die
One of the most beautiful books I have ever read. Some of the phrases will stay with me for the rest of my life. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys Greek Mythology.
Top reviews from other countries
Ian Mackay
Not to be missed - you'll not regret taking up this book!!
Reviewed in Australia on July 22, 2017