A Fair Wind for Troy

Greek Myths

by Doris Gates

Relates the events culminating in the Trojan War, featuring such tales as Paris's abduction of Helen and the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis

Genres: Childrens, Historical Fiction, Mythology, Classics, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Doris Gates, 1901-1987

A lifelong resident of California, Doris Gates was for many years, she was a librarian for the Fresno County Free Library. However, she is remembered for her many beloved children's books. Of these, the best known and most influential was Blue Willow (1940), selected as a Newbery Honor Book in 1941. Many consider Blue Willow to have been the first realistic, problem novel for children, and it was recognized both for its lasting literary merit and for its expansion of the range of subjects which could be explored in books for children. She died in 1987.

Reviews

[R. G. Nairam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, what a bunch of jerks.

I've never been a huge fan of Greek mythology, so this wasn't /engrossing/ to me, but it was quite readable. The illustrations are gorgeous. I found out part way through that it is apparently the last in a group of books on Greek myths that Gates wrote. I wonder if reading the others would have made me less confused by the number of names being thrown at me?

I do like that it puts its focus on a number of things leading /up/ to the war, and less on the Trojan horse. That meant most of it was new material for me (or at least unremembered), and so, more interesting.

[Cheryl]

for the illustrations, michael compares to hyman
.....
Art indeed glorious, though in this case not much like TSH. Gotta love the cover by Dillon, too.

Text very readable, good introduction for those youngsters whose interest has been prompted by Riordan.
Not my kind of thing at all, though. Because after all, Leda was not "wooed" as this children's book would have it, was she?

Glossary is not such, but is instead a pronunciation guide only.

[Stuart · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sixth and final book in Doris Gates' Greek mythology collection, this retelling of the story of Troy glosses over most of the war and its aftermath to focus on key moments leading up to the war itself: the marriage of Helen to Menelaus, the Judgement of Paris, the abduction of Helen, the recruitment of Odysseus and Achilles, and the sacrifice of Iphigenia. Missing are many of the iconic figures of the Trojan saga, namely Patroclus, Ajax, Neoptolemus, Nestor, Cressida, Astyanax, and Troilus. Aeneas and Andromache are mentioned only once each, while Hector and Cassandra are background figures of only slightly more prominence. This might have been a more interesting approach if Gates had something new to say about the characters, but her Helen and Paris mostly emerge as figures we've seen before: the callous beauty queen and the vain but handsome simpleton. Odysseus is his usual wily self, and largely the most sympathetic figure in the story, but he becomes unexplainably war mongering when it comes to the Iphigenia episode, which Gates largely takes, point for point, from the Euripides play about her sacrifice at Aulis. Though the book features Gates usual readable style and is probably useful for sharing these stories with younger readers, it comes up short in her overall lexicon, and is an unsatisfying and anticlimactic contribution to the larger wealth of Trojan War related literature and retellings.

[Kali]

Book text:
The drama and elegance of the ancient Greek myths are recaptured in this series by award-winning author and storyteller Doris Gates. Here we meet the legendary gods and goddesses whose exploits, whether brave and strong or proud and foolish, lead the reader from one adventure-filled tale to the next.
Helen was the most beautiful woman the ancient world had ever seen. When she chose Menelaus as her husband, the other great chiefs vowed to band together and make war against anyone who dared steal her. But then Aphrodite, the goddess of love, promised Paris of Troy the most beautiful woman for his wife. Now the tragic prophecy that Paris would cause the fall of Troy and the greatest war Greece had ever seen began to be fulfilled.
Here also are the stories of:
Odysseus - the mortal who was as clever as Zeus
Agamemnon - forced to choose between his pledge to his brother and the life of his daughter
Clytemnestra - wife and murderer of Agamemnon
Achilles - greatest warrior in ancient Greece
Iphigenia - royal daughter and sacrifice to the gods

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Greek myth as a tween. I was Charlotte at the end of Mermaids where she devours Greek myths. I have read a lot of them. Also, Iliad, Odyssey, Metamorphoses, etc.

This is a cleaned up version that leaves out a lot of prurient details. I.e., all the sex stuff. The geography was interesting and I liked the small details. Poor Iphigenia who gets sacrificed for Troy. Women get the fuzzy end of the lollipop in Greek myth and plays. Antigone I read in hs. The men generally are terrible. Charles Mikolaycak did the illustrations. I love his stuff from Cricket. The warriors are very muscular, ala 300. Enjoyable but probably liked more when younger.

I imagine there are better ones now. Also, The Penelopiad by Atwood tells the story of the Odyssey from Penelope's POV. It's so well done.

[Michael P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was an avid reader of mythology books as a child and was already familiar with the Trojan War when I picked this up. However, I had never heard of the myth of Iphigenia before, and found the story disturbing. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to expose their children to the darker side of mythology.

[Ruth York · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love mythology, especially Greek. However, this book didn't do much for me. The writing and story seemed haphazard at times. It also felt quite rushed in areas, then quite slow in others. While it was "ok," it certainly is not a favorite.

[Jordan Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the Trojan War, but why does every author tell it the same way? There are so many characters and sides and intricate details to it, I suppose that the reader does admittedly need to know the same basic details every time. But I have found that most authors who decide to write the tale of the Trojans perform their execution in much the same way: distant, factual, and unbiased as to which side or character they would prefer to see come out victorious. Rarely does the story stay with a single character. For all of the books I have read on the subject, I still have no sense that I have ever come to know any of the characters.

This one is no different, perhaps even worse. It covers the tale of Helen being given away in marriage, the story of Paris giving an apple to his favorite goddess, and then touches lightly upon how Odysseus leaves home. It then focuses quite heavily on the tale of Iphigenia, a lesser known character who was the daughter of Agamemnon.
As for the actual war, it was brushed over in the last few pages and not really covered.

The book had no plot, purpose, or point. There was no main character and little connection between the few relatively unrelated stories that each chapter told.
No character was ever looked into in even the most cursory way, and the whole thing was scattered and messy.

This book is rather short at only 96 pages (though the print is trickily small), and I am pretty sure that it is a children's or at least YA book.
Therefore, I was amused at the illustrations. There were 4 or 5 full page, pretty illustrations. Well done, but if this is a children's book, why are the characters of the drawings so sensually portrayed? Not a single one failed to accentuate the just-barely-covered breasts, privates, or buttocks. I just thought that this was a bit strange, given the age group the book is aimed at.

I cannot recommend this confusingly jerky book to anyone. In fact, I think that I would dissuade you from reading it even more strongly if you like the Trojan War. This one covers it in such a way as to make it almost insulting.
Not a good find, I'm afraid.

[Jonathan Rimorin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I read this when I was 9 years old: it belongs to that small genre of books where someone's martyrdom or self-sacrifice turns the tide and made 9 - year-old me cry (see also "The High King" by Lloyd Alexander and anything with Joan of Arc). I still remember the scene of Iphigenia's little murder, and how that precipitates her father's bloodlust in the ensuing Trojan War.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ian and I often read this together when he was small. Led to many good discussions. We have the 1976 version.

[Connor Oswald]

DNF