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Delphic Women #1
Medea
"This is a book I didn't want to end. I dreamed about the characters for days afterward." —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Last to Die
We know Medea killed her children.... Or do we? In Medea, Kerry Greenwood breathes fresh life into the age of heroes and rescues a woman wronged by ancient playwrights and history.
As priestess of Hekate, Princess Medea protects the sacred grove holding the Golden Fleece and bones of an old king. Jason arrives determined to acquire both and rule the land. The king sets up challenges which Jason must conquer to earn the throne. But Jason's gentian blue eyes and hair bright as gold thread obsess Medea—"here is love, here is joy"—compelling her to help him. When the king breaks his word and seeks to kill the two, they escape together.
Through Medea's royal line, Jason becomes king of Corinth, swearing always to love his wife and queen. But his allegiance is fleeting. Medea has sacrificed home, family, goddess, and innocence for the "melting, fiery loving" she feels for him. What comes next? The answer lies in this compelling story of tragedy, vengeance, exile, grief, and an oracle's response to one returning to worship the dark after having fallen in love with the light.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1997
58 people are currently reading
976 people want to read
About the author
Kerry Greenwood
89 books2,551 followersKerry Isabelle Greenwood was an Australian author and lawyer. She wrote many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She wrote mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
August 3, 2014
X-post from Dreamwidth.
Review copy provided by Netgalley. The galley is copyrighted 2013, but Goodreads says a version was published in 1997.
Content note: Some discussion of rape, murder, and mutilation.
This is a hard book to review because my reaction to it is basically, "Eh."
It's not a terrible book, it's not a great book, it's not off-putting, it's not absorbing. Typically, my rule for deciding if I want to watch a TV show is, "Is this more fun than reading a book?" For this book, I would much rather have been watching TV.
Euripides wrote the version of Medea best known to modern audiences: the princess of Colchis falls in love with the adventurer Jason and betrays her family -- to the point of murdering her brother -- to help Jason steal the Golden Fleece. She then has a checkered career murdering people for Jason's advancement, which ultimately leads to him becoming king of Corinth. Eventually, Jason decides to abandon her in favor of another princess. (I am not sure I have ever read a single version of this myth in which Jason is not a total schmuck.) In revenge, Medea kills the other woman and her own children. In earlier versions, Medea kills the children by accident or the children are killed by the citizens of Corinth.
In most versions, there is yet more wandering and killing and attempted killing. Most notably Medea marries Aegeus and then tries to poison Theseus when he comes to claim his birthright. (This is included in The King Must Die, because sadly Mary Renault does not seem to have ever encountered a misogynistic trope she didn't like.) Medea is often said to have escaped from both Corinth and Athens in a chariot drawn by dragons. I wonder where she stabled and fed the dragons in between witchy midnight escapes. Possibly she just borrowed them from Hekate in her times of need.
Most versions of Medea's history end with her returning to Colchis and killing her uncle to restore her father to the throne. Presumably her father felt that this made up for that one time she murdered her brother and chopped his body into little pieces to scatter in the sea.
In Greenwood's version, Medea is sworn to the goddess Hekate from birth:
She is trained by the priestess Trioda in a Colchis which seems to have only traces of a matriarchal past. Men must marry the eldest daughter of the royal lineage to become king, but the only women with much power are the priestesses of Hekate, who ensure their influence with their knowledge of herbs. Medea learns healing, poisons, and tricks to soothe wild animals -- the last is especially critical to the annual ritual in which the king of Colchis must prove his mastery over an untamed bull.
Greenwood's version at first seems to be a battle of the sexes story, because we see several different cultural approaches to gender relations, particularly gendered violence. Medea goes on a migration with the Sauromatae, a tribe of Amazonian Scyths, which is by far the most interesting part of the book. She learns how to ride, makes friends with other women, and learns more about Sauromatae culture. Sauromatae women, she's told, can't marry until they've killed a man. Every year they meet the Pardalate tribe, whose young warriors fight the Sauromatae women for the chance to kidnap them as brides. Medea watches in horror until she realizes this is not a battle but a ritual:
Alternating with Medea's narration is the narrative of Nauplios, a fisherman's son who is chosen to be Jason's companion when Jason is fostered to the centaurs. Greenwood is writing a historical novel, not a fantasy, so here the centaurs are a tribe of misogynistic horsemen who share their women in common; to celebrate the manhood proven by a hunt, the centaurs hold a ritual in which the young men capture the girls of the tribe and rape them. Later, during the voyage of the Argo, the Argonauts winter on the island of Lemnos:
Fortunately for the Argonauts, the Lemnians are willing to forbear killing them in return for stud services.
Once Medea casts her lot in with Jason, she is dissatisfied with the limited role of Greek women -- which culminates in her abandonment by Jason. After her children are murdered, she goes on a pilgrimage, seeking peace and absolution from the Oracle at Delphi and from Herakles, who here figures as dedicated to the service of women.
The major problems with the book are the following:
* Medea falls madly in love with Jason at first sight and is willing to abandon everything she knows to be with him. This is part of the original myth. Greenwood is unable to make it convincing as part of a novel, although she does indicate strongly that Medea mistakes lust for love.
* While refuting the story that Medea is driven to murder by jealousy and rejection, Greenwood includes two other women who do exactly that -- one who spends a lifetime solitary and embittered, and ultimately dethrones a king, and one who murders her own husband. As a revision of misogynistic mythology, this leaves a lot to be desired.
* Medea commits many violent acts during the course of the novel and ultimately comes to believe the deaths of her children are her punishment for these deeds. We see the transition she makes from a young girl who has never injured anyone to someone willing to kill in self-defense, but we never see the transition where she becomes willing to commit cold-blooded murder or, worse, manipulate others into doing so. When she kills her half-brother, he's already threatened to marry her to gain the throne and attempted to rape her, as well as attempting to kill their father and to murder Jason under guest-right.
Jason originally quests for the Golden Fleece to prove his right to the throne of Iolkos, which is currently held by his uncle, Pelias. When Pelias refuses to turn over the throne, Medea murders him. That is, she persuades his daughters that chopping him into pieces and cooking him in a cauldron will make him immortal.
This does not work.
The daughters hang themselves and Jason and Medea flee Iolkos.
Greenwood skips these events and goes straight to the flight from Iolkos. We never learn how a girl who was willing to kill in what was more or less self-defense became willing to kill in defense of her husband's ambition, let alone with such cruelty and manipulation. We are simply presented with a Medea who goes on to poison other rivals of Jason's at his behest.
I would kind of like to know what happened there.
* Nauplios basically exists to be Medea's reward at the end. He is there so she can form a marriage of equals that supercedes all the unequal and violent gender relations we've seen before. I would rather have had less Nauplios and more of Medea's character development.
Review copy provided by Netgalley. The galley is copyrighted 2013, but Goodreads says a version was published in 1997.
Content note: Some discussion of rape, murder, and mutilation.
This is a hard book to review because my reaction to it is basically, "Eh."
It's not a terrible book, it's not a great book, it's not off-putting, it's not absorbing. Typically, my rule for deciding if I want to watch a TV show is, "Is this more fun than reading a book?" For this book, I would much rather have been watching TV.
Euripides wrote the version of Medea best known to modern audiences: the princess of Colchis falls in love with the adventurer Jason and betrays her family -- to the point of murdering her brother -- to help Jason steal the Golden Fleece. She then has a checkered career murdering people for Jason's advancement, which ultimately leads to him becoming king of Corinth. Eventually, Jason decides to abandon her in favor of another princess. (I am not sure I have ever read a single version of this myth in which Jason is not a total schmuck.) In revenge, Medea kills the other woman and her own children. In earlier versions, Medea kills the children by accident or the children are killed by the citizens of Corinth.
In most versions, there is yet more wandering and killing and attempted killing. Most notably Medea marries Aegeus and then tries to poison Theseus when he comes to claim his birthright. (This is included in The King Must Die, because sadly Mary Renault does not seem to have ever encountered a misogynistic trope she didn't like.) Medea is often said to have escaped from both Corinth and Athens in a chariot drawn by dragons. I wonder where she stabled and fed the dragons in between witchy midnight escapes. Possibly she just borrowed them from Hekate in her times of need.
Most versions of Medea's history end with her returning to Colchis and killing her uncle to restore her father to the throne. Presumably her father felt that this made up for that one time she murdered her brother and chopped his body into little pieces to scatter in the sea.
In Greenwood's version, Medea is sworn to the goddess Hekate from birth:
My mother gave birth to me in the darkness under the earth and died in doing so. I loved the velvety blanket of night before my dazzled eyes ever encountered light. And when I did, they say I wept, and the people said, ‘Here is a true daughter of Hekate!’
She is trained by the priestess Trioda in a Colchis which seems to have only traces of a matriarchal past. Men must marry the eldest daughter of the royal lineage to become king, but the only women with much power are the priestesses of Hekate, who ensure their influence with their knowledge of herbs. Medea learns healing, poisons, and tricks to soothe wild animals -- the last is especially critical to the annual ritual in which the king of Colchis must prove his mastery over an untamed bull.
Greenwood's version at first seems to be a battle of the sexes story, because we see several different cultural approaches to gender relations, particularly gendered violence. Medea goes on a migration with the Sauromatae, a tribe of Amazonian Scyths, which is by far the most interesting part of the book. She learns how to ride, makes friends with other women, and learns more about Sauromatae culture. Sauromatae women, she's told, can't marry until they've killed a man. Every year they meet the Pardalate tribe, whose young warriors fight the Sauromatae women for the chance to kidnap them as brides. Medea watches in horror until she realizes this is not a battle but a ritual:
No one was trying to kill. Openings for lethal blows were passed over in favour of dramatic broadsides, narrow misses and displays of skilled horsemanship. In fact, the riders were assessing one another, changing partners until they found one whom they either liked or disliked enough to want to mate with or humiliate. The young men were risking injury and a shameful loss of hair and skin, which might possibly prove fatal if infected, but not otherwise. The young women were perfectly capable of fighting off unacceptable suitors, but were afforded the chance of leaving the Sauromatae if they wished and joining the Pardalatae, whose customs were different and might be more to their taste.
Alternating with Medea's narration is the narrative of Nauplios, a fisherman's son who is chosen to be Jason's companion when Jason is fostered to the centaurs. Greenwood is writing a historical novel, not a fantasy, so here the centaurs are a tribe of misogynistic horsemen who share their women in common; to celebrate the manhood proven by a hunt, the centaurs hold a ritual in which the young men capture the girls of the tribe and rape them. Later, during the voyage of the Argo, the Argonauts winter on the island of Lemnos:
‘The women of Lemnos have murdered all their men,’ said Nestor impressively. ‘The men were afflicted by some god and refused to go near their women, choosing Thracian concubines instead. The women, led by their queen, Hypsipyle, rose one night and murdered all the men on the island.[...] That is the Lemnian Deed, the worst that ever the Argives knew.’
Fortunately for the Argonauts, the Lemnians are willing to forbear killing them in return for stud services.
Once Medea casts her lot in with Jason, she is dissatisfied with the limited role of Greek women -- which culminates in her abandonment by Jason. After her children are murdered, she goes on a pilgrimage, seeking peace and absolution from the Oracle at Delphi and from Herakles, who here figures as dedicated to the service of women.
The major problems with the book are the following:
* Medea falls madly in love with Jason at first sight and is willing to abandon everything she knows to be with him. This is part of the original myth. Greenwood is unable to make it convincing as part of a novel, although she does indicate strongly that Medea mistakes lust for love.
* While refuting the story that Medea is driven to murder by jealousy and rejection, Greenwood includes two other women who do exactly that -- one who spends a lifetime solitary and embittered, and ultimately dethrones a king, and one who murders her own husband. As a revision of misogynistic mythology, this leaves a lot to be desired.
* Medea commits many violent acts during the course of the novel and ultimately comes to believe the deaths of her children are her punishment for these deeds. We see the transition she makes from a young girl who has never injured anyone to someone willing to kill in self-defense, but we never see the transition where she becomes willing to commit cold-blooded murder or, worse, manipulate others into doing so. When she kills her half-brother, he's already threatened to marry her to gain the throne and attempted to rape her, as well as attempting to kill their father and to murder Jason under guest-right.
Jason originally quests for the Golden Fleece to prove his right to the throne of Iolkos, which is currently held by his uncle, Pelias. When Pelias refuses to turn over the throne, Medea murders him. That is, she persuades his daughters that chopping him into pieces and cooking him in a cauldron will make him immortal.
This does not work.
The daughters hang themselves and Jason and Medea flee Iolkos.
Greenwood skips these events and goes straight to the flight from Iolkos. We never learn how a girl who was willing to kill in what was more or less self-defense became willing to kill in defense of her husband's ambition, let alone with such cruelty and manipulation. We are simply presented with a Medea who goes on to poison other rivals of Jason's at his behest.
I would kind of like to know what happened there.
* Nauplios basically exists to be Medea's reward at the end. He is there so she can form a marriage of equals that supercedes all the unequal and violent gender relations we've seen before. I would rather have had less Nauplios and more of Medea's character development.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 28, 2018
I want to love this book. I almost do. I read David Vann’s Bright Air Black recently; more of a novella than a novel, it also retells Medea’s story, and is an interesting literary work making use of disjointed sentence fragments and present tense to recreate Medea’s chaotic, ambitious mind. But it never moved beyond an interesting scenario for me. It wasn’t swept away by it, I definitely didn’t see his vision as the definitive Medea. Kerry Greenwood’s Medea comes a lot closer to it. She is dark, she is strong, but unlike Vann’s incarnation she doesn’t have that instability or bloodlust. This Medea is one you could wholeheartedly root for if you wanted to. I loved the expansion of Medea’s early years, her training as a priestess, her time with the Scythians (which, I have to say, after reading a few books on the Scythians, rang true). I admit I have a penchant for authors who lavish page space on the esoteric topic of bronze age Greek religion and lore, especially if that is tied up with a mythic character’s growth.
However, a couple of things just brought it down a little for me. I found it really difficult to get into Nauplios’ chapters, and counting the pages until we were back with Medea again. I wouldn’t have missed it if his chapters had been cut entirely and the whole novel was told through Medea’s voice. The other thing is that after lavishing so much wonderful build up on Medea’s youth and development, when we finally get to the most well-known parts of her story, it seemed really rushed, crammed into the last part of the book after spending nearly two-thirds on her early years.
Oh, and I groaned when I read this line: “The king marries his daughter, sometimes, and frequently Pharaoh marries his sister. They are matrilineal, daughter, as we are. The possession of the princess confers the kingship.” Let us set aside for a moment the fact that the notion that the Colchians were descended from Egyptians is more Herodotus (aka ‘the Father of Lies’) than history. The Heiress Theory – which proposed that the reason Egyptian kings married their sisters so often was because the blood right to the throne was carried through the female line – was disproved in the 1980s! (If you’re wondering, pharaohs didn’t marry their sisters nearly as often as people used to think, and it had more to do with emulating the gods Isis and Osiris and controlling cadet lines through princesses.) Why do you do this to me, Kerry Greenwood?! Okay, maybe I’ve just read a string of novels all of which happened to include the Heiress Theory and this was one straw too far for this Egyptologist. But seriously, this popular myth needs to die.
8 out of 10
October 20, 2025
I enjoyed this retelling of the story of Medea from her childhood, training, meeting Jason and all that follows. The book alternates between narration from Medea’s point of view and that of Nauplios, a childhood companion of Jason and also an Argonaut. Detailed and most compelling during the most well known parts, the pacing is a bit slow in places, but overall a great read.
March 8, 2016
At first I was like "It's the Mists of Avalon of the Greek pantheon!" Then I got to where, early on in the story actually, Greenwood just took the Cerridwen's Cauldron/ Birth of Merlin myth from Welsh mythology and cast the Witch goddess as Hekate under the name of "Cerlithe" which I've never heard before. This really irks me. There was no universal paganism in ancient times. You cannot just take a myth from one culture and swap the names with names of deities from the culture you're writing about. It's incorrect and tacky. And it would be blasphemy to both the culture you stole it from and the one you tried to rewrite it for. It's one thing to have your Ancient Greeks essentially practice neopaganism (which shows your lack of research to anyone who knows even a little about their culture or mythology), but that's just laziness. Using actual Greek myths in a book based on one would be a nice (not to mention professional and more credible) touch.
September 15, 2011
(Kylie) Medea is a beautifully crafted, heart-wrenching tale of adventure, love, heroes, gods and betrayal. The woman who history has painted as a monster, comes to life in these pages with absolute clarity so that when the real truth is finally revealed, we ache for her.
An absolute must-read for lovers of history and greek mythology in particular, but for anyone who enjoys a damn good story.
An absolute must-read for lovers of history and greek mythology in particular, but for anyone who enjoys a damn good story.
Read
October 27, 2024This will interest readers looking for novels that re-tell and flesh out the fragmented stories of women and goddesses left for us by the Greeks and Romans.
Content advisory: the story has episodes of violence (which, considering the name of the title character, should not surprise anybody), but also generous dollops of graphic sexuality, some of it brutal.
Content advisory: the story has episodes of violence (which, considering the name of the title character, should not surprise anybody), but also generous dollops of graphic sexuality, some of it brutal.
June 27, 2013
Greenwood offers up a new theory to the popular yet unproven myth/speculation that Medea killed her own children ( the speculation was helped along by Euripides written version of the events). Given the remnants of hearsay and evidence read through the frame of reference handed down by Euripides, it is possible that the maternal filicide supposedly comitted by Medea never happened.
I would also like to take a moment to say what an utter self loving and treacherous male Jason was. His golden reputation doesn't shine very brightly in this version of events.
He betrays her trust more than once and yet she still throws her lot in with him.
Greenwood weaves the supposed sorcery of women of that time, they tended to be healers something often mistaken for witchcraft, in a way that makes situational sense.
One of my favourite characters was Herakles. Old trustworthy Herakles with a pure heart and the soul of a warrior.
It is written in a way that combines mythology, history with fictional elements without becoming a dry academic rehash.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley.
September 2, 2016
Very creative retelling of the Medea/Jason myth from the viewpoints of Medea and Nauplios, a fisherman's son, companion of Jason from childhood, an Argonaut and Medea's faithful friend through the years. Medea, Princess of Colchis, priestess of the goddess Hekate, and sorceress/healer helps Jason steal the Golden Fleece and the bones of Phrixos, who had ridden and flown on a golden ram. As the author tells the story, Medea, when Jason wished to cast her aside for a younger woman, flees with Nauplios to Corinth, where an angry mob of Corinthians stone Medea's innocent children and their nurse to death. I was glad the contemptible Jason was punished as he deserved to be. I liked the changes the author wrought in the story; so much occultism and graphic descriptions did make me uncomfortable. I liked hearing Medea's side of the story. Our sympathies lie with her. And Nauplios kept us informed of the quest, also his lifelong love for Medea.
February 7, 2023
The chapters about Medea and her religion were really captivating and beautifully written. I did not care for Nauplios' character at all and found his chapters to be long and dull. I thought they really took away from this retelling of Medea's story. The chapters about Medea and Jason.. well, something I've definitely read before in similar Greek myth retellings, and I found them stereotypically 'girl meets boy and prceeds to stop having rational thoughts.' Yawn. A good few chapters could have been deleted, and it wouldn't really have had an impact on the novel. The ending... very disappointing. Medea finds "true love" 🤮 which somehow makes her life worth living again after all the trauma and horror she suffered.
This book is definitely worth a read. There are some chapters/ sections which are really striking and beautiful but the rest... meh. I really wish this was the Feminist retelling I thought it was in which Medea stays true to herself and her beliefs.
This book is definitely worth a read. There are some chapters/ sections which are really striking and beautiful but the rest... meh. I really wish this was the Feminist retelling I thought it was in which Medea stays true to herself and her beliefs.
March 2, 2014
A version of the Medea story that involves her NOT killing her children? Really? Apparently actually based in the historical records? Well done retellings of the classics are always interesting...unfortunately, this isn't well done, though it got a bit better as it progressed. It was uneven and the alternating narrative (between Medea and Jason's companion Nauplios who falls in love with her from first sight) didn't work at all.
March 27, 2015
Gave up on this. The pseudo-ancient style it's written in is not worth slogging through. Also much too long. So many better ways to spend my time...
Free digital ARC from Netgalley.
Free digital ARC from Netgalley.
September 7, 2018
Frustratingly close to be excellent but full of weird errors and timeline confusion
December 22, 2023
Well, I learnt something:
If, as she says in her notes, it was well known to historians that the people of Colchis had to send fourteen of their children every year to the temple to apologise for the dreadful act they committed when the people of the city stoned Medea’s children to death INSIDE the goddess’s temple grounds… then it also makes sense, that at some point, the city decided to commission a play from some bloke named Euripides in which this heinous murder was blamed on the mother not the people of Colchis.
The play became super popular and then was copied by others, painting Medea as worse - tossing the bloody corpse of their child at Jason - ah propaganda…
But righting of past wrongs aside, there is something not quite right about this. I can’t tell if it is the writing style - present tense old timey - or that almost no one in it is very likable. Maybe poor old Herakles? Oh, and the Scythian horsewomen were cool.
It is also very long. It takes almost 60% of the book for Jason and Medea to meet.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2794.94
If, as she says in her notes, it was well known to historians that the people of Colchis had to send fourteen of their children every year to the temple to apologise for the dreadful act they committed when the people of the city stoned Medea’s children to death INSIDE the goddess’s temple grounds… then it also makes sense, that at some point, the city decided to commission a play from some bloke named Euripides in which this heinous murder was blamed on the mother not the people of Colchis.
The play became super popular and then was copied by others, painting Medea as worse - tossing the bloody corpse of their child at Jason - ah propaganda…
But righting of past wrongs aside, there is something not quite right about this. I can’t tell if it is the writing style - present tense old timey - or that almost no one in it is very likable. Maybe poor old Herakles? Oh, and the Scythian horsewomen were cool.
It is also very long. It takes almost 60% of the book for Jason and Medea to meet.
3 stars
So far this year, my library saved me A$2794.94
October 18, 2022
I am not very knowledgeable about mythology, but I have enjoyed several mythology retellings (from women's point of view). At frist, I had a difficult time with all of the different characters, but the way the story is written, I didn't really feel like it was a big deal. There was enough context throughout to help me keep track of the characters as they appeared in the story.
I really appreciated the post script by the author that explains her research on the the topic and the quick summary of the traditional story and how her story compares. I also debated whether to include this book as a Fantasy because of the Gods and Goddesses, but there are several instances where the story casually explains things that at first appear to be supernatural (or fantasy) but are actually caused by nature or science (e.g. what happened to Heracles' body/bones after his death, which appeared on the surface to be a miracle.) I look forward to reading more of the books in this series.
I really appreciated the post script by the author that explains her research on the the topic and the quick summary of the traditional story and how her story compares. I also debated whether to include this book as a Fantasy because of the Gods and Goddesses, but there are several instances where the story casually explains things that at first appear to be supernatural (or fantasy) but are actually caused by nature or science (e.g. what happened to Heracles' body/bones after his death, which appeared on the surface to be a miracle.) I look forward to reading more of the books in this series.
January 12, 2018
It's been a awhile since I read a book that made me breathless! Kerry Greenwood creates a intense world through the POVs of Medea and Nauplios. As a sucker for strong independent female protagonists, I was in awe and a little bit terrified of Medea. At first I was confused why we were getting the POV of Nauplios, a secondary character, but it all tied together beautifully in the end. Before reading this, make sure you brush up on your ancient Greek history and be prepared to run into multiple complicated Greek names!
November 7, 2019
Medea was such a fun book to read. Not that anyone is a fun character, but Greenwood brings the people to life and you are allowed to accompany them on their journeys. You get to ride along on the Argos and travel in a Scythian caravan. You get to sorrowfully climb the mountains to Delphi in the depths of despair and you get to snatch the Golden Fleece (only to have it snatched away again). The kids getting killed, yeah, that's a bummer, but maybe it wasn't their mom that did it. After reading this book, I want to run away with the Scythian caravan.
April 16, 2020
This is the story of Medea and Jason and the Argonauts told from a slightly different point of view. Jason's part of the story is told by hid boyhood friend and fellow Argonaut, Nauplios. Of course, this is a story of courage and adventure, but also of love, loss, and betrayal. The characters really come alive in this book, which makes it a much more interesting story than the usual objective, dry telling of Jason's adventures.
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March 24, 2024The retelling of Medea's story through her perspective. All about her and what she did for Jason and that he truly wronged her.Also a question to think about did she really murder her children? All the events that lead up to this and the fact that it has always been told by a man should maybe make you think otherwise.
August 4, 2018
Interesting. You can see Kerry Greenwood's interest in Ancient Greek and Roman myths in her Phryne Fisher and Corinna books, and here she's gone into depth, creating a new, more female-friendly Medea story. It's a good read, but not up to her other novels.
August 15, 2021
It took a while to get into the swing of this and I was daunted by the play I’d read in high school - spoiler alert it isn’t a happy ending. But this gave so much more of the feel of the people, places and time. Really enjoyed this read. And hooray for feisty women no matter what era!
January 18, 2018
enjoyable, epic. well written with enough meat on each character to allow empathy for all.
July 1, 2019
I took a little while to warm up to this, but I did in the end.
August 11, 2019
A brilliant retelling of the story of Medea, with a different perspective.
May 27, 2021
It took longer to get into than many books, but it was well worth the effort. Great insight into this character.
January 3, 2022
An interesting retelling of the life of Medea, who in this book is a priestess of Hecate, as well as a Princess of Colchis.
July 14, 2022
DNF tbh was really boring
Read
March 2, 2023Yeah, this is porn. That's not what I wanted. I gave it a fair go to see if it got better, with an actual story, but no.
October 13, 2023
It's been a long time since I first read a story about Medea. I like how personable this version is. She feels like a living breathing person.
December 10, 2023
I quite enjoyed this book. It was a bit slow in places but overall a good read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews