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The Olympic Charioteer
Antyllus of Tegea had everything, wealth, power and respect, until his son was killed defending Tegea against Sparta. Now Tegea is on the rise, but Antyllus can find pleasure in nothing-not even his magnificent racehorses. While all Tegea believes Antyllus? chariot could bring Tegea an unprecedented Olympic victory, Antyllus knows that he lacks a driver capable of coaxing the best out of his team. More disturbing, Antyllus worries that Tegea's victory over Sparta is being used by certain radicals to undermine the democratic constitution. The Strategos that won the decisive victory is a demagogue-and he wants to extend the franchise to landless men. Out of spontaneous pity, Antyllus purchases an abused quarry slave. The slave not only carries the seemingly prophetic name of 'Philip' (Lover of Horses) but has an uncanny affinity for horses as well. While Tegea slips into tyranny, Antyllus turns his back on politics and focuses his hopes and dreams on an Olympic Victory. This is the story of a slave and a charioteer in Archaic Greece. Based on Ancient sources but using predominantly fictional characters, The Olympic Charioteer describes the events that led to the establishment of the first 'non-aggression pact' in recorded history.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
408 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2005
2 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
About the author
Helena P. Schrader
38 books150 followersDr. Helena P. Schrader is a highly acclaimed author with a remarkable portfolio of six critically acclaimed non-fiction history books and twenty historical novels. A testament to her storytelling prowess, twelve of her novels have earned one or more prestigious literary awards, with three titles achieving Amazon best-selling status.
Helena's deep historical insight stems from her PhD in history from the University of Hamburg, where her ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler earned her doctorate. Her rich experiences also include a distinguished career as an American diplomat in Europe and Africa.
Her expertise spans critical historical periods and subjects, including:
Aviation
The Second World War
Ancient Sparta
The Crusader States
Award Highlights:
Helena's dedication to historical accuracy and compelling narratives has been recognized with numerous accolades:
"Cold Peace" Won the Independent Press Award for Political Thrillers 2024 and was "Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023" from the Historical Fiction Company
"Moral Fibre" won GOLD in the Global Book Awards for 20th Century Historical Fiction 2024
"Where Eagles Never Flew" won the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards 2021
"Envoy of Jerusalem": Book Excellence Award for Best Biography 2017.
As the highly respected Feathered Quill Reviews noted: "Helena Schrader’s in-depth stories, fantastic characters, and ability to write an unforgettable tale make her one of the best authors out there!”
For a comprehensive list of awards and more information, please visit her author website.
Helena's deep historical insight stems from her PhD in history from the University of Hamburg, where her ground-breaking biography of a leader of the German Resistance to Hitler earned her doctorate. Her rich experiences also include a distinguished career as an American diplomat in Europe and Africa.
Her expertise spans critical historical periods and subjects, including:
Aviation
The Second World War
Ancient Sparta
The Crusader States
Award Highlights:
Helena's dedication to historical accuracy and compelling narratives has been recognized with numerous accolades:
"Cold Peace" Won the Independent Press Award for Political Thrillers 2024 and was "Runner-Up for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023" from the Historical Fiction Company
"Moral Fibre" won GOLD in the Global Book Awards for 20th Century Historical Fiction 2024
"Where Eagles Never Flew" won the Hemingway Award for 20th Century Wartime Fiction from Chanticleer International Book Awards 2021
"Envoy of Jerusalem": Book Excellence Award for Best Biography 2017.
As the highly respected Feathered Quill Reviews noted: "Helena Schrader’s in-depth stories, fantastic characters, and ability to write an unforgettable tale make her one of the best authors out there!”
For a comprehensive list of awards and more information, please visit her author website.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 4, 2014
The core of the novel, Sparta's war with Tegea, was certainly a critical moment in ancient history. It is certain that an attempted invasion of Tegea by Sparta ended instead in the enslavement of many Spartiates. Equally certain is that King Anaxandridas, a protoge of the famous Spartan philosopher Chilon, chose not to annex Tegean territory and reduce the population to helots, but instead signed a mutual defence treaty.
Chilon lived in the mid-6th century BC and was one of the "seven wise men" of Ancient Greece. He was generally counted among the "philosophers," although he was also a poet, statesman, and ephor. In fact, he is credited with having turned the previously ceremonial office of "ephor" into a politically powerful instrument to check the power of the Spartan kings. He was respected throughout the Greek world for his opposition to tyranny and his support for democracy and the "common man." He was also an advocate of education for women. His daughter Chilonis was one of the recorded disciples of the philosopher Pythagoras.
This is the first book I wrote on Ancient Sparta, and some of my later research suggests that, for example, the kryptea probably did not exist until more than a century later. Nevertheless, the book portrays archaic Sparta as accurately as available sources enable.
Chilon lived in the mid-6th century BC and was one of the "seven wise men" of Ancient Greece. He was generally counted among the "philosophers," although he was also a poet, statesman, and ephor. In fact, he is credited with having turned the previously ceremonial office of "ephor" into a politically powerful instrument to check the power of the Spartan kings. He was respected throughout the Greek world for his opposition to tyranny and his support for democracy and the "common man." He was also an advocate of education for women. His daughter Chilonis was one of the recorded disciples of the philosopher Pythagoras.
This is the first book I wrote on Ancient Sparta, and some of my later research suggests that, for example, the kryptea probably did not exist until more than a century later. Nevertheless, the book portrays archaic Sparta as accurately as available sources enable.
June 14, 2023
Engrossing as well as entertaining story of a Spartan father, Teleklos and his son, Lysandridas, of Olympic chariot racing and also the author's fictionalization of the signing of the bilateral pact between Sparta and Tegea, after war between the two City-States. This treaty became a prototype of later ones and the basis for the Peloponnesian League. This was a fantastic story and certainly worth reading and rereading!
Lysandridas wins the 55th Olympic chariot race for his father, Teleklos, a horse breeder. During war between Sparta and Tegea, Lysandridas is captured and rescued from slavery by Antyllus, a wealthy Tegean aristocrat and horse-breeder. Antyllus recognizes the young man's talent for working with and love of horses. Lysandridas is freed and works with the older man's horses, even driving his chariot racing team. He teaches the lame son of the Speaker of the Tegean Assembly, Ambelos, to ride; he and the lonely young man become best of friends and will remain so throughout the novel. Finding out his son hasn't been killed in battle, Teleklos makes his way to Tegea and brings his son back to Sparta, where Lysandridas is not accepted back by everyone. After much intrigue; civil unrest; a dictator seizing power in Tegea; and his eventual overthrow, finally the treaty is signed. Lysandridas is torn between staying in Tegea or returning to Sparta. What will his heart tell him to do?
The author wrote a wonderfully uplifting story; the humanity of her characters shone forth on every page. I cared for them as people. The author's writing made me feel as though I were actually there in the midst of the story. I liked how she worked in some Spartan history and customs, even some of other City-States. The climactic 56th Olympic chariot race was really exciting.
Lysandridas wins the 55th Olympic chariot race for his father, Teleklos, a horse breeder. During war between Sparta and Tegea, Lysandridas is captured and rescued from slavery by Antyllus, a wealthy Tegean aristocrat and horse-breeder. Antyllus recognizes the young man's talent for working with and love of horses. Lysandridas is freed and works with the older man's horses, even driving his chariot racing team. He teaches the lame son of the Speaker of the Tegean Assembly, Ambelos, to ride; he and the lonely young man become best of friends and will remain so throughout the novel. Finding out his son hasn't been killed in battle, Teleklos makes his way to Tegea and brings his son back to Sparta, where Lysandridas is not accepted back by everyone. After much intrigue; civil unrest; a dictator seizing power in Tegea; and his eventual overthrow, finally the treaty is signed. Lysandridas is torn between staying in Tegea or returning to Sparta. What will his heart tell him to do?
The author wrote a wonderfully uplifting story; the humanity of her characters shone forth on every page. I cared for them as people. The author's writing made me feel as though I were actually there in the midst of the story. I liked how she worked in some Spartan history and customs, even some of other City-States. The climactic 56th Olympic chariot race was really exciting.
April 10, 2023
I enjoyed this enormously! I really appreciate that the author decided to write about a little known conflict between Sparta and Tegea, instead of a done-to-death great battle or something.
The writing itself was technically proficient with great pacing, balance between dialogue and description. The characters were all given an interior voice as well, which went a long way to fleshing out complex motivations and reactions and showing emotional and character growth!
And descriptions of the weather in scenes was not left out!! I don’t know why but I need to know the weather to really make a scene come alive for me!
The story itself was magnificent and served beautifully to illustrate so many aspects of both Sparta and a typical small city-state of the time. This felt like a very well researched book. I’ve spent the last three years devouring every book I can find on Ancient Greece (I have no idea why…sudden bizarre obsession!) so I have quite a lot of books to compare this to, in terms of historical accuracy…as far as we know!
I only have two complaints! One, I feel the Spartan society in this book is painted with too gentle a brush. The treatment of the helots was, by all accounts I’ve read, brutal. I don’t think these were “beloved family retainers”, as Zoe was portrayed. These were a people who had been very deliberately and skillfully “broken” into servitude.
And I don’t know how nostalgic any Spartiate would be for their years in the agoge. Psychologically, these people broke themselves for the sake of military prowess.
Although, Lysandrides reception upon return certainly illustrated this to some extent, it still struck me as not harsh enough.
Anyway, it’s a small and minor aspect that is merely my own opinion.
The other complaint may actually be a result of editing! At the end, when Spartans invaded and overthrew the tyrant? I was so disappointed to have that entire episode covered in less than two pages!!!! Arghhhh!!! The chariot races were described in such vivid detail but we SKIP the battle??? I got quite misogynistic for a moment!! “Helena!!!”, I put the book down and yelled into the empty room, “You…you WOMAN!!! You don’t gloss over the BATTLE!!!!!”.
And then I laughed at myself for having become so bloodthirsty after 3 years of reading about so many battles in such gruesome detail!
Even though a 40 page battle scene was clearly NOT the type of book this was, I still expected and wanted one!
Anyway, excellent book which I thoroughly enjoyed! It’s definitely staying on my shelf to be reread in a few years!
The writing itself was technically proficient with great pacing, balance between dialogue and description. The characters were all given an interior voice as well, which went a long way to fleshing out complex motivations and reactions and showing emotional and character growth!
And descriptions of the weather in scenes was not left out!! I don’t know why but I need to know the weather to really make a scene come alive for me!
The story itself was magnificent and served beautifully to illustrate so many aspects of both Sparta and a typical small city-state of the time. This felt like a very well researched book. I’ve spent the last three years devouring every book I can find on Ancient Greece (I have no idea why…sudden bizarre obsession!) so I have quite a lot of books to compare this to, in terms of historical accuracy…as far as we know!
I only have two complaints! One, I feel the Spartan society in this book is painted with too gentle a brush. The treatment of the helots was, by all accounts I’ve read, brutal. I don’t think these were “beloved family retainers”, as Zoe was portrayed. These were a people who had been very deliberately and skillfully “broken” into servitude.
And I don’t know how nostalgic any Spartiate would be for their years in the agoge. Psychologically, these people broke themselves for the sake of military prowess.
Although, Lysandrides reception upon return certainly illustrated this to some extent, it still struck me as not harsh enough.
Anyway, it’s a small and minor aspect that is merely my own opinion.
The other complaint may actually be a result of editing! At the end, when Spartans invaded and overthrew the tyrant? I was so disappointed to have that entire episode covered in less than two pages!!!! Arghhhh!!! The chariot races were described in such vivid detail but we SKIP the battle??? I got quite misogynistic for a moment!! “Helena!!!”, I put the book down and yelled into the empty room, “You…you WOMAN!!! You don’t gloss over the BATTLE!!!!!”.
And then I laughed at myself for having become so bloodthirsty after 3 years of reading about so many battles in such gruesome detail!
Even though a 40 page battle scene was clearly NOT the type of book this was, I still expected and wanted one!
Anyway, excellent book which I thoroughly enjoyed! It’s definitely staying on my shelf to be reread in a few years!
January 29, 2011
THE OLYMPIC CHARIOTEER by Helena P. Schrader is an interesting historical fiction set in Archaic Greece. It is well written with depth and details. It is a tale of one slave,two men with Olympic ambitions, two cities at war and the finest charioteer in Greece. It has tragedy,olpympic triumph,romance, slavery, intrigue,alliances,struggles, Archaic Spartan society, love won and lost.It is about the struggle of one slave who will become the greatest Olympic charioteer of all and his sacrifices,triumphs and the first non-aggression pact: the Peloponnesian League. This is a very intense story with many facet characters. It expands on the Spartan culture and shows much research was done in order to write this story. It is packed full of action, adventure,tragedy, and is fast paced. If you enjoy learning more on the Spartan culture,their trials,triumphs,slavery and be transported to a different time and place this is the book for you. It is a great read and is fast paced. This book was received for the purpose of review from AME Virtual Author Tours and details can be found at iUniverse and My Book Addiction and More.
July 31, 2010
I must admit it took me just a bit to get into this book. The author was very thorough in setting up the backdrop and getting necessary information in place before continuing into the story. BUT, once that groundwork was laid - this story moved faster than the horses pulling the chariots!
I was very impressed with the historical figures, events and places that the author wove into her saga. The characters were very believable and several were extremely likable - making you really care about them and their fate. Of course, I was drawn to this book initially because of the horses and the racing. Ms. Schrader didn't disappoint on that front either. She obviously did just as much research on the care and training of horses as she did the historical elements.
This was a very enjoyable read that I came away from feeling a little more educated and extremely satisfied. I highly recommend this book.
I was very impressed with the historical figures, events and places that the author wove into her saga. The characters were very believable and several were extremely likable - making you really care about them and their fate. Of course, I was drawn to this book initially because of the horses and the racing. Ms. Schrader didn't disappoint on that front either. She obviously did just as much research on the care and training of horses as she did the historical elements.
This was a very enjoyable read that I came away from feeling a little more educated and extremely satisfied. I highly recommend this book.
January 21, 2012
Helena P. Schrader’s The Olympic Charioteer is a brilliant tapestry of Ancient Greece, with brilliant characters and scenery. It is a story for everyone: those interested in history should find this to be a realistic portrayal of what might have happened during this time, while those who enjoy romance will get that fix as well. There are also liberal sprinklings of mystery, drama and action. A fascinating read!
July 14, 2010
My review for this book can be found here: http://amomentwithmystee.blogspot.com...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews