Orestes

and the Lifting of the Family Curse

Hazel Marshall author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Archive Publishing

Published:6th May '24

Should be back in stock very soon

Orestes cover

Ideas can change the world and Hazel Marshall’s new book is about just such an idea. Our hero is bound by honour and family tradition to avenge a past wrong, for this is a tale of vendetta. Long-lasting family feuds are not rare; in his play Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote of such a case and, as so often, things did not work out well. Vendettas can also sour relations between tribes and between nations; we need only recall the long-standing confl icts all over the world: ‘past wrongs cannot be forgiven and must never be forgotten’. Vendettas are about revenge and retribution — the situation young Orestes found himself in. Family honour obliged him to avenge his father’s death but in doing so, he laid himself open to retribution for his action. He was in a desperate situation, one without any prospect of a happy ending — that is, until the gods themselves stepped in. The goddess Pallas Athene had a brilliant idea. She solved Orestes’ diffi culties by fi nding another way for honour to be satisfied; she set up a Court of Justice. Invoking the sense of justice we all carry deep within our hearts, she chose twelve good men and true to hear the evidence presented by both sides, and to weigh that evidence in their hearts. Which case best appealed to their sense of justice? Until I read the drafts of Hazel’s book, I hadn’t realised just how much we owe to those wise, ancient Greeks. You may find similar gems in this fascinating retelling of a little-known Greek Drama.

Hazel Marshall has done it again, this time immersing herself in eight of the plays, all around the same story, of the lifting of the curse on the House of Atreus. She found herself loving them all and wishing that people like her might become better acquainted with their ancient and tremendous tale-telling. Her synthesis of the various plays and stories, addressed to the reader, has certainly achieved this and makes for a powerful and gripping read made all the more striking by her choice of wonderful illustrations ; Vendettas are about revenge and retribution — the situation young Orestes found himself in. Family honour obliged him to avenge his father’s death but in doing so, he laid himself open to retribution for his action. He was in a desperate situation, one without any prospect of a happy ending — that is, until the gods themselves stepped in. The goddess Pallas Athene had a brilliant idea ; Until I read the drafts of Hazel’s book, I hadn’t realised just how much we owe to those wise, ancient Greeks. You may find similar gems in this fascinating retelling of a little-known Greek Drama.

ISBN: 9781906289645

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 15mm

Weight: 550g

234 pages