Guest Blog: Jane Fitzpatrick, Contributing Writer for Religion Matters

Review of A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes (Harper, 2021)

From the schemes of the Goddess of Discord to the vicious revenge of Hecabe, queen of the fallen city of Troy, Natalie Haynes turns a familiar story into a brand new set of accounts. In the process, she sheds much-needed light on the experiences of women during and after the Trojan War.

Ancient Meets Modern

Students may view the Greek deities as ancient, and therefore irrelevant, history. But modern Greek communities have kept their classic traditions alive, and there are very contemporary issues around these deities, even today. For example, religious iconography from the earlier phases of the Greek polytheistic traditions and Hellenism are part of the global movement to coerce international museums and public collections into returning cultural artifacts to their original sites. The controversy around the Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Sculptures, a popular display at the British Museum, is a particularly interesting case. Negotiated returns of cultural artifacts are almost always controversial, but in the case of Greek artifacts, there is the added complication of who has the right to negotiate the return — the Greek authorities, the Orthodox Christian majority, or the Ethnic Hellenes. However, only the Ethnic Hellenes are in a position to make use of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

There are various ways to teach your students about the connections between the ancient world and modern-day sensibilities. Highlighting the Elgin Marbles case is one approach. Another way is through literature. A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes offers a unique bridge between the long-ago and the here-and-now with her retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of the women who lived through it.

About the Book

Many know the story of the Trojan War as a tale of warriors, kings, and princes driven by the events surrounding one woman named Helen, who happens to have few known character traits, aside from being beautiful. Hayne’s book reminds readers that women have always played important, yet often uncelebrated, roles in history and religious traditions.

The women in A Thousand Ships were expected to fulfill an array of responsibilities — to preserve family life, to help maintain political stability, and to display cultural virtue — despite a lack of justice or power, even for the goddesses. The women of this ancient story, however, consistenly drive progress and stand with their own pride. Each chapter describes the perspective of an individual or small group of women involved in the Trojan War, from its initiation as a divine scheme to its aftermath for the enslaved Trojan women.

The chapters of this book do not follow a chronological order. Instead, the stories are threaded together by Calliope’s dialogue, a muse who is delivering the stories to a male writer. This literary device creates interesting cliffhangers and allows for certain characters and side plots to have their own divided spotlight. The book also effectively demonstrates the importance of the women of the Trojan War and how much they suffered. For example, Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, is brought to life through letters that she could have written to her husband while he was delayed in his journey home after the war. Though readers are likely to be familiar with the famous Odyssey, they may never have considered the trials his wife faced while relying on rumors to learn of her husband’s whereabouts.

The Book as a Learning Tool

Easy to read and immensely entertaining, this is a fantastic book for Summer/Winter break Recommended Reading Lists for upper middle school and high school students. However, it’s important that students have a basic understanding of the major events and the main characters of the Trojan War. Here is a brief overview:

The beautiful Helen, wife of King Menelaus, sails away to Troy with Paris, a prince destined to bring the downfall of Troy. Bound by a promise to protect Helen, the warriors of Greece — the clever Odysseus, the hero Achilles, and the prideful Agamemnon among them — fight the Trojans for ten long years to recapture Helen. The Greeks win the war by following Odysseus’s plan: they hide in a wooden horse disguised as a peace offering and destroy the city from the inside out.

For a fun, animated introduction to the Trojan War, check out this YouTube video.

If you are interested in incorporating this book directly into your lesson plan, consider having your students create a final presentation or write an essay based on a key theme or character. This Quizlet offers flash cards for many of the book’s primary personalities, which can help students decide which woman’s experience they might like to explore more deeply.

There are also plenty of opportunities for creative writing reflections and essay prompts. Characters with distinct roles that might warrant further study include:

• Calliope
• Penelope
• Helen
• The Trojan women – e.g. Hecabe, Cassandra
• The goddesses/other non-human characters – e.g. Aphrodite, Athena

Relevant themes students could analyze include:

• Motherhood
• Similarities and differences among women of different social classes
• Roles of women in war
• Roles of women after war

This SuperSummary Study Guide that accompanies the book also has additional writing prompts and conversation starters.

Trigger Warning

Laodamia’s story talks about suicide, which could produce an intense emotional response for some students. You may already have your own approach to offering trigger warnings. If not, here are a couple of options I can recommend.

“An Introduction to Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings” from the University of Michigan

“#MHYALit: Talking about mental health related-books and issues with teens”  from the Teen Librarian Toolbox by School Library Journal

Conclusion

I am a big fan of ancient Greek myths turned into novels, but this book offers something truly unique. Its shifting perspectives are engaging, and the introspective narratives presented by a cast of women whose stories have often been neglected in the mythological tales of the Trojan War are both informative and refreshing. A Thousand Ships is an excellent way to encourage students to recognize the importance of women’s roles throughout history while analyzing the practice of storytelling from a religious tradition. I highly recommend it for history, literature, and ancient civilizations courses offered to your secondary and post-secondary students.

About the Author

Jane Fitzpatrick has a passion for opera and art and is an avid researcher of the intersections between religious traditions and international affairs. She earned her Master’s degree in International Affairs from Penn State University and has a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies from Gettysburg College. Jane has previously provided research assistance for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Strategic Religious Engagement Unit of the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Army War College. Jane’s work has also been published through The Interfaith Observer, The London School of Economics Religion and Global Society Blog, and more. In 2023, Jane became a Contributing Columnist for AppreciateOpera.org.