A review by cass_herg
Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I support women’s wrongs!

I’m a sucker for anything related to Greek mythology, feminine rage, and for historical retellings so this was a no brainer to pick up. Going in I only knew of Clytemnestra as she related to Agamemnon and Helen (aka a murderer and the cruel sister who didn’t compare) and how she was essentially just a “bad wife” foil to Penelope in the Odyssey so I was really excited to see her perspective for actions only ever portrayed from one specific point of view.

I assumed Agamemnon would probably be an ass, but I didn’t realize just how much I’d hate him immediately. He deserved everything he gets in this book and then some and that opinion was cemented for me before I even got to page 100.

It is so interesting how for both the two major losses and points in clytemnestras life we essentially just skip past all the other stages of grief until we get to anger. I think normally I’d be a little upset to skip over those intense and important moments of grief, but here it feels very fitting since the anger is extremely justified. In the case of Iphigenias death, I loved that right before the skip we just get a series of letters from her surviving loved ones. These are also the last words we get from any of those characters perspectives and I think they sum up each character perfectly.


There is so much nuance in this book and it’s honestly one of the most heartbreaking yet empowering stories I’ve read. It’s an incredibly powerful story that gives a lot of poignant commentary on what it is to be a woman, mother, sister, and a daughter. Every female character is multi dimensional with their share of faults but also a strength that is unique and different for each individual and it is so refreshing to read that.

I could probably write an entire dissertation on this book (clearly), but I’ll leave it at this: if you are at all a fan of Greek mythology, read this.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings