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Books: Ransom

My 17 -year-old son read Virgil’s “Aeneid” this year at school. I couldn’t hide my envy: to be so advanced in the study of Latin that he and his classmates could read that ancient tale of arms and men. What a gift their hard work brought them!

During the year, two works of fiction were published, each offering fresh takes on characters from Troy. I read and loved “The Lost Books of the Odyssey” by Zachary Mason. Now I’ve gotten to “Ransom” by David Malouf.

At first I wondered why I was reading, again, about Achilles’ wrath, his love and grief for Patroclus, Hector’s death and the gruesome dragging of his body around the walls of Troy.

But once Malouf introduces Priam, and the ransom he dares to deliver, the story takes off and unfolds in surprising ways. We learn of a nightmarish event in Priam’s childhood, when he was plucked by his sister from certain slavery. We find Patroclus as a murderous boy, taken in by Achilles’ father. Cassandra quiet, numbed by the deaths she foretold. We discover the everyday life, and worries, of a Trojan carter. We see Achilles with the body of Hector, which remains fresh.

It has been eleven days since Hector was slain. Priam is King of Troy and Hector’s father. He goes to Hector’s mother, Hecuba, and describes his plan to travel to the Greek camp, appeal to Achilles as a man, and offer treasure — a ransom — for the return of their son. Priam will travel unadorned, on a hard cart pulled by mules. Priam will present himself as father instead of king.

The journey reveals the man. Priam arrives — with the help of the gods — in the Greek camp. Achilles mistakes Priam for his own aged father and, undone by that ghostly vision, treats Priam kindly, feeding him and setting him in a soft bed. These scenes are tender, and heartbreaking: a father fed and cared for by his son’s slayer.

In the original text, this ransom is mentioned in a few lines. Malouf takes that moment and opens it up, creating a character who discovers his humanity in the enemy’s embrace. This is a lovely read.

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